QVQ Max vs Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking vs Palmyra X5
Too close to call on our weighted score (Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking 48, Palmyra X5 48, QVQ Max 40). The right pick depends on what you value most.
Alibaba (Qwen)QVQ Max
40/100- ECI—
- Price$1.20 / $4.80
- Context131K
- Alibaba (Qwen)
Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking
48/100- ECI—
- Price$0.40 / $4.00
- Context131K
Writer
Palmyra X5
48/100- ECI—
- Price$0.60 / $6.00
- Context1M
Too close to call
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within a point (Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking 48/100, Palmyra X5 48/100, QVQ Max 40/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking on price and Palmyra X5 for long inputs. 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 VL 235B A22B ThinkingQwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking $1.30 · Palmyra X5 $1.95 · QVQ Max $2.10 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextPalmyra X5Palmyra X5 1,000,000 · QVQ Max 131,072 · Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking 131,072 tokens
- Widest inputsSame inputsQVQ Max: Text, Images · Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking: Text, Images · Palmyra X5: Text, Images
- Self-hostingQwen3 VL 235B A22B ThinkingPublishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | QVQ Max | Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking | Palmyra X5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 35 | 44 | 36 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 60 | 70 | 60 |
| Context window | 20% | 24 | 24 | 60 |
| Overall | 100% | 40/100 | 48/100 | 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 VL 235B A22B ThinkingAlibaba (Qwen) | Palmyra X5Writer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $1.20 | $0.40 (best) | $0.60 |
| Output | $4.80 | $4.00 (best) | $6.00 |
| Cached input | — | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $2.10 | $1.30 (best) | $1.95 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Alibaba API | Median of 9 providers | Median of 1 providers |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 131,072 tokens | 131,072 tokens | 1,000,000 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 8,192 tokens | 32,768 tokens (best) | 8,192 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | Yes | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Open | Proprietary |
| API model ID | qvq-max | — | — |
| API providers | 1 | 9 (best) | 1 |
| Released | Mar 25, 2025 | Sep 23, 2025 | Apr 28, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Apr 2024 | Mar 31, 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 VL 235B A22B Thinking$12.00
- Palmyra X5$18.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: QVQ Max, Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking or Palmyra X5?
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within a point (Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking 48/100, Palmyra X5 48/100, QVQ Max 40/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking on price and Palmyra X5 for long inputs. 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 VL 235B A22B Thinking or Palmyra X5?
Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking is cheaper at $0.40 input / $4.00 output per million tokens (median across 9 API providers). Palmyra X5 costs $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). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $1.30 per million tokens for Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking versus $1.95 for Palmyra X5 (1.5× as much) and $2.10 for QVQ Max (1.6× 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 VL 235B A22B Thinking 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 VL 235B A22B Thinking 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 131,072 for QVQ Max and 131,072 for Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking. Maximum output per response: QVQ Max up to 8,192, Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking up to 32,768, Palmyra X5 up to 8,192 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
QVQ Max accepts text and images; Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking accepts text and images; Palmyra X5 accepts text and images. They handle the same number of input types.
Are any of these open source?
Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; QVQ Max and Palmyra X5 is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking is the newest, released Sep 23, 2025. Palmyra X5 came out Apr 28, 2025; QVQ Max came out Mar 25, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: QVQ Max Apr 2024, Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking Mar 31, 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.
