Palmyra X5 vs QVQ Max vs Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct
Palmyra X5 comes out ahead, 48 to 40 and 28 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
- Our pick
Writer
Palmyra X5
48/100- ECI—
- Price$0.60 / $6.00
- Context1M
Alibaba (Qwen)QVQ Max
40/100- ECI—
- Price$1.20 / $4.80
- Context131K
- Alibaba (Qwen)
Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct
28/100- ECI—
- Price$1.50 / $7.50
- Context262K
Palmyra X5 is our pick
Palmyra X5 is the better all-round choice, scoring 48/100 against QVQ Max (40) and Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct (28). It leads on context window. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
- CapabilityNot enough dataNo independent benchmark covers every model here yet
- Lowest pricePalmyra X5Palmyra X5 $1.95 · QVQ Max $2.10 · Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct $3.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextPalmyra X5Palmyra X5 1,000,000 · Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct 262,144 · QVQ Max 131,072 tokens
- Widest inputsPalmyra X5 and QVQ MaxPalmyra X5: Text, Images · QVQ Max: Text, Images · Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct: Text
- Self-hostingQwen3-Coder 480B-A35B InstructPublishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | Palmyra X5 | QVQ Max | Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 36 | 35 | 27 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 60 | 60 | 25 |
| Context window | 20% | 60 | 24 | 37 |
| Overall | 100% | 48/100 | 40/100 | 28/100 |
Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | Palmyra X5Writer | QVQ MaxAlibaba (Qwen) | Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B InstructAlibaba (Qwen) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.60 (best) | $1.20 | $1.50 |
| Output | $6.00 | $4.80 (best) | $7.50 |
| Cached input | — | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $1.95 (best) | $2.10 | $3.00 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Over 32K: $2.70 / $13.50 |
| Price source | Median of 1 providers | Official Alibaba API | Official Alibaba API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 1,000,000 tokens (best) | 131,072 tokens | 262,144 tokens |
| Max output | 8,192 tokens | 8,192 tokens | 65,536 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | Yes | No |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yes | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary | Open |
| API model ID | — | qvq-max | qwen3-coder-480b-a35b-instruct |
| API providers | 1 | 1 | 7 (best) |
| Released | Apr 28, 2025 | Mar 25, 2025 | Apr 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | — | Apr 2024 | Apr 2025 |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Palmyra X5$18.00
- QVQ Max$21.60
- Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct$30.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Palmyra X5, QVQ Max or Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct?
Palmyra X5 is the better all-round choice, scoring 48/100 against QVQ Max (40) and Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct (28). It leads on context window. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
Which is cheaper, Palmyra X5, QVQ Max or Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct?
Palmyra X5 is cheaper at $0.60 input / $6.00 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider). QVQ Max costs $1.20 input / $4.80 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price); Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct costs $1.50 input / $7.50 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $1.95 per million tokens for Palmyra X5 versus $2.10 for QVQ Max (1.1× as much) and $3.00 for Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct (1.5× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Palmyra X5 has not been scored yet, QVQ Max has not been scored yet and Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Palmyra X5, QVQ Max and Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. All three support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
Palmyra X5 has the largest context window at 1,000,000 tokens, against 262,144 for Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct and 131,072 for QVQ Max. Maximum output per response: Palmyra X5 up to 8,192, QVQ Max up to 8,192, Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct up to 65,536 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Palmyra X5 accepts text and images; QVQ Max accepts text and images; Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct accepts text. Palmyra X5 handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Palmyra X5 and QVQ Max is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Palmyra X5 is the newest, released Apr 28, 2025. Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct came out Apr 2025; QVQ Max came out Mar 25, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: QVQ Max Apr 2024, Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct Apr 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.
