Qwen3-Coder 480B A35B Instruct vs Qwen3 Max
Qwen3-Coder 480B A35B Instruct and Qwen3 Max are closely matched at 21.0 and 21.7 on the LLM Stats Score. Qwen3-Coder 480B A35B Instruct is 3.4x cheaper per token.
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Qwen3-Coder 480B A35B Instruct and Qwen3 Max are closely matched on the overall LLM Stats Score at 21.0 and 21.7.
In the 1 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Qwen3 Max wins 1; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
On price, Qwen3-Coder 480B A35B Instruct is roughly 3.4x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Qwen3-Coder 480B A35B Instruct also accepts a larger context window (262,144 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 Qwen3-Coder 480B A35B Instruct
- cost matters — it's about 3.4x cheaper per token
- you process long inputs — it offers a 262,144 token context window
- you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
Choose Qwen3 Max
- you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 1 of 1 exact shared results
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Dec 2025
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Individual benchmarks
10 reported for Qwen3-Coder 480B A35B Instruct · 6 for Qwen3 Max
Qwen3-Coder 480B A35B Instruct outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Qwen3 Max is better at 0 benchmarks.
Both models are evenly matched across the benchmarks.
Human preference
Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Qwen3-Coder 480B A35B Instruct ($0.30/1M tokens) is 1.7x cheaper than Qwen3 Max ($0.50/1M tokens).
For output processing, Qwen3-Coder 480B A35B Instruct ($1.00/1M tokens) is 5.0x cheaper than Qwen3 Max ($5.00/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Qwen3 Max is more expensive than Qwen3-Coder 480B A35B Instruct.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
Qwen3 Max has 520.0B more parameters than Qwen3-Coder 480B A35B Instruct, making it 108.3% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Qwen3-Coder 480B A35B Instruct accepts 262,144 input tokens compared to Qwen3 Max's 256,000 tokens. Qwen3-Coder 480B A35B Instruct can generate longer responses up to 262,144 tokens, while Qwen3 Max is limited to 131,072 tokens.
License
Usage and distribution terms
Qwen3-Coder 480B A35B Instruct 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
Qwen3-Coder 480B A35B Instruct was released on 2025-01-31, while Qwen3 Max was released on 2025-12-15.
Qwen3 Max is 11 months newer than Qwen3-Coder 480B A35B Instruct.
Jan 31, 2025
1.7 years ago
Dec 15, 2025
9 months ago
10mo newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.
Unable to compare the recency of their training data.
Provider Availability
Qwen3-Coder 480B A35B Instruct is available from DeepInfra. Qwen3 Max is available from Novita, DeepInfra.
Qwen3-Coder 480B A35B Instruct
Qwen3 Max
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Qwen3-Coder 480B A35B Instruct and Qwen3 Max side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Qwen3-Coder 480B A35B Instruct vs Qwen3 Max.