Claude Opus 4.5 vs Qwen3 Max Thinking
Claude Opus 4.5 leads the LLM Stats Score 37.9 to 32.6. Qwen3 Max Thinking is 4.2x cheaper per token.
Anthropic · Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Claude Opus 4.5 leads the overall LLM Stats Score 37.9 to 32.6, ranking #84 overall.
In the 4 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Claude Opus 4.5 wins 3; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
On price, Qwen3 Max Thinking is roughly 4.2x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Qwen3 Max Thinking also accepts a larger context window (256,000 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.
Based on current LLM Stats indexes, shared benchmarks, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.
Choose Claude Opus 4.5
- overall performance matters — it scores 37.9 and ranks #84 on LLM Stats
- your work emphasizes reasoning and coding — it leads those capability indexes
- you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 3 of 4 exact shared results
Choose Qwen3 Max Thinking
- cost matters — it's about 4.2x cheaper per token
- you process long inputs — it offers a 256,000 token context window
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Feb 2026
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Capability indexes
Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks
Individual benchmarks
11 reported for Claude Opus 4.5 · 34 for Qwen3 Max Thinking
Claude Opus 4.5 outperforms in 3 benchmarks (MMMLU, SWE-Bench Verified, Terminal-Bench 2.0), while Qwen3 Max Thinking is better at 1 benchmark (GPQA).
Claude Opus 4.5 shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.
Human preference
Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Claude Opus 4.5 ($5.00/1M tokens) is 4.2x more expensive than Qwen3 Max Thinking ($1.20/1M tokens).
For output processing, Claude Opus 4.5 ($25.00/1M tokens) is 4.2x more expensive than Qwen3 Max Thinking ($6.00/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Claude Opus 4.5 is more expensive than Qwen3 Max Thinking.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Qwen3 Max Thinking accepts 256,000 input tokens compared to Claude Opus 4.5's 200,000 tokens. Qwen3 Max Thinking can generate longer responses up to 256,000 tokens, while Claude Opus 4.5 is limited to 64,000 tokens.
Input capabilities
Documented input modalities across available providers
Claude Opus 4.5 supports multimodal inputs, whereas Qwen3 Max Thinking does not.
Claude Opus 4.5 can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
Claude Opus 4.5
Qwen3 Max Thinking
License
Usage and distribution terms
Both models are licensed under proprietary licenses.
Both models have usage restrictions defined by their respective organizations.
Proprietary
Closed source
Proprietary
Closed source
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Claude Opus 4.5 was released on 2025-11-24, while Qwen3 Max Thinking was released on 2026-02-13.
Qwen3 Max Thinking is 3 months newer than Claude Opus 4.5.
Nov 24, 2025
10 months ago
Feb 13, 2026
8 months ago
2mo newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Claude Opus 4.5 has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2025-03-31, while Qwen3 Max Thinking's cutoff date is not specified.
We can confirm Claude Opus 4.5's training data extends to 2025-03-31, but cannot make a direct comparison without Qwen3 Max Thinking's cutoff date.
Mar 2025
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Provider Availability
Claude Opus 4.5 is available from Anthropic. Qwen3 Max Thinking is available from DeepInfra.
Claude Opus 4.5
Qwen3 Max Thinking
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Claude Opus 4.5 and Qwen3 Max Thinking side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Claude Opus 4.5 vs Qwen3 Max Thinking.