Qwen Max vs Qwen2.5 72B Instruct
Qwen2.5 72B Instruct comes out ahead, 28 to 22 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen Max
22/100- ECI—
- Price$1.60 / $6.40
- Context33K
- Our pickAlibaba (Qwen)
Qwen2.5 72B Instruct
28/100- ECI129.0
- Price$1.40 / $5.60
- Context131K
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Make it a three-way comparison.
Qwen2.5 72B Instruct is our pick
Qwen2.5 72B Instruct is the better all-round choice, scoring 28/100 against Qwen Max (22). It leads on price and 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 priceQwen2.5 72B InstructQwen2.5 72B Instruct $2.45 · Qwen Max $2.80 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextQwen2.5 72B InstructQwen2.5 72B Instruct 131,072 · Qwen Max 32,768 tokens
- Widest inputsSame inputsQwen Max: Text · Qwen2.5 72B Instruct: Text
- Self-hostingQwen2.5 72B InstructPublishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | Qwen Max | Qwen2.5 72B Instruct |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 29 | 31 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 25 | 25 |
| Context window | 20% | 0 | 24 |
| Overall | 100% | 22/100 | 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 | Qwen MaxAlibaba (Qwen) | Qwen2.5 72B InstructAlibaba (Qwen) |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | 129.0 |
| ECI rank | — | #128 of 148 |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | — | 49.2% |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | — | 8.1% |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $1.60 | $1.40 (best) |
| Output | $6.40 | $5.60 (best) |
| Cached input | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $2.80 | $2.45 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Alibaba API | Official Alibaba API |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 32,768 tokens | 131,072 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 8,192 tokens | 8,192 tokens |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | No |
| PDFs | No | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Proprietary | Open |
| API model ID | qwen-max | qwen2-5-72b-instruct |
| API providers | 6 (best) | 1 |
| Released | Apr 3, 2024 | Sep 19, 2024 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Apr 2024 | 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.
- Qwen Max$28.80
- Qwen2.5 72B Instruct$25.20
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Qwen Max or Qwen2.5 72B Instruct?
Qwen2.5 72B Instruct is the better all-round choice, scoring 28/100 against Qwen Max (22). It leads on price and 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, Qwen Max or Qwen2.5 72B Instruct?
Qwen2.5 72B Instruct is cheaper at $1.40 input / $5.60 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). Qwen Max costs $1.60 input / $6.40 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $2.45 per million tokens for Qwen2.5 72B Instruct versus $2.80 for Qwen Max (1.1× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Qwen Max has not been scored yet and Qwen2.5 72B Instruct has an ECI of 129.0.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen Max and Qwen2.5 72B Instruct 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?
Qwen2.5 72B Instruct has the largest context window at 131,072 tokens, against 32,768 for Qwen Max. Maximum output per response: Qwen Max up to 8,192, Qwen2.5 72B Instruct up to 8,192 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Qwen Max accepts text; Qwen2.5 72B Instruct accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.
Are any of these open source?
Qwen2.5 72B Instruct publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Qwen Max is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Qwen2.5 72B Instruct is the newest, released Sep 19, 2024. Qwen Max came out Apr 3, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Qwen Max Apr 2024, Qwen2.5 72B Instruct 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.
