DeepSeek-V4-Pro-Max vs Qwen3.5-397B-A17B
DeepSeek-V4-Pro-Max leads the LLM Stats Score 43.1 to 38.8. Qwen3.5-397B-A17B is 1.5x cheaper per token.
DeepSeek · Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
DeepSeek-V4-Pro-Max leads the overall LLM Stats Score 43.1 to 38.8, ranking #42 overall.
In the 9 individual benchmarks reported for both models, DeepSeek-V4-Pro-Max wins 8; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
On price, Qwen3.5-397B-A17B is roughly 1.5x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
DeepSeek-V4-Pro-Max also accepts a larger context window (1,048,576 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-V4-Pro-Max
- overall performance matters — it scores 43.1 and ranks #42 on LLM Stats
- your work emphasizes reasoning — it leads those capability indexes
- you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 8 of 9 exact shared results
- you process long inputs — it offers a 1,048,576 token context window
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Apr 2026
Choose Qwen3.5-397B-A17B
- cost matters — it's about 1.5x cheaper per token
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Capability indexes
Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks
Individual benchmarks
22 reported for DeepSeek-V4-Pro-Max · 38 for Qwen3.5-397B-A17B
DeepSeek-V4-Pro-Max outperforms in 8 benchmarks (BrowseComp, GPQA, Humanity's Last Exam, IMO-AnswerBench, SWE-bench Multilingual, SWE-Bench Verified, Terminal-Bench 2.0, Toolathlon), while Qwen3.5-397B-A17B is better at 1 benchmark (MMLU-Pro).
DeepSeek-V4-Pro-Max significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Human preference
Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, DeepSeek-V4-Pro-Max ($1.30/1M tokens) is 2.9x more expensive than Qwen3.5-397B-A17B ($0.45/1M tokens).
For output processing, DeepSeek-V4-Pro-Max ($2.60/1M tokens) is 1.2x cheaper than Qwen3.5-397B-A17B ($3.00/1M tokens).
In conclusion, DeepSeek-V4-Pro-Max is more expensive than Qwen3.5-397B-A17B.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
DeepSeek-V4-Pro-Max has 1203.0B more parameters than Qwen3.5-397B-A17B, making it 303.0% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
DeepSeek-V4-Pro-Max accepts 1,048,576 input tokens compared to Qwen3.5-397B-A17B's 262,144 tokens. DeepSeek-V4-Pro-Max can generate longer responses up to 1,048,576 tokens, while Qwen3.5-397B-A17B is limited to 262,144 tokens.
Input capabilities
Documented input modalities across available providers
Qwen3.5-397B-A17B supports multimodal inputs, whereas DeepSeek-V4-Pro-Max does not.
Qwen3.5-397B-A17B can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
DeepSeek-V4-Pro-Max
Qwen3.5-397B-A17B
License
Usage and distribution terms
DeepSeek-V4-Pro-Max is licensed under MIT, while Qwen3.5-397B-A17B uses Apache 2.0.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
MIT
Open weights
Apache 2.0
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
DeepSeek-V4-Pro-Max was released on 2026-04-23, while Qwen3.5-397B-A17B was released on 2026-02-16.
DeepSeek-V4-Pro-Max is 2 months newer than Qwen3.5-397B-A17B.
Apr 23, 2026
4 months ago
2mo newerFeb 16, 2026
6 months ago
Knowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.
Unable to compare the recency of their training data.
Provider Availability
DeepSeek-V4-Pro-Max is available from DeepInfra, Novita, DeepSeek, Fireworks, Together. Qwen3.5-397B-A17B is available from DeepInfra, Novita.
DeepSeek-V4-Pro-Max
Qwen3.5-397B-A17B
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against DeepSeek-V4-Pro-Max and Qwen3.5-397B-A17B side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about DeepSeek-V4-Pro-Max vs Qwen3.5-397B-A17B.