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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct vs Qwen Max

Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct comes out ahead, 28 to 22 on our weighted score, though Qwen Max is 7% cheaper per token.

  1. Our pick

    Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct

    Released Apr 2025

    28/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$1.50 / $7.50
    • Context262K
    Full specs Remove Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct

  2. Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen Max

    Released Apr 3, 2024

    22/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$1.60 / $6.40
    • Context33K
    Full specs Remove Qwen Max

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct is our pick

Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct is the better all-round choice, scoring 28/100 against Qwen Max (22). 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 priceQwen MaxQwen Max $2.80 · Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct $3.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextQwen3-Coder 480B-A35B InstructQwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct 262,144 · Qwen Max 32,768 tokens
  • Widest inputsSame inputsQwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct: Text · Qwen Max: Text
  • Self-hostingQwen3-Coder 480B-A35B InstructPublishes downloadable weights
How the score is built
MeasureWeightQwen3-Coder 480B-A35B InstructQwen Max
Price50%2729
Inputs & features30%2525
Context window20%370
Overall100%28/10022/100

Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.

02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct vs Qwen Max specifications side by side
SpecificationQwen3-Coder 480B-A35B InstructAlibaba (Qwen)Qwen MaxAlibaba (Qwen)
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
Price per million tokens
Input$1.50 (best)$1.60
Output$7.50$6.40 (best)
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$3.00$2.80 (best)
Long-context rateOver 32K: $2.70 / $13.50Same rate
Price sourceOfficial Alibaba APIOfficial Alibaba API
Limits
Context window262,144 tokens (best)32,768 tokens
Max output65,536 tokens (best)8,192 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoNo
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningNoNo
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenProprietary
API model IDqwen3-coder-480b-a35b-instructqwen-max
API providers7 (best)6
ReleasedApr 2025Apr 3, 2024
Knowledge cutoffApr 2025Apr 2024
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-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct$30.00
  • Qwen Max$28.80
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct or Qwen Max?

Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct is the better all-round choice, scoring 28/100 against Qwen Max (22). 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, Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct or Qwen Max?

Qwen Max is cheaper at $1.60 input / $6.40 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 $2.80 per million tokens for Qwen Max versus $3.00 for Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct (1.1× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct has not been scored yet and Qwen Max has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct and Qwen Max 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-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct has the largest context window at 262,144 tokens, against 32,768 for Qwen Max. Maximum output per response: Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct up to 65,536, Qwen Max up to 8,192 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct accepts text; Qwen Max accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.

Are any of these open source?

Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Qwen Max is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct is the newest, released Apr 2025. Qwen Max came out Apr 3, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Qwen3-Coder 480B-A35B Instruct Apr 2025, Qwen 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.

05 — Keep comparing

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