Model Comparison

Qwen3 Max vs Qwen3 VL 235B A22B InstructWhich is better in 2026?

Qwen3 Max significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct is 2.7x cheaper per token.

Verdict: Qwen3 Max vs Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct — which is better?

Qwen3 Max (by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team) and Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct (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.

Qwen3 Max outperforms in 3 benchmarks (AIME 2025, LiveCodeBench v6, SuperGPQA), while Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct is better at 0 benchmarks. Qwen3 Max significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

On price, Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct is roughly 2.7x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct also accepts a larger context window (262,144 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.

Choose Qwen3 Max if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 3 of 3 shared benchmarks
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Dec 2025

Choose Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct if…

  • cost matters — it's about 2.7x 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

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

3 benchmarks

Qwen3 Max outperforms in 3 benchmarks (AIME 2025, LiveCodeBench v6, SuperGPQA), while Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct is better at 0 benchmarks.

Qwen3 Max significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Sat Jun 27 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct costs less

For input processing, Qwen3 Max ($0.50/1M tokens) is 1.7x more expensive than Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct ($0.30/1M tokens).

For output processing, Qwen3 Max ($5.00/1M tokens) is 3.4x more expensive than Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct ($1.49/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Qwen3 Max is more expensive than Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct.*

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

Lowest available price from all providers
Sat Jun 27 2026 • llm-stats.com
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3 Max
Input tokens$0.50
Output tokens$5.00
Best providerNovita
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct
Input tokens$0.30
Output tokens$1.49
Best providerDeepinfra
Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue→

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

764.0B diff

Qwen3 Max has 764.0B more parameters than Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct, making it 323.7% larger.

Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3 Max
1.0Tparameters
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct
236.0Bparameters
1000.0B
Qwen3 Max
236.0B
Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct accepts 262,144 input tokens compared to Qwen3 Max's 256,000 tokens. Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct can generate longer responses up to 262,144 tokens, while Qwen3 Max is limited to 131,072 tokens.

Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3 Max
Input256,000 tokens
Output131,072 tokens
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct
Input262,144 tokens
Output262,144 tokens
Sat Jun 27 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct supports multimodal inputs, whereas Qwen3 Max does not.

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

Qwen3 Max

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Qwen3 Max is licensed under a proprietary license, while Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct uses Apache 2.0.

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

Qwen3 Max

Proprietary

Closed source

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Qwen3 Max was released on 2025-12-15, while Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct was released on 2025-09-22.

Qwen3 Max is 3 months newer than Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct.

Qwen3 Max

Dec 15, 2025

6 months ago

2mo newer
Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct

Sep 22, 2025

9 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

Qwen3 Max is available from Novita. Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct is available from DeepInfra, Novita.

Qwen3 Max

novita logo
Novita
Input Price:Input: $0.50/1MOutput Price:Output: $5.00/1M

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct

deepinfra logo
Deepinfra
Input Price:Input: $0.30/1MOutput Price:Output: $1.49/1M
novita logo
Novita
Input Price:Input: $0.30/1MOutput Price:Output: $1.50/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Key Takeaways

Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team

Qwen3 Max

View details

Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team

Higher AIME 2025 score (81.6% vs 74.7%)
Higher LiveCodeBench v6 score (69.0% vs 54.3%)
Higher SuperGPQA score (65.1% vs 60.4%)
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Larger context window (262,144 tokens)
Supports multimodal inputs
Less expensive input tokens
Less expensive output tokens
Has open weights

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Qwen3 Max and Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Qwen3 Max
✓ Preferred
Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3 Max
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct

FAQ

Common questions about Qwen3 Max vs Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct.

Which is better, Qwen3 Max or Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct?

Qwen3 Max significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Qwen3 Max is made by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team and Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct is made by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does Qwen3 Max compare to Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct in benchmarks?

Qwen3 Max scores AIME 2025: 81.6%, t2-bench: 74.8%, SWE-Bench Verified: 69.6%, LiveCodeBench v6: 69.0%, SuperGPQA: 65.1%. Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct scores DocVQAtest: 97.1%, ScreenSpot: 95.4%, MMLU-Redux: 92.2%, OCRBench: 92.0%, MMBench-V1.1: 89.9%.

Is Qwen3 Max cheaper than Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct?

Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct is 1.7x cheaper for input tokens. Qwen3 Max costs $0.50/M input and $5.00/M output via novita. Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct costs $0.30/M input and $1.49/M output via deepinfra.

What are the context window sizes for Qwen3 Max and Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct?

Qwen3 Max supports 256K tokens and Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct supports 262K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between Qwen3 Max and Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct?

Key differences include context window (256K vs 262K), input pricing ($0.50 vs $0.30/M), multimodal support (no vs yes), licensing (Proprietary vs Apache 2.0). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

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