Qwen3 Max Preview vs o4-mini-deep-research vs Hermes 4 405B
Too close to call on our weighted score (o4-mini-deep-research 37, Hermes 4 405B 35, Qwen3 Max Preview 33). The right pick depends on what you value most.
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen3 Max Preview
33/100- ECI—
- Price$0.975 / $4.14
- Context262K
OpenAIo4-mini-deep-research
37/100- ECI—
- Price$1.80 / $7.20
- Context200K
Nous ResearchHermes 4 405B
35/100- ECI—
- Price$1.00 / $3.00
- Context131K
Too close to call
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 2 points (o4-mini-deep-research 37/100, Hermes 4 405B 35/100, Qwen3 Max Preview 33/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Hermes 4 405B on price and Qwen3 Max Preview 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 priceHermes 4 405BHermes 4 405B $1.50 · Qwen3 Max Preview $1.77 · o4-mini-deep-research $3.15 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextQwen3 Max PreviewQwen3 Max Preview 262,144 · o4-mini-deep-research 200,000 · Hermes 4 405B 131,072 tokens
- Widest inputso4-mini-deep-researchQwen3 Max Preview: Text · o4-mini-deep-research: Text, Images · Hermes 4 405B: Text
- Self-hostingHermes 4 405BPublishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | Qwen3 Max Preview | o4-mini-deep-research | Hermes 4 405B |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 37 | 25 | 40 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 25 | 60 | 35 |
| Context window | 20% | 37 | 32 | 25 |
| Overall | 100% | 33/100 | 37/100 | 35/100 |
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 | Qwen3 Max PreviewAlibaba (Qwen) | o4-mini-deep-researchOpenAI | Hermes 4 405BNous Research |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.975 (best) | $1.80 | $1.00 |
| Output | $4.14 | $7.20 | $3.00 (best) |
| Cached input | — | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $1.77 | $3.15 | $1.50 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 2 providers | Median of 1 providers | Median of 5 providers |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 262,144 tokens (best) | 200,000 tokens | 131,072 tokens |
| Max output | 32,768 tokens | 100,000 tokens | 117,964 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | Yes | No |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | Yes | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary | Open |
| API model ID | — | — | — |
| API providers | 2 | 1 | 5 (best) |
| Released | Sep 5, 2025 | Jun 26, 2025 | Aug 26, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Apr 2025 | May 2024 | Aug 31, 2024 |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Qwen3 Max Preview$18.03
- o4-mini-deep-research$32.40
- Hermes 4 405B$16.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Qwen3 Max Preview, o4-mini-deep-research or Hermes 4 405B?
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 2 points (o4-mini-deep-research 37/100, Hermes 4 405B 35/100, Qwen3 Max Preview 33/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Hermes 4 405B on price and Qwen3 Max Preview 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, Qwen3 Max Preview, o4-mini-deep-research or Hermes 4 405B?
Hermes 4 405B is cheaper at $1.00 input / $3.00 output per million tokens (median across 5 API providers). Qwen3 Max Preview costs $0.975 input / $4.14 output per million tokens (median across 2 API providers); o4-mini-deep-research costs $1.80 input / $7.20 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $1.50 per million tokens for Hermes 4 405B versus $1.77 for Qwen3 Max Preview (1.2× as much) and $3.15 for o4-mini-deep-research (2.1× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Qwen3 Max Preview has not been scored yet, o4-mini-deep-research has not been scored yet and Hermes 4 405B has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen3 Max Preview, o4-mini-deep-research and Hermes 4 405B 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?
Qwen3 Max Preview has the largest context window at 262,144 tokens, against 200,000 for o4-mini-deep-research and 131,072 for Hermes 4 405B. Maximum output per response: Qwen3 Max Preview up to 32,768, o4-mini-deep-research up to 100,000, Hermes 4 405B up to 117,964 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Qwen3 Max Preview accepts text; o4-mini-deep-research accepts text and images; Hermes 4 405B accepts text. o4-mini-deep-research handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Hermes 4 405B publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Qwen3 Max Preview and o4-mini-deep-research is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Qwen3 Max Preview is the newest, released Sep 5, 2025. Hermes 4 405B came out Aug 26, 2025; o4-mini-deep-research came out Jun 26, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Qwen3 Max Preview Apr 2025, o4-mini-deep-research May 2024, Hermes 4 405B Aug 31, 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 Nov 2, 2026.
