Claude Sonnet 4.5 vs Qwen3-Max
Claude Sonnet 4.5 (2025) and Qwen3-Max (2025) are frontier reasoning models from Anthropic and Alibaba. Claude Sonnet 4.5 ships a 200k-token context window, while Qwen3-Max ships a 262k-token context window. On SWE-bench Verified, Qwen3-Max leads by 1.6 pts. This comparison covers specs, pricing, API access, capabilities, benchmarks, input and output token costs, and production fit for coding and agent workloads.
Claude Sonnet 4.5 is safer overall; choose Qwen3-Max when long-context analysis matters.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | Claude Sonnet 4.5 | Qwen3-Max |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | reasoning-heavy apps, multimodal apps, and tool-calling agents | multimodal apps, tool-calling agents, and provider-routed production |
| Decision fit | Coding, RAG, and Agents | Coding, RAG, and Agents |
| Context window | 200k | 262k |
| Cheapest output | $15/1M tokens | $3.90/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 8 tracked | 3 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | 1 shared | SWE-bench Verified leader |
Decision tradeoffs
- Claude Sonnet 4.5 has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and route flexibility.
- Claude Sonnet 4.5 uniquely exposes Reasoning in local model data.
- Local decision data tags Claude Sonnet 4.5 for Coding, RAG, and Agents.
- Qwen3-Max holds a shared-benchmark lead on SWE-bench Verified, ahead by 1.6 points.
- Qwen3-Max has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
- Qwen3-Max has the lower cheapest tracked output price at $3.90/1M tokens.
- Local decision data tags Qwen3-Max for Coding, RAG, and Agents.
Monthly cost at traffic
Estimate token spend from the cheapest tracked input and output route or tier on this page.
Claude Sonnet 4.5
$6,150
Cheapest tracked route/tier: Microsoft Foundry
Qwen3-Max
$1,599
Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenRouter
Estimated monthly gap: $4,551. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.
Switch friction
- Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter and Vercel AI Gateway; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Qwen3-Max is $11.10/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
- Check replacement coverage for Reasoning before moving production traffic.
- Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter and Vercel AI Gateway; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Claude Sonnet 4.5 is $11.10/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
- Claude Sonnet 4.5 adds Reasoning in local capability data.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2025-09-29 | 2025-04-28 |
| Context window | 200k | 262k |
| Parameters | — | — |
| Architecture | Decoder Only | Decoder Only |
| License | Proprietary | Apache 2.0OSI-approved |
| Openness | Proprietary | Open source |
| Weights | Not released | Unknown |
| Code | Unknown | Unknown |
| Commercial use | Commercial use: conditional | Commercial use: permitted |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2025-12 | 2025-12 |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Claude Sonnet 4.5 | Qwen3-Max |
|---|---|---|
| Input price |
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| Output price |
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| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | Claude Sonnet 4.5 | Qwen3-Max |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | Yes | Yes |
| Multimodal | Yes | Yes |
| Reasoning | Yes | No |
| JSON / Tool use | Yes | Yes |
| Structured outputs | Yes | Yes |
| Code execution | No | No |
| IDE integration | No | No |
| Computer use | No | No |
| Parallel agents | No | No |
Benchmarks
| Benchmark | Claude Sonnet 4.5 | Qwen3-Max |
|---|---|---|
| SWE-bench Verified | 77.2 | 78.8 |
Continue comparing
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Last reviewed: 2026-07-26. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.