DeepSeek R1 0528 vs Qwen3.6 Max Preview
DeepSeek R1 0528 (2025) and Qwen3.6 Max Preview (2026) are frontier-tier reasoning models from DeepSeek and Alibaba. DeepSeek R1 0528 ships a 130k-token context window, while Qwen3.6 Max Preview ships a 256k-token context window. On MMLU PRO, Qwen3.6 Max Preview leads by 3.5 pts. This comparison covers specs, pricing, API access, capabilities, benchmarks, input and output token costs, and production fit for coding and agent workloads.
Qwen3.6 Max Preview is safer overall; choose DeepSeek R1 0528 when coding workflow support matters.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | DeepSeek R1 0528 | Qwen3.6 Max Preview |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | reasoning-heavy apps and provider-routed production | reasoning-heavy apps, multimodal apps, and tool-calling agents |
| Decision fit | Coding, RAG, and Agents | Coding, RAG, and Agents |
| Context window | 130k | 256k |
| Cheapest output | $2.15/1M tokens | $6.24/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 7 tracked | 3 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | 4 shared | MMLU PRO leader |
Decision tradeoffs
- DeepSeek R1 0528 has the lower cheapest tracked output price at $2.15/1M tokens.
- DeepSeek R1 0528 has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and route flexibility.
- DeepSeek R1 0528 uniquely exposes Code execution in local model data.
- Local decision data tags DeepSeek R1 0528 for Coding, RAG, and Agents.
- Qwen3.6 Max Preview holds a shared-benchmark lead on MMLU PRO, ahead by 3.5 points.
- Qwen3.6 Max Preview has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
- Qwen3.6 Max Preview uniquely exposes Vision, Multimodal, and JSON / Tool use in local model data.
- Local decision data tags Qwen3.6 Max Preview 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.
DeepSeek R1 0528
$938
Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenRouter
Qwen3.6 Max Preview
$2,392
Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenRouter
Estimated monthly gap: $1,455. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.
Switch friction
- Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Qwen3.6 Max Preview is $4.09/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
- Check replacement coverage for Code execution before moving production traffic.
- Qwen3.6 Max Preview adds Vision, Multimodal, and JSON / Tool use in local capability data.
- Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter; start route-level A/B tests there.
- DeepSeek R1 0528 is $4.09/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
- Check replacement coverage for Vision, Multimodal, and JSON / Tool use before moving production traffic.
- DeepSeek R1 0528 adds Code execution in local capability data.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2025-05-28 | 2026-04-20 |
| Context window | 130k | 256k |
| Parameters | 685B total, 37B active (MoE) | — |
| Architecture | Decoder Only | Mixture of Experts |
| License | MITOSI-approved | Apache 2.0OSI-approved |
| Openness | Open source | Open source |
| Weights | Unknown | Unknown |
| Code | Unknown | Unknown |
| Commercial use | Commercial use: permitted | Commercial use: permitted |
| Knowledge cutoff | - | - |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | DeepSeek R1 0528 | Qwen3.6 Max Preview |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $0.50/1M tokens |
|
| Output price | $2.15/1M tokens |
|
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | DeepSeek R1 0528 | Qwen3.6 Max Preview |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | No | Yes |
| Multimodal | No | Yes |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yes |
| JSON / Tool use | No | Yes |
| Structured outputs | Yes | Yes |
| Code execution | Yes | No |
| IDE integration | No | No |
| Computer use | No | No |
| Parallel agents | No | No |
Benchmarks
| Benchmark | DeepSeek R1 0528 | Qwen3.6 Max Preview |
|---|---|---|
| MMLU PRO | 85.0 | 88.5 |
| SWE-bench Verified | 57.6 | 78.8 |
| Google-Proof Q&A | 81.0 | 86.0 |
| LiveCodeBench | 73.3 | 87.1 |
Continue comparing
- DeepSeek R1 0528 vs Qwen3.6-27B
- DeepSeek R1 0528 vs Phi-4 Mini Flash Reasoning
- DeepSeek R1 vs Qwen3.6 Max Preview
- Qwen3.6-35B-A3B vs Qwen3.6 Max Preview
- DeepSeek R1 0528 vs Grok 4
- DeepSeek R1 0528 vs DeepSeek V4 Flash
- DeepSeek R1 0528 vs DeepSeek V4 Pro
- DeepSeek R1 0528 vs DeepSeek V3
- Claude 3.7 Sonnet vs Qwen3.6 Max Preview
- Llama 3 70B Instruct vs Qwen3.6 Max Preview
Popular comparisons for DeepSeek R1 0528
Popular comparisons for Qwen3.6 Max Preview
Last reviewed: 2026-06-29. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.