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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Qwen3.6 Max Preview vs Gemini 2.5 Pro

Gemini 2.5 Pro comes out ahead, 63 to 54 on our weighted score, though Qwen3.6 Max Preview is 15% cheaper per token.

  1. Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3.6 Max Preview

    Released Apr 20, 2026

    54/100
    • ECI149.2
    • Price$1.30 / $7.80
    • Context262K
    Full specs Remove Qwen3.6 Max Preview
  2. Our pick

    Google

    Gemini 2.5 Pro

    Released Jun 17, 2025

    63/100
    • ECI145.3
    • Price$1.25 / $10.00
    • Context1.05M
    Full specs Remove Gemini 2.5 Pro

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Gemini 2.5 Pro is our pick

Gemini 2.5 Pro is the better all-round choice, scoring 63/100 against Qwen3.6 Max Preview (54). It leads on inputs & features and context window. Qwen3.6 Max Preview wins on capability and price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityQwen3.6 Max PreviewCapabilities Index (ECI): Qwen3.6 Max Preview 149.2 · Gemini 2.5 Pro 145.3
  • Lowest priceQwen3.6 Max PreviewQwen3.6 Max Preview $2.92 · Gemini 2.5 Pro $3.44 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextGemini 2.5 ProGemini 2.5 Pro 1,048,576 · Qwen3.6 Max Preview 262,144 tokens
  • Widest inputsGemini 2.5 ProQwen3.6 Max Preview: Text · Gemini 2.5 Pro: Text, Images, PDFs, Audio, Video
  • Self-hostingNo open weightsBoth are available only through APIs
How the score is built
MeasureWeightQwen3.6 Max PreviewGemini 2.5 Pro
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%7772
Price25%2824
Inputs & features15%35100
Context window10%3761
Overall100%54/10063/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.

Qwen3.6 Max Preview vs Gemini 2.5 Pro specifications side by side
SpecificationQwen3.6 Max PreviewAlibaba (Qwen)Gemini 2.5 ProGoogle
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)149.2 (best)145.3
ECI rank#54 of 148 (best)#78 of 148
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions87.4% (best)85.3%
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics—24.6%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics91.1% (best)84.7%
SWE-bench VerifiedFixing real GitHub issues76.7% (best)57.6%
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions52.0%—
Price per million tokens
Input$1.30$1.25 (best)
Output$7.80 (best)$10.00
Cached input$0.13$0.125 (best)
Blended (3:1)$2.92 (best)$3.44
Long-context rateSame rateOver 200K: $2.50 / $15.00
Price sourceOfficial Alibaba APIOfficial Google API
Limits
Context window262,144 tokens1,048,576 tokens (best)
Max output65,536 tokens65,536 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoYes
PDFsNoYes
AudioNoYes
VideoNoYes
ReasoningYesYes
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoYes
Availability
WeightsProprietaryProprietary
API model IDqwen3.6-max-previewgemini-2.5-pro
API providers1022 (best)
ReleasedApr 20, 2026Jun 17, 2025
Knowledge cutoffApr 2025Jan 2025
03 — Cost

What would a month cost?

Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.

  • Qwen3.6 Max Preview$28.60
  • Gemini 2.5 Pro$32.50
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Qwen3.6 Max Preview or Gemini 2.5 Pro?

Gemini 2.5 Pro is the better all-round choice, scoring 63/100 against Qwen3.6 Max Preview (54). It leads on inputs & features and context window. Qwen3.6 Max Preview wins on capability and price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, Qwen3.6 Max Preview or Gemini 2.5 Pro?

Qwen3.6 Max Preview is cheaper at $1.30 input / $7.80 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). Gemini 2.5 Pro costs $1.25 input / $10.00 output per million tokens (official Google API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $2.92 per million tokens for Qwen3.6 Max Preview versus $3.44 for Gemini 2.5 Pro (1.2× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

Qwen3.6 Max Preview scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): Qwen3.6 Max Preview 149.2 (#54 of 148) and Gemini 2.5 Pro 145.3 (#78 of 148). Their confidence ranges do not overlap (147.6–152.0 vs 143.6–146.9), so the gap is a real one. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — Qwen3.6 Max Preview 87.4%, Gemini 2.5 Pro 85.3%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — Qwen3.6 Max Preview 91.1%, Gemini 2.5 Pro 84.7%; SWE-bench Verified — Qwen3.6 Max Preview 76.7%, Gemini 2.5 Pro 57.6%.

Which is better for coding?

Qwen3.6 Max Preview resolves more real GitHub issues on SWE-bench Verified: Qwen3.6 Max Preview 76.7% and Gemini 2.5 Pro 57.6%. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.

Which has the bigger context window?

Gemini 2.5 Pro has the largest context window at 1,048,576 tokens, against 262,144 for Qwen3.6 Max Preview. Maximum output per response: Qwen3.6 Max Preview up to 65,536, Gemini 2.5 Pro up to 65,536 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Qwen3.6 Max Preview accepts text; Gemini 2.5 Pro accepts text, images, PDFs, audio and video. Gemini 2.5 Pro handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

No. Qwen3.6 Max Preview and Gemini 2.5 Pro are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.

Which is newer?

Qwen3.6 Max Preview is the newest, released Apr 20, 2026. Gemini 2.5 Pro came out Jun 17, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Qwen3.6 Max Preview Apr 2025, Gemini 2.5 Pro Jan 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.

05 — Keep comparing

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