QVQ Max vs Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct vs Palmyra X5
Palmyra X5 comes out ahead, 48 to 40 and 28 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
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
- Our pick
Writer
Palmyra X5
48/100- ECI—
- Price$0.60 / $6.00
- Context1M
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 inputsQVQ Max and Palmyra X5QVQ Max: Text, Images · Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct: Text · Palmyra X5: Text, Images
- Self-hostingQwen3-Coder 480B-A35B InstructPublishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | QVQ Max | Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct | Palmyra X5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 35 | 27 | 36 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 60 | 25 | 60 |
| Context window | 20% | 24 | 37 | 60 |
| Overall | 100% | 40/100 | 28/100 | 48/100 |
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-Coder 480B-A35B InstructAlibaba (Qwen) | Palmyra X5Writer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $1.20 | $1.50 | $0.60 (best) |
| Output | $4.80 (best) | $7.50 | $6.00 |
| Cached input | — | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $2.10 | $3.00 | $1.95 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Over 32K: $2.70 / $13.50 | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Alibaba API | Official Alibaba API | Median of 1 providers |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 131,072 tokens | 262,144 tokens | 1,000,000 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 8,192 tokens | 65,536 tokens (best) | 8,192 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | No | Yes |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | No | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Open | Proprietary |
| API model ID | qvq-max | qwen3-coder-480b-a35b-instruct | — |
| API providers | 1 | 7 (best) | 1 |
| Released | Mar 25, 2025 | Apr 2025 | Apr 28, 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.
- QVQ Max$21.60
- Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct$30.00
- Palmyra X5$18.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: QVQ Max, Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct or Palmyra X5?
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, QVQ Max, Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct or Palmyra X5?
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. QVQ Max has not been scored yet, Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct has not been scored yet and Palmyra X5 has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for QVQ Max, Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct and Palmyra X5 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: QVQ Max up to 8,192, Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct up to 65,536, Palmyra X5 up to 8,192 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
QVQ Max accepts text and images; Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct accepts text; Palmyra X5 accepts text and images. QVQ Max 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; QVQ Max and Palmyra X5 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.
