Qwen · Chat and reasoning · 4B parameters · apache-2.0
Qwen3 4B
Needs 6 GB at FP8 / INT8. The smallest real configuration today is 1× RTX 3060 at Vast.ai, $0.04 per hour, about $26 a month at 730 hours.
Parameters4Bdense
Context40k tokensmaximum published
Checkpoint8 GBBF16, as published
Released—documented date
Smallest configuration · FP8 / INT8
1× RTX 306012 GB VRAM · 44% used
- Per hour
- $0.04
- Per month
- $26
- Cheapest at
Vast.ai
How much VRAM it needs
Weights plus runtime overhead, then the KV cache that grows with the context you serve.
| Precision | Weights | Weights + headroom | 4k context | 32k context | 40k context |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BF16published checkpoint | 8 GB | 10 GB | 11 GB | 15 GB | 16 GB |
| FP8 / INT8published checkpoint | 4 GB | 6 GB | 6 GB | 11 GB | 12 GB |
| INT4 / MXFP4published checkpoint | 3 GB | 4 GB | 4 GB | 8 GB | 10 GB |
| KV cacheone sequence, FP16 cache, included above | — | — | 1 GB | 5 GB | 7 GB |
Cross-checked on Hugging Face Oct 28, 2026: 4.02B parameters in the safetensors headers, 8.0 GB of weight files, attention layout from config.json (36 layers, 8 KV heads × 128). Method: weights as published at the native precision, verified on Hugging Face 2026-10-28; other precisions estimated at 1 (8-bit) and 0.6 (4-bit) bytes per parameter; × 1.2 runtime headroom; KV cache = 4096 bytes per token per layer × 36 full-attention layers (FP16 cache, one sequence).config.json ↗
What it costs to run, GPU by GPU
The fewest GPUs of one type whose total memory fits the model at short context, priced from the cheapest eligible on-demand offer for exactly that count (45-day window, newest reading per provider), with the next providers beside it. Monthly = 730 hours.
| GPU | Smallest config | VRAM used | $ / hour | $ / month | Cheapest at |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RTX 3060Best fit | 1× 12 GB12 GB total | 44% | $0.04 | $26 | |
| RTX A2000 | 1× 12 GB12 GB total | 44% | $0.04 | $26 | |
| GTX 1660 Ti | 1× 6 GB6 GB total | 88% | $0.04 | $26 | |
| Tesla P4 | 1× 8 GB8 GB total | 66% | $0.04 | $29 | |
| T4 | 1× 16 GB16 GB total | 33% | $0.04 | $29 | |
| GTX 1060 | 1× 6 GB6 GB total | 88% | $0.04 | $30 | |
| GTX 1660 | 1× 6 GB6 GB total | 88% | $0.04 | $30 | |
| Tesla P40 | 1× 24 GB24 GB total | 22% | $0.04 | $30 | |
| GTX Titan X | 1× 12 GB12 GB total | 44% | $0.04 | $31 | |
| Titan Xp | 1× 12 GB12 GB total | 44% | $0.04 | $31 | |
| GTX 1080 | 1× 8 GB8 GB total | 66% | $0.04 | $32 | |
| Tesla P100 | 1× 16 GB16 GB total | 33% | $0.04 | $33 | |
| RTX 2060 | 1× 6 GB6 GB total | 88% | $0.04 | $33 | |
| GTX 1070 | 1× 8 GB8 GB total | 66% | $0.05 | $36 | |
| GTX 1660 Super | 1× 6 GB6 GB total | 88% | $0.05 | $38 | |
| Quadro P4000 | 1× 8 GB8 GB total | 66% | $0.06 | $40 | |
| RTX 2070 | 1× 8 GB8 GB total | 66% | $0.06 | $41 | |
| RTX 3060 Ti | 1× 8 GB8 GB total | 66% | $0.06 | $41 | |
| RTX 2060 Super | 1× 8 GB8 GB total | 66% | $0.06 | $41 | |
| Quadro P2000 | 2× 5 GB10 GB total | 53% | $0.06 | $41 | |
| GTX 1070 Ti | 1× 8 GB8 GB total | 66% | $0.06 | $44 | |
| RTX 2070 Super | 1× 8 GB8 GB total | 66% | $0.06 | $44 | |
| RTX 3070 | 1× 8 GB8 GB total | 66% | $0.06 | $44 | |
| RTX 4060 | 1× 8 GB8 GB total | 66% | $0.06 | $45 | |
| The 24 cheapest of 107 GPU types that fit. Every GPU, any precision and context, in the finder | |||||
