QVQ Max vs Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507
Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507 comes out ahead, 52 to 40 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
Alibaba (Qwen)QVQ Max
40/100- ECI—
- Price$1.20 / $4.80
- Context131K
- Our pickAlibaba (Qwen)
Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507
52/100- ECI138.9
- Price$0.15 / $0.75
- Context262K
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Make it a three-way comparison.
Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507 is our pick
Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507 is the better all-round choice, scoring 52/100 against QVQ Max (40). It leads on price and context window. QVQ Max wins on inputs & features. 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 priceQwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507 $0.30 · QVQ Max $2.10 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextQwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507 262,144 · QVQ Max 131,072 tokens
- Widest inputsQVQ MaxQVQ Max: Text, Images · Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507: Text
- Self-hostingQwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507Publishes downloadable weights (Apache 2.0)
| Measure | Weight | QVQ Max | Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 35 | 75 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 60 | 25 |
| Context window | 20% | 24 | 37 |
| Overall | 100% | 40/100 | 52/100 |
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 | QVQ MaxAlibaba (Qwen) | Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507Alibaba (Qwen) |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | 138.9 |
| ECI rank | — | #105 of 148 |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $1.20 | $0.15 (best) |
| Output | $4.80 | $0.75 (best) |
| Cached input | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $2.10 | $0.30 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Alibaba API | Median of 11 providers |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 131,072 tokens | 262,144 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 8,192 tokens | 16,384 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | No |
| PDFs | No | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Proprietary | OpenApache 2.0 |
| API model ID | qvq-max | — |
| API providers | 1 | 11 (best) |
| Released | Mar 25, 2025 | Jul 21, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Apr 2024 | — |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- QVQ Max$21.60
- Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507$3.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: QVQ Max or Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507?
Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507 is the better all-round choice, scoring 52/100 against QVQ Max (40). It leads on price and context window. QVQ Max wins on inputs & features. 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, QVQ Max or Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507?
Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507 is cheaper at $0.15 input / $0.75 output per million tokens (median across 11 API providers). QVQ Max costs $1.20 input / $4.80 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.30 per million tokens for Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507 versus $2.10 for QVQ Max (7× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. QVQ Max has not been scored yet and Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507 has an ECI of 138.9.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for QVQ Max and Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507 yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507 has the largest context window at 262,144 tokens, against 131,072 for QVQ Max. Maximum output per response: QVQ Max up to 8,192, Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507 up to 16,384 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
QVQ Max accepts text and images; Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507 accepts text. QVQ Max handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507 publishes its weights (Apache 2.0) and can be self-hosted; QVQ Max is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Qwen3 235B-A22B Instruct 2507 is the newest, released Jul 21, 2025. QVQ Max came out Mar 25, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: QVQ Max Apr 2024.
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.
