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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Qwen3 Max vs Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B (Thinking)

Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B (Thinking) comes out ahead, 34 to 31 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3 Max

    Released Sep 23, 2025

    31/100
    • ECI142.4
    • Price$1.20 / $6.00
    • Context262K
    Full specs Remove Qwen3 Max
  2. Our pick

    Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B (Thinking)

    Released Sep 2025

    34/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.50 / $6.00
    • Context131K
    Full specs Remove Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B (Thinking)

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B (Thinking) is our pick

Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B (Thinking) is the better all-round choice, scoring 34/100 against Qwen3 Max (31). It leads on price and inputs & features. 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 (Thinking)Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B (Thinking) $1.88 · Qwen3 Max $2.40 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextQwen3 MaxQwen3 Max 262,144 · Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B (Thinking) 131,072 tokens
  • Widest inputsSame inputsQwen3 Max: Text · Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B (Thinking): Text
  • Self-hostingQwen3-Next 80B-A3B (Thinking)Publishes downloadable weights
How the score is built
MeasureWeightQwen3 MaxQwen3-Next 80B-A3B (Thinking)
Price50%3237
Inputs & features30%2535
Context window20%3724
Overall100%31/10034/100

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 Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B (Thinking) specifications side by side
SpecificationQwen3 MaxAlibaba (Qwen)Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B (Thinking)Alibaba (Qwen)
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)142.4—
ECI rank#91 of 148—
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$0.50 (best)
Output$6.00$6.00
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$2.40$1.88 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Alibaba APIOfficial Alibaba API
Limits
Context window262,144 tokens (best)131,072 tokens
Max output65,536 tokens (best)32,768 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoNo
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningNoYes
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsProprietaryOpen
API model IDqwen3-maxqwen3-next-80b-a3b-thinking
API providers16 (best)10
ReleasedSep 23, 2025Sep 2025
Knowledge cutoffApr 2025Apr 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
  • Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B (Thinking)$17.00
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Qwen3 Max or Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B (Thinking)?

Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B (Thinking) is the better all-round choice, scoring 34/100 against Qwen3 Max (31). It leads on price and inputs & features. 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 (Thinking)?

Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B (Thinking) is cheaper at $0.50 input / $6.00 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 $1.88 per million tokens for Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B (Thinking) versus $2.40 for Qwen3 Max (1.3× 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 (Thinking) 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 (Thinking) 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 (Thinking). Maximum output per response: Qwen3 Max up to 65,536, Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B (Thinking) up to 32,768 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Qwen3 Max accepts text; Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B (Thinking) accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.

Are any of these open source?

Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B (Thinking) 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 (Thinking) came out Sep 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Qwen3 Max Apr 2025, Qwen3-Next 80B-A3B (Thinking) 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.

05 — Keep comparing

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