DeepSeek-V3.1 vs Qwen3 Max

DeepSeek-V3.1 and Qwen3 Max are closely matched at 22.3 and 21.7 on the LLM Stats Score. DeepSeek-V3.1 is 3.6x cheaper per token.

DeepSeek · Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Updated for 2026

Which is better?

DeepSeek-V3.1 and Qwen3 Max are closely matched on the overall LLM Stats Score at 22.3 and 21.7.

In the 3 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Qwen3 Max wins 2; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.

On price, DeepSeek-V3.1 is roughly 3.6x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.

Qwen3 Max 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 DeepSeek-V3.1

cost matters — it's about 3.6x cheaper per token
you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune

Choose Qwen3 Max

you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 2 of 3 exact shared results
you process long inputs — it offers a 256,000 token context window
you want the most recent training data — it shipped Dec 2025

At a glance

The differences that matter most.

Better token value: DeepSeek-V3.1

DeepSeek-V3.1

DeepSeek

Qwen3 Max

Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team

Core performance indexes

LLM Stats Score

22.3

#168 · 16 evals

Best

21.7

#177 · 6 evals

Reasoning

22.6

#161 · 14 evals

Best

21.9

#166 · 6 evals

Coding

12.8

#135 · 5 evals

Best

11.8

#145 · 1 evals

Agents

0.6

#159 · 2 evals

4.9

#143 · 1 evals

Best

Cost, coverage & limits

Benchmark wins

1 of 3

2 of 3

Best

Input price

$0.27 / M

Best

$0.50 / M

Output price

$1.00 / M

Best

$5.00 / M

Context window

163,840

256,000

Best

Capability indexes

Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks

1 shared

Index

DeepSeek-V3.1

Qwen3 Max

Math

18.9#167 · 7 evals

22.2#135 · 2 evals

Conservative TrueSkill rating · higher is betterHow scores work

Individual benchmarks

16 reported for DeepSeek-V3.1 · 6 for Qwen3 Max

3 shared

DeepSeek-V3.1 outperforms in 1 benchmarks (GPQA), while Qwen3 Max is better at 2 benchmarks (AIME 2025, SWE-Bench Verified).

Qwen3 Max shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.

Fri Sep 04 2026 • llm-stats.com

Human preference

Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

DeepSeek-V3.1 costs less

For input processing, DeepSeek-V3.1 ($0.27/1M tokens) is 1.9x cheaper than Qwen3 Max ($0.50/1M tokens).

For output processing, DeepSeek-V3.1 ($1.00/1M tokens) is 5.0x cheaper than Qwen3 Max ($5.00/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Qwen3 Max is more expensive than DeepSeek-V3.1.*

* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens

Lowest available price from all providers

Fri Sep 04 2026 • llm-stats.com

DeepSeek-V3.1

Input tokens$0.27

Output tokens$1.00

Best providerDeepinfra

Qwen3 Max

Input tokens$0.50

Output tokens$5.00

Best providerNovita

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue→

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

329.0B diff

Qwen3 Max has 329.0B more parameters than DeepSeek-V3.1, making it 49.0% larger.

DeepSeek-V3.1

671.0Bparameters

Qwen3 Max

1.0Tparameters

671.0B

DeepSeek-V3.1

1000.0B

Qwen3 Max

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Qwen3 Max accepts 256,000 input tokens compared to DeepSeek-V3.1's 163,840 tokens. DeepSeek-V3.1 can generate longer responses up to 163,840 tokens, while Qwen3 Max is limited to 131,072 tokens.

DeepSeek-V3.1

Input163,840 tokens

Output163,840 tokens

Qwen3 Max

Input256,000 tokens

Output131,072 tokens

Fri Sep 04 2026 • llm-stats.com

License

Usage and distribution terms

DeepSeek-V3.1 is licensed under MIT, while Qwen3 Max uses a proprietary license.

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

DeepSeek-V3.1

MIT

Open weights

Qwen3 Max

Proprietary

Closed source

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

DeepSeek-V3.1 was released on 2025-01-10, while Qwen3 Max was released on 2025-12-15.

Qwen3 Max is 11 months newer than DeepSeek-V3.1.

DeepSeek-V3.1

Jan 10, 2025

1.6 years ago

Qwen3 Max

Dec 15, 2025

8 months ago

11mo 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

Provider Availability

DeepSeek-V3.1 is available from DeepInfra, Novita. Qwen3 Max is available from Novita.

DeepSeek-V3.1

Deepinfra

Input Price:Input: $0.27/1MOutput Price:Output: $1.00/1M

Novita

Input Price:Input: $0.27/1MOutput Price:Output: $1.00/1M

Qwen3 Max

Novita

Input Price:Input: $0.50/1MOutput Price:Output: $5.00/1M

* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against DeepSeek-V3.1 and Qwen3 Max side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

DeepSeek-V3.1

✓ Preferred

Qwen3 Max

Open in Playground

FAQ

Common questions about DeepSeek-V3.1 vs Qwen3 Max.

Which is better, DeepSeek-V3.1 or Qwen3 Max?

DeepSeek-V3.1 and Qwen3 Max are closely matched on the LLM Stats Score at 22.3 and 21.7. DeepSeek-V3.1 is made by DeepSeek and Qwen3 Max is made by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their capability indexes, individual benchmarks, pricing, and limits above.

How does DeepSeek-V3.1 compare to Qwen3 Max in benchmarks?

DeepSeek-V3.1 scores SimpleQA: 93.4%, MMLU-Redux: 91.8%, MMLU-Pro: 83.7%, GPQA: 74.9%, CodeForces: 69.7%. Qwen3 Max scores AIME 2025: 81.6%, t2-bench: 74.8%, SWE-Bench Verified: 69.6%, LiveCodeBench v6: 69.0%, SuperGPQA: 65.1%.

Is DeepSeek-V3.1 cheaper than Qwen3 Max?

DeepSeek-V3.1 is 1.9x cheaper for input tokens. DeepSeek-V3.1 costs $0.27/M input and $1.00/M output via deepinfra. Qwen3 Max costs $0.50/M input and $5.00/M output via novita.

What are the context window sizes for DeepSeek-V3.1 and Qwen3 Max?

DeepSeek-V3.1 supports 164K tokens and Qwen3 Max supports 256K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between DeepSeek-V3.1 and Qwen3 Max?

Key differences include LLM Stats Score (22.3 vs 21.7), context window (164K vs 256K), input pricing ($0.27 vs $0.50/M), licensing (MIT vs Proprietary). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes DeepSeek-V3.1 and Qwen3 Max?

DeepSeek-V3.1 is developed by DeepSeek and Qwen3 Max is developed by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team.

DeepSeek-V3.1 vs Qwen3 Max