Model Comparison
Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512) vs Qwen3 MaxWhich is better in 2026?
Qwen3 Max significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512) is 2.2x cheaper per token.
Verdict: Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512) vs Qwen3 Max — which is better?
Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512) (by Mistral AI) and Qwen3 Max (by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team) are two of the AI models people compare most. Here is how they stack up on benchmarks, price and capabilities, and which one to pick in 2026.
Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512) outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Qwen3 Max is better at 1 benchmark (GPQA). Qwen3 Max significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
On price, Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512) is roughly 2.2x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512) also accepts a larger context window (262,100 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.
Choose Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512) if…
- cost matters — it's about 2.2x cheaper per token
- you process long inputs — it offers a 262,100 token context window
- you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
Choose Qwen3 Max if…
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 1 of 1 shared benchmarks
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Dec 2025
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512) outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Qwen3 Max is better at 1 benchmark (GPQA).
Qwen3 Max significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Human preference votes
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512) ($0.50/1M tokens) costs the same as Qwen3 Max ($0.50/1M tokens).
For output processing, Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512) ($1.50/1M tokens) is 3.3x cheaper than Qwen3 Max ($5.00/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Qwen3 Max is more expensive than Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512).*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
Qwen3 Max has 325.0B more parameters than Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512), making it 48.1% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512) accepts 262,100 input tokens compared to Qwen3 Max's 256,000 tokens. Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512) can generate longer responses up to 262,100 tokens, while Qwen3 Max is limited to 131,072 tokens.
Input Capabilities
Supported data types and modalities
Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512) supports multimodal inputs, whereas Qwen3 Max does not.
Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512) can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512)
Qwen3 Max
License
Usage and distribution terms
Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512) is licensed under Apache 2.0, while Qwen3 Max uses a proprietary license.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
Apache 2.0
Open weights
Proprietary
Closed source
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512) was released on 2025-12-04, while Qwen3 Max was released on 2025-12-15.
Qwen3 Max is 0 month newer than Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512).
Dec 4, 2025
7 months ago
Dec 15, 2025
7 months ago
1w newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.
Unable to compare the recency of their training data.
Provider Availability
Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512) is available from Mistral AI. Qwen3 Max is available from Novita.
Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512)
Qwen3 Max
Outputs Comparison
Key Takeaways
Qwen3 Max
View detailsAlibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Detailed Comparison
Interactive Arena
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512) and Qwen3 Max side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
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FAQ
Common questions about Mistral Large 3 (675B Instruct 2512) vs Qwen3 Max.
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