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DeepSeek R1 Zero vs Qwen4-Max-Preview

Comparing DeepSeek R1 Zero and Qwen4-Max-Preview across benchmarks, pricing, and capabilities.

DeepSeek · Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Updated for 2026

Which is better?

DeepSeek R1 Zero and Qwen4-Max-Preview trade strengths across price, capabilities, and technical limits. The better choice depends on the workload.

Based on current LLM Stats indexes, shared benchmarks, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.

Choose DeepSeek R1 Zero

  • you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune

Choose Qwen4-Max-Preview

  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Nov 2026

At a glance

The differences that matter most.

DeepSeek R1 Zero
DeepSeek
Qwen4-Max-Preview
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Benchmark wins
—
—
Input price
— / M
— / M
Output price
— / M
— / M
Context window
—
—

Individual benchmarks

4 reported for DeepSeek R1 Zero · 0 for Qwen4-Max-Preview

No common benchmarks found

DeepSeek R1 Zero and Qwen4-Max-Previewdon't have any common benchmark datasets to compare. They may have been evaluated on different testing suites.

Human preference

Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores

Input capabilities

Documented input modalities across available providers

Qwen4-Max-Preview supports multimodal inputs, whereas DeepSeek R1 Zero does not.

Qwen4-Max-Preview can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

DeepSeek R1 Zero

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Qwen4-Max-Preview

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

DeepSeek R1 Zero is licensed under MIT, while Qwen4-Max-Preview uses a proprietary license.

License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.

DeepSeek R1 Zero

MIT

Open weights

Qwen4-Max-Preview

Proprietary

Closed source

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

DeepSeek R1 Zero was released on 2025-01-20, while Qwen4-Max-Preview was released on 2026-11-11.

Qwen4-Max-Preview is 22 months newer than DeepSeek R1 Zero.

DeepSeek R1 Zero

Jan 20, 2025

1.8 years ago

Qwen4-Max-Preview

Nov 11, 2026

1 days ago

1.8yr newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.

Unable to compare the recency of their training data.

No cutoff dates available

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against DeepSeek R1 Zero and Qwen4-Max-Preview side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

DeepSeek R1 Zero
✓ Preferred
Qwen4-Max-Preview
Open in Playground

FAQ

Common questions about DeepSeek R1 Zero vs Qwen4-Max-Preview.

Which is better, DeepSeek R1 Zero or Qwen4-Max-Preview?

DeepSeek R1 Zero (DeepSeek) and Qwen4-Max-Preview (Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team) each have strengths in different areas. Compare their benchmark scores, pricing, context windows, and capabilities above to determine which fits your needs.

How does DeepSeek R1 Zero compare to Qwen4-Max-Preview in benchmarks?

DeepSeek R1 Zero scores MATH-500: 95.9%, AIME 2024: 86.7%, GPQA: 73.3%, LiveCodeBench: 50.0%.

What are the main differences between DeepSeek R1 Zero and Qwen4-Max-Preview?

Key differences include multimodal support (no vs yes), licensing (MIT vs Proprietary). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes DeepSeek R1 Zero and Qwen4-Max-Preview?

DeepSeek R1 Zero is developed by DeepSeek and Qwen4-Max-Preview is developed by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team.

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