Model Comparison

LongCat-Flash-Thinking-2601 vs Qwen3 Max

LongCat-Flash-Thinking-2601 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. LongCat-Flash-Thinking-2601 is 3.1x cheaper per token.

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Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

3 benchmarks

LongCat-Flash-Thinking-2601 outperforms in 3 benchmarks (AIME 2025, GPQA, SWE-Bench Verified), while Qwen3 Max is better at 0 benchmarks.

LongCat-Flash-Thinking-2601 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Thu Apr 16 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

LongCat-Flash-Thinking-2601 costs less

For input processing, LongCat-Flash-Thinking-2601 ($0.30/1M tokens) is 1.7x cheaper than Qwen3 Max ($0.50/1M tokens).

For output processing, LongCat-Flash-Thinking-2601 ($1.20/1M tokens) is 4.2x cheaper than Qwen3 Max ($5.00/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Qwen3 Max is more expensive than LongCat-Flash-Thinking-2601.*

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

Lowest available price from all providers
Thu Apr 16 2026 • llm-stats.com
Meituan
LongCat-Flash-Thinking-2601
Input tokens$0.30
Output tokens$1.20
Best providerMeituan
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3 Max
Input tokens$0.50
Output tokens$5.00
Best providerNovita
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Model Size

Parameter count comparison

440.0B diff

Qwen3 Max has 440.0B more parameters than LongCat-Flash-Thinking-2601, making it 78.6% larger.

Meituan
LongCat-Flash-Thinking-2601
560.0Bparameters
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3 Max
1000.0Bparameters
560.0B
LongCat-Flash-Thinking-2601
1000.0B
Qwen3 Max

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Qwen3 Max accepts 256,000 input tokens compared to LongCat-Flash-Thinking-2601's 128,000 tokens. Qwen3 Max can generate longer responses up to 131,072 tokens, while LongCat-Flash-Thinking-2601 is limited to 128,000 tokens.

Meituan
LongCat-Flash-Thinking-2601
Input128,000 tokens
Output128,000 tokens
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3 Max
Input256,000 tokens
Output131,072 tokens
Thu Apr 16 2026 • llm-stats.com

License

Usage and distribution terms

LongCat-Flash-Thinking-2601 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.

LongCat-Flash-Thinking-2601

MIT

Open weights

Qwen3 Max

Proprietary

Closed source

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

LongCat-Flash-Thinking-2601 was released on 2026-01-14, while Qwen3 Max was released on 2025-12-15.

LongCat-Flash-Thinking-2601 is 1 month newer than Qwen3 Max.

LongCat-Flash-Thinking-2601

Jan 14, 2026

3 months ago

1mo newer
Qwen3 Max

Dec 15, 2025

4 months ago

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

LongCat-Flash-Thinking-2601 is available from Meituan. Qwen3 Max is available from Novita.

LongCat-Flash-Thinking-2601

meituan logo
Meituan
Input Price:Input: $0.30/1MOutput Price:Output: $1.20/1M

Qwen3 Max

novita logo
Novita
Input Price:Input: $0.50/1MOutput Price:Output: $5.00/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

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Key Takeaways

Meituan
Less expensive input tokens
Less expensive output tokens
Has open weights
Higher AIME 2025 score (99.6% vs 81.6%)
Higher GPQA score (80.5% vs 62.0%)
Higher SWE-Bench Verified score (70.0% vs 69.6%)
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team

Qwen3 Max

View details

Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team

Larger context window (256,000 tokens)

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Meituan
LongCat-Flash-Thinking-2601
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3 Max

FAQ

Common questions about LongCat-Flash-Thinking-2601 vs Qwen3 Max

LongCat-Flash-Thinking-2601 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. LongCat-Flash-Thinking-2601 is made by Meituan and Qwen3 Max is made by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.
LongCat-Flash-Thinking-2601 scores AIME 2025: 99.6%, Tau2 Telecom: 99.3%, Tau2 Retail: 88.6%, LiveCodeBench: 82.8%, GPQA: 80.5%. Qwen3 Max scores AIME 2025: 81.6%, t2-bench: 74.8%, SWE-Bench Verified: 69.6%, LiveCodeBench v6: 69.0%, SuperGPQA: 65.1%.
LongCat-Flash-Thinking-2601 is 1.7x cheaper for input tokens. LongCat-Flash-Thinking-2601 costs $0.30/M input and $1.20/M output via meituan. Qwen3 Max costs $0.50/M input and $5.00/M output via novita.
LongCat-Flash-Thinking-2601 supports 128K tokens and Qwen3 Max supports 256K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.
Key differences include context window (128K vs 256K), input pricing ($0.30 vs $0.50/M), licensing (MIT vs Proprietary). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.
LongCat-Flash-Thinking-2601 is developed by Meituan and Qwen3 Max is developed by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team.