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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

Qwen3 Max vs Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT

Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT comes out ahead, 45 to 30 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3 Max

    Released Sep 23, 2025Deprecated

    30/100
    • ECI142.4
    • Price$1.20 / $6.00
    • Context262K
  2. Our pick

    AI Singapore

    Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT

    Released Sep 23, 2025

    45/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.351 / $0.555
    • Context128K
  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT is our pick

Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT is the better all-round choice, scoring 45/100 against Qwen3 Max (30). It leads on price. Qwen3 Max wins 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 priceGemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-ITGemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT $0.402 · Qwen3 Max $2.40 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextQwen3 MaxQwen3 Max 262,144 · Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT 128,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsGemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-ITQwen3 Max: Text · Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT: Text, Images
  • Self-hostingGemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-ITPublishes downloadable weights
How the score is built
MeasureWeightQwen3 MaxGemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT
Price50%3066
Inputs & features30%2525
Context window20%3724
Overall100%30/10045/100

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 Max vs Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT specifications side by side
SpecificationQwen3 MaxAlibaba (Qwen)Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-ITAI Singapore
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)142.4—
ECI rank#101 of 165—
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions72.6%—
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics19.0%—
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics73.3%—
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions48.8%—
Price per million tokens
Input$1.20$0.351 (best)
Output$6.00$0.555 (best)
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$2.40$0.402 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Alibaba APIMedian of 3 providers
Limits
Context window262,144 tokens (best)128,000 tokens
Max output65,536 tokens128,000 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoYes
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningNoNo
Tool callingYesNo
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsProprietaryOpen
API model IDqwen3-max—
API providers13 (best)3
ReleasedSep 23, 2025Sep 23, 2025
Knowledge cutoffApr 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 Max$24.00
  • Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT$4.62
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Qwen3 Max or Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT?

Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT is the better all-round choice, scoring 45/100 against Qwen3 Max (30). It leads on price. Qwen3 Max wins 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 Max or Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT?

Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT is cheaper at $0.351 input / $0.555 output per million tokens (median across 3 API providers). Qwen3 Max costs $1.20 input / $6.00 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.402 per million tokens for Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT versus $2.40 for Qwen3 Max (6× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Qwen3 Max has an ECI of 142.4 and Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen3 Max and Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Note that Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT does not support tool calling, which most coding agents need.

Which has the bigger context window?

Qwen3 Max has the largest context window at 262,144 tokens, against 128,000 for Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT. Maximum output per response: Qwen3 Max up to 65,536, Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT up to 128,000 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Qwen3 Max accepts text; Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT accepts text and images. Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Qwen3 Max is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Qwen3 Max is the newest, released Sep 23, 2025. Gemma-SEA-LION-v4-27B-IT came out Sep 23, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Qwen3 Max Apr 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 Nov 2, 2026.