Qwen3 Max vs Grok 4.1 Fast
Grok 4.1 Fast comes out ahead, 66 to 30 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen3 Max
30/100- ECI142.4
- Price$1.20 / $6.00
- Context262K
- Our pick
xAIGrok 4.1 Fast
66/100- ECI—
- Price$0.20 / $0.50
- Context2M
Add a model
Make it a three-way comparison.
Grok 4.1 Fast is our pick
Grok 4.1 Fast is the better all-round choice, scoring 66/100 against Qwen3 Max (30). It leads on price, inputs & features 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 priceGrok 4.1 FastGrok 4.1 Fast $0.275 · Qwen3 Max $2.40 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextGrok 4.1 FastGrok 4.1 Fast 2,000,000 · Qwen3 Max 262,144 tokens
- Widest inputsGrok 4.1 FastQwen3 Max: Text · Grok 4.1 Fast: Text, Images
- Self-hostingNo open weightsBoth are available only through APIs
| Measure | Weight | Qwen3 Max | Grok 4.1 Fast |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 30 | 73 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 25 | 50 |
| Context window | 20% | 37 | 72 |
| Overall | 100% | 30/100 | 66/100 |
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 MaxAlibaba (Qwen) | Grok 4.1 FastxAI |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 142.4 | — |
| ECI rank | #101 of 165 | — |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | 72.6% | — |
| FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics | 19.0% | — |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | 73.3% | — |
| SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions | 48.8% | — |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $1.20 | $0.20 (best) |
| Output | $6.00 | $0.50 (best) |
| Cached input | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $2.40 | $0.275 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Alibaba API | Median of 6 providers |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 262,144 tokens | 2,000,000 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 65,536 tokens (best) | 30,000 tokens |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | Yes |
| PDFs | No | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | qwen3-max | — |
| API providers | 13 (best) | 8 |
| Released | Sep 23, 2025 | Nov 19, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Apr 2025 | — |
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
- Grok 4.1 Fast$3.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Qwen3 Max or Grok 4.1 Fast?
Grok 4.1 Fast is the better all-round choice, scoring 66/100 against Qwen3 Max (30). It leads on price, inputs & features 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, Qwen3 Max or Grok 4.1 Fast?
Grok 4.1 Fast is cheaper at $0.20 input / $0.50 output per million tokens (median across 6 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 $0.275 per million tokens for Grok 4.1 Fast versus $2.40 for Qwen3 Max (8.7× 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 Grok 4.1 Fast has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen3 Max and Grok 4.1 Fast 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?
Grok 4.1 Fast has the largest context window at 2,000,000 tokens, against 262,144 for Qwen3 Max. Maximum output per response: Qwen3 Max up to 65,536, Grok 4.1 Fast up to 30,000 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Qwen3 Max accepts text; Grok 4.1 Fast accepts text and images. Grok 4.1 Fast handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
No. Qwen3 Max and Grok 4.1 Fast are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.
Which is newer?
Grok 4.1 Fast is the newest, released Nov 19, 2025. Qwen3 Max 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.
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