Qwen3.5-397B-A17B vs Qwen3 Max Comparison

Comparing Qwen3.5-397B-A17B and Qwen3 Max across benchmarks, pricing, and capabilities.

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

5 benchmarks

Qwen3.5-397B-A17B outperforms in 5 benchmarks (GPQA, LiveCodeBench v6, SuperGPQA, SWE-Bench Verified, t2-bench), while Qwen3 Max is better at 0 benchmarks.

Qwen3.5-397B-A17B significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Tue Mar 17 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

Qwen3.5-397B-A17B costs less

For input processing, Qwen3.5-397B-A17B ($0.60/1M tokens) is 1.2x more expensive than Qwen3 Max ($0.50/1M tokens).

For output processing, Qwen3.5-397B-A17B ($3.60/1M tokens) is 1.4x cheaper than Qwen3 Max ($5.00/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Qwen3 Max is more expensive than Qwen3.5-397B-A17B.*

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

Lowest available price from all providers
Tue Mar 17 2026 • llm-stats.com
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3.5-397B-A17B
Input tokens$0.60
Output tokens$3.60
Best providerNovita
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3 Max
Input tokens$0.50
Output tokens$5.00
Best providerNovita
Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

603.0B diff

Qwen3 Max has 603.0B more parameters than Qwen3.5-397B-A17B, making it 151.9% larger.

Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3.5-397B-A17B
397.0Bparameters
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3 Max
1000.0Bparameters
397.0B
Qwen3.5-397B-A17B
1000.0B
Qwen3 Max

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Qwen3.5-397B-A17B accepts 262,144 input tokens compared to Qwen3 Max's 256,000 tokens. Qwen3 Max can generate longer responses up to 131,072 tokens, while Qwen3.5-397B-A17B is limited to 64,000 tokens.

Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3.5-397B-A17B
Input262,144 tokens
Output64,000 tokens
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3 Max
Input256,000 tokens
Output131,072 tokens
Tue Mar 17 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Qwen3.5-397B-A17B supports multimodal inputs, whereas Qwen3 Max does not.

Qwen3.5-397B-A17B can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

Qwen3.5-397B-A17B

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Qwen3 Max

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Qwen3.5-397B-A17B 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.

Qwen3.5-397B-A17B

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Qwen3 Max

Proprietary

Closed source

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Qwen3.5-397B-A17B was released on 2026-02-16, while Qwen3 Max was released on 2025-12-15.

Qwen3.5-397B-A17B is 2 months newer than Qwen3 Max.

Qwen3.5-397B-A17B

Feb 16, 2026

4 weeks ago

2mo newer
Qwen3 Max

Dec 15, 2025

3 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

Qwen3.5-397B-A17B is available from Novita. Qwen3 Max is available from Novita. The availability of providers can affect quality of the model and reliability.

Qwen3.5-397B-A17B

novita logo
Novita
Input Price:Input: $0.60/1MOutput Price:Output: $3.60/1M

Qwen3 Max

novita logo
Novita
Input Price:Input: $0.50/1MOutput Price:Output: $5.00/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion

Key Takeaways

Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team

Qwen3.5-397B-A17B

View details

Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team

Larger context window (262,144 tokens)
Supports multimodal inputs
Less expensive output tokens
Has open weights
Higher GPQA score (88.4% vs 62.0%)
Higher LiveCodeBench v6 score (83.6% vs 69.0%)
Higher SuperGPQA score (70.4% vs 65.1%)
Higher SWE-Bench Verified score (76.4% vs 69.6%)
Higher t2-bench score (86.7% vs 74.8%)
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team

Qwen3 Max

View details

Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team

Less expensive input tokens

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3.5-397B-A17B
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3 Max