Qwen3 Max vs Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking
Qwen3 Max leads the LLM Stats Score 21.7 to 18.2. Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking is 4.1x cheaper per token.
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Qwen3 Max leads the overall LLM Stats Score 21.7 to 18.2, ranking #200 overall.
The models split the 4 individual benchmarks reported for both models evenly.
On price, Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking is roughly 4.1x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Qwen3 Max also accepts a larger context window (256,000 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 Max
- overall performance matters — it scores 21.7 and ranks #200 on LLM Stats
- you process long inputs — it offers a 256,000 token context window
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Dec 2025
Choose Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking
- cost matters — it's about 4.1x cheaper per token
- you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Capability indexes
Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks
Individual benchmarks
6 reported for Qwen3 Max · 50 for Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking
Qwen3 Max outperforms in 2 benchmarks (LiveCodeBench v6, SuperGPQA), while Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking is better at 2 benchmarks (AIME 2025, GPQA).
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 Max ($0.50/1M tokens) is 2.5x more expensive than Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking ($0.20/1M tokens).
For output processing, Qwen3 Max ($5.00/1M tokens) is 5.1x more expensive than Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking ($0.99/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Qwen3 Max is more expensive than Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
Qwen3 Max has 969.0B more parameters than Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking, making it 3125.8% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Qwen3 Max accepts 256,000 input tokens compared to Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking's 131,072 tokens. Qwen3 Max can generate longer responses up to 131,072 tokens, while Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking is limited to 32,768 tokens.
Input capabilities
Documented input modalities across available providers
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking supports multimodal inputs, whereas Qwen3 Max does not.
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
Qwen3 Max
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking
License
Usage and distribution terms
Qwen3 Max is licensed under a proprietary license, while Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking uses Apache 2.0.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
Proprietary
Closed source
Apache 2.0
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Qwen3 Max was released on 2025-12-15, while Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking was released on 2025-09-22.
Qwen3 Max is 3 months newer than Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking.
Dec 15, 2025
9 months ago
2mo newerSep 22, 2025
1.0 years 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
Qwen3 Max is available from Novita, DeepInfra. Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking is available from Novita, DeepInfra.
Qwen3 Max
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Qwen3 Max and Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Qwen3 Max vs Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking.