Claude Opus 4.6 vs Qwen3.6 Max Preview vs Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview
Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview comes out ahead, 68 to 61 and 54 on our weighted score, though Qwen3.6 Max Preview is 35% cheaper per token.
AnthropicClaude Opus 4.6
61/100- ECI155.3
- Price$5.00 / $25.00
- Context1M
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen3.6 Max Preview
54/100- ECI149.2
- Price$1.30 / $7.80
- Context262K
- Our pick
GoogleGemini 3.1 Pro Preview
68/100- ECI154.8
- Price$2.00 / $12.00
- Context1.05M
Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview is our pick
Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview is the better all-round choice, scoring 68/100 against Claude Opus 4.6 (61) and Qwen3.6 Max Preview (54). It leads on inputs & features. Qwen3.6 Max Preview wins on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
- CapabilityClaude Opus 4.6Capabilities Index (ECI): Claude Opus 4.6 155.3 · Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview 154.8 · Qwen3.6 Max Preview 149.2
- Lowest priceQwen3.6 Max PreviewQwen3.6 Max Preview $2.92 · Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview $4.50 · Claude Opus 4.6 $10.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextGemini 3.1 Pro PreviewGemini 3.1 Pro Preview 1,048,576 · Claude Opus 4.6 1,000,000 · Qwen3.6 Max Preview 262,144 tokens
- Widest inputsGemini 3.1 Pro PreviewClaude Opus 4.6: Text, Images, PDFs · Qwen3.6 Max Preview: Text · Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview: Text, Images, PDFs, Audio, Video
- Self-hostingNo open weightsAll three are available only through APIs
| Measure | Weight | Claude Opus 4.6 | Qwen3.6 Max Preview | Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI) | 50% | 85 | 77 | 84 |
| Price | 25% | 2 | 28 | 19 |
| Inputs & features | 15% | 80 | 35 | 100 |
| Context window | 10% | 60 | 37 | 61 |
| Overall | 100% | 61/100 | 54/100 | 68/100 |
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | Claude Opus 4.6Anthropic | Qwen3.6 Max PreviewAlibaba (Qwen) | Gemini 3.1 Pro PreviewGoogle |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 155.3 (best) | 149.2 | 154.8 |
| ECI rank | #27 of 148 (best) | #54 of 148 | #31 of 148 |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | 90.5% | 87.4% | 94.4% (best) |
| FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics | 66.0% (best) | — | 59.7% |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | 94.4% | 91.1% | 95.6% (best) |
| SWE-bench VerifiedFixing real GitHub issues | 78.7% (best) | 76.7% | 75.6% |
| SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions | 47.0% | 52.0% | 73.5% (best) |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $5.00 | $1.30 (best) | $2.00 |
| Output | $25.00 | $7.80 (best) | $12.00 |
| Cached input | $0.50 | $0.13 (best) | $0.20 |
| Blended (3:1) | $10.00 | $2.92 (best) | $4.50 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Over 200K: $4.00 / $18.00 |
| Price source | Official Anthropic API | Official Alibaba API | Official Google API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 1,000,000 tokens | 262,144 tokens | 1,048,576 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 128,000 tokens (best) | 65,536 tokens | 65,536 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | No | Yes |
| PDFs | Yes | No | Yes |
| Audio | No | No | Yes |
| Video | No | No | Yes |
| Reasoning | Yeslow · medium · high · max | Yes | Yeslow · medium · high |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | No | Yes |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | claude-opus-4-6 | qwen3.6-max-preview | gemini-3.1-pro-preview |
| API providers | 33 (best) | 10 | 26 |
| Released | Feb 5, 2026 | Apr 20, 2026 | Feb 19, 2026 |
| Knowledge cutoff | May 31, 2025 | Apr 2025 | Jan 2025 |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Claude Opus 4.6$100.00
- Qwen3.6 Max Preview$28.60
- Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview$44.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Claude Opus 4.6, Qwen3.6 Max Preview or Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview?
Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview is the better all-round choice, scoring 68/100 against Claude Opus 4.6 (61) and Qwen3.6 Max Preview (54). It leads on inputs & features. Qwen3.6 Max Preview wins on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
Which is cheaper, Claude Opus 4.6, Qwen3.6 Max Preview or Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview?
Qwen3.6 Max Preview is cheaper at $1.30 input / $7.80 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview costs $2.00 input / $12.00 output per million tokens (official Google API price); Claude Opus 4.6 costs $5.00 input / $25.00 output per million tokens (official Anthropic API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $2.92 per million tokens for Qwen3.6 Max Preview versus $4.50 for Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview (1.5× as much) and $10.00 for Claude Opus 4.6 (3.4× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
Claude Opus 4.6 scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): Claude Opus 4.6 155.3 (#27 of 148), Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview 154.8 (#31 of 148) and Qwen3.6 Max Preview 149.2 (#54 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (153.4–157.3 vs 152.6–157.3), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview 94.4%, Claude Opus 4.6 90.5%, Qwen3.6 Max Preview 87.4%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview 95.6%, Claude Opus 4.6 94.4%, Qwen3.6 Max Preview 91.1%; SWE-bench Verified — Claude Opus 4.6 78.7%, Qwen3.6 Max Preview 76.7%, Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview 75.6%; SimpleQA Verified — Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview 73.5%, Qwen3.6 Max Preview 52.0%, Claude Opus 4.6 47.0%.
Which is better for coding?
Claude Opus 4.6 resolves more real GitHub issues on SWE-bench Verified: Claude Opus 4.6 78.7%, Qwen3.6 Max Preview 76.7% and Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview 75.6%. All three support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview has the largest context window at 1,048,576 tokens, against 1,000,000 for Claude Opus 4.6 and 262,144 for Qwen3.6 Max Preview. Maximum output per response: Claude Opus 4.6 up to 128,000, Qwen3.6 Max Preview up to 65,536, Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview up to 65,536 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Claude Opus 4.6 accepts text, images and PDFs; Qwen3.6 Max Preview accepts text; Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview accepts text, images, PDFs, audio and video. Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
No. Claude Opus 4.6, Qwen3.6 Max Preview and Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.
Which is newer?
Qwen3.6 Max Preview is the newest, released Apr 20, 2026. Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview came out Feb 19, 2026; Claude Opus 4.6 came out Feb 5, 2026. Knowledge cutoff: Claude Opus 4.6 May 31, 2025, Qwen3.6 Max Preview Apr 2025, Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Jan 2025.
How do you decide the winner?
Each model gets a 0–100 score on capability (50%, independent benchmark results); price (25%, blended price per million tokens (3 input : 1 output), log scale); inputs & features (15%, image, PDF, audio and video input, tool calling, structured output and reasoning); context window (10%, maximum tokens per request, log scale). Dimensions missing for any model are dropped and the remaining weights rescaled, so every model is judged on the same evidence. Specs and prices come from public model listings and the labs’ own API pages; capability scores come from independent benchmark runs. Data updated Oct 4, 2026.
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