Qwen3 Max vs Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct
Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct comes out ahead, 39 to 31 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen3 Max
31/100- ECI142.4
- Price$1.20 / $6.00
- Context262K
- Our pickAlibaba (Qwen)
Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct
39/100- ECI—
- Price$0.50 / $2.00
- Context131K
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Make it a three-way comparison.
Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct is our pick
Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct is the better all-round choice, scoring 39/100 against Qwen3 Max (31). 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 priceQwen3-Next 80B-A3B InstructQwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct $0.875 · Qwen3 Max $2.40 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextQwen3 MaxQwen3 Max 262,144 · Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct 131,072 tokens
- Widest inputsSame inputsQwen3 Max: Text · Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct: Text
- Self-hostingQwen3-Next 80B-A3B InstructPublishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | Qwen3 Max | Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 32 | 53 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 25 | 25 |
| Context window | 20% | 37 | 24 |
| Overall | 100% | 31/100 | 39/100 |
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) | Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B InstructAlibaba (Qwen) |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 142.4 | — |
| ECI rank | #91 of 148 | — |
| 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 | $0.50 (best) |
| Output | $6.00 | $2.00 (best) |
| Cached input | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $2.40 | $0.875 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Alibaba API | Official Alibaba API |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 262,144 tokens (best) | 131,072 tokens |
| Max output | 65,536 tokens (best) | 32,768 tokens |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | No |
| PDFs | No | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Proprietary | Open |
| API model ID | qwen3-max | qwen3-next-80b-a3b-instruct |
| API providers | 16 (best) | 13 |
| Released | Sep 23, 2025 | Sep 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Apr 2025 | 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
- Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct$9.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Qwen3 Max or Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct?
Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct is the better all-round choice, scoring 39/100 against Qwen3 Max (31). 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 Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct?
Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct is cheaper at $0.50 input / $2.00 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). 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 $0.875 per million tokens for Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct versus $2.40 for Qwen3 Max (2.7× 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 Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen3 Max and Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct 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 Max has the largest context window at 262,144 tokens, against 131,072 for Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct. Maximum output per response: Qwen3 Max up to 65,536, Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct up to 32,768 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Qwen3 Max accepts text; Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.
Are any of these open source?
Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Qwen3 Max is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Qwen3 Max is the newest, released Sep 23, 2025. Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct came out Sep 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Qwen3 Max Apr 2025, Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B Instruct 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 Oct 4, 2026.
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