Model Comparison

Qwen3 Max vs Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking

Qwen3 Max shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks. Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking is 2.5x cheaper per token.

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Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

4 benchmarks

Qwen3 Max outperforms in 3 benchmarks (AIME 2025, LiveCodeBench v6, SuperGPQA), while Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking is better at 1 benchmark (GPQA).

Qwen3 Max shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.

Sat Apr 25 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking costs less

For input processing, Qwen3 Max ($0.50/1M tokens) is 2.8x more expensive than Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking ($0.18/1M tokens).

For output processing, Qwen3 Max ($5.00/1M tokens) is 2.4x more expensive than Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking ($2.09/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Qwen3 Max is more expensive than Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking.*

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

Lowest available price from all providers

Sat Apr 25 2026 • llm-stats.com

Qwen3 Max

Input tokens$0.50

Output tokens$5.00

Best providerNovita

Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking

Input tokens$0.18

Output tokens$2.09

Best providerDeepinfra

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue→

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

991.0B diff

Qwen3 Max has 991.0B more parameters than Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking, making it 11011.1% larger.

Qwen3 Max

1000.0Bparameters

Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking

9.0Bparameters

1000.0B

Qwen3 Max

9.0B

Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking accepts 262,144 input tokens compared to Qwen3 Max's 256,000 tokens. Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking can generate longer responses up to 262,144 tokens, while Qwen3 Max is limited to 131,072 tokens.

Qwen3 Max

Input256,000 tokens

Output131,072 tokens

Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking

Input262,144 tokens

Output262,144 tokens

Sat Apr 25 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking supports multimodal inputs, whereas Qwen3 Max does not.

Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking 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 8B Thinking

Text

Images

Audio

Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Qwen3 Max is licensed under a proprietary license, while Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking 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 8B Thinking

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Qwen3 Max was released on 2025-12-15, while Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking was released on 2025-09-22.

Qwen3 Max is 3 months newer than Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking.

Qwen3 Max

Dec 15, 2025

4 months ago

2mo newer

Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking

Sep 22, 2025

7 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 8B Thinking is available from DeepInfra.

Qwen3 Max

Novita

Input Price:Input: $0.50/1MOutput Price:Output: $5.00/1M

Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking

Deepinfra

Input Price:Input: $0.18/1MOutput Price:Output: $2.09/1M

* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

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Key Takeaways

Qwen3 Max

View details

Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team

Higher AIME 2025 score (81.6% vs 80.3%)

Higher LiveCodeBench v6 score (69.0% vs 58.6%)

Higher SuperGPQA score (65.1% vs 51.2%)

Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking

View details

Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team

Larger context window (262,144 tokens)

Supports multimodal inputs

Less expensive input tokens

Less expensive output tokens

Has open weights

Higher GPQA score (69.9% vs 62.0%)

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature	Qwen3 Max	Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking

FAQ

Common questions about Qwen3 Max vs Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking

Qwen3 Max shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks. Qwen3 Max is made by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team and Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking is made by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

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 8B Thinking scores DocVQAtest: 95.3%, ScreenSpot: 93.6%, MMLU-Redux: 88.8%, MMBench-V1.1: 87.5%, InfoVQAtest: 86.0%.

Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking is 2.8x cheaper for input tokens. Qwen3 Max costs $0.50/M input and $5.00/M output via novita. Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking costs $0.18/M input and $2.09/M output via deepinfra.

Qwen3 Max supports 256K tokens and Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking supports 262K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

Key differences include context window (256K vs 262K), input pricing ($0.50 vs $0.18/M), multimodal support (no vs yes), licensing (Proprietary vs Apache 2.0). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Qwen3 Max vs Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking

Performance Benchmarks

Arena Performance

Pricing Analysis

Model Size

Context Window

Input Capabilities

Qwen3 Max

Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking

License

Release Timeline

Knowledge Cutoff

Provider Availability

Qwen3 Max

Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking

Outputs Comparison

Key Takeaways

Qwen3 Max

Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking

Detailed Comparison

FAQ

Which is better, Qwen3 Max or Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking?

How does Qwen3 Max compare to Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking in benchmarks?

Is Qwen3 Max cheaper than Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking?

What are the context window sizes for Qwen3 Max and Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking?

What are the main differences between Qwen3 Max and Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking?