Mistral Medium 3.5 vs Qwen3-Max
Mistral Medium 3.5 (2026) and Qwen3-Max (2026) are frontier reasoning models from MistralAI and Alibaba. Mistral Medium 3.5 ships a 256K-token context window, while Qwen3-Max ships a 128K-token context window. On SWE-bench Verified, Qwen3-Max leads by 1.2 pts. On pricing, Qwen3-Max costs $0.78/1M input tokens versus $1.5/1M for the alternative. This comparison covers specs, pricing, capabilities, benchmarks, provider availability, and production fit.
Qwen3-Max is ~92% cheaper at $0.78/1M; pay for Mistral Medium 3.5 only for reasoning depth.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | Mistral Medium 3.5 | Qwen3-Max |
|---|---|---|
| Decision fit | Coding, RAG, and Agents | Coding, RAG, and Agents |
| Context window | 256K | 128K |
| Cheapest output | $7.5/1M tokens | $3.9/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 2 tracked | 1 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | 1 rows | SWE-bench Verified leader |
Decision tradeoffs
- Mistral Medium 3.5 has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
- Mistral Medium 3.5 has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and procurement flexibility.
- Mistral Medium 3.5 uniquely exposes Reasoning in local model data.
- Local decision data tags Mistral Medium 3.5 for Coding, RAG, and Agents.
- Qwen3-Max leads the largest shared benchmark signal on SWE-bench Verified by 1.2 points.
- Qwen3-Max has the lower cheapest tracked output price at $3.9/1M 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 prices on this page.
Mistral Medium 3.5
$3,075
Cheapest tracked route: Mistral AI Studio
Qwen3-Max
$1,599
Cheapest tracked route: OpenRouter
Estimated monthly gap: $1,476. Batch, cache, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.
Switch friction
- Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Qwen3-Max is $3.6/1M 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; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Mistral Medium 3.5 is $3.6/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
- Mistral Medium 3.5 adds Reasoning in local capability data.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2026-04-29 | 2026-01-15 |
| Context window | 256K | 128K |
| Parameters | 128B | — |
| Architecture | decoder only | decoder only |
| License | Mistral License | Proprietary |
| Knowledge cutoff | - | 2025-12 |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Mistral Medium 3.5 | Qwen3-Max |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $1.5/1M tokens | $0.78/1M tokens |
| Output price | $7.5/1M tokens | $3.9/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | Mistral Medium 3.5 | Qwen3-Max |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | Yes | Yes |
| Multimodal | Yes | Yes |
| Reasoning | Yes | No |
| Function calling | Yes | Yes |
| Tool use | Yes | Yes |
| Structured outputs | Yes | Yes |
| Code execution | No | No |
Benchmarks
| Benchmark | Mistral Medium 3.5 | Qwen3-Max |
|---|---|---|
| SWE-bench Verified | 77.6 | 78.8 |
Deep dive
On shared benchmark coverage, SWE-bench Verified has Mistral Medium 3.5 at 77.6 and Qwen3-Max at 78.8, with Qwen3-Max ahead by 1.2 points. The largest visible gap is 1.2 points on SWE-bench Verified, which matters most when that benchmark mirrors your workload. Treat isolated benchmark wins as directional, because provider routing, prompt style, and tool access can move real application results.
The capability footprint differs most on reasoning mode: Mistral Medium 3.5. Both models share vision, multimodal input, function calling, and tool use, so the practical split is not just feature count. Use those differences to decide whether the page is about raw model quality, agentic coding support, multimodal ingestion, or predictable structured API behavior.
For cost, Mistral Medium 3.5 lists $1.5/1M input and $7.5/1M output tokens, while Qwen3-Max lists $0.78/1M input and $3.9/1M output tokens on the cheapest tracked provider. A 70/30 input-output blend puts Qwen3-Max lower by about $1.58 per million blended tokens. Availability is 2 providers versus 1, so concentration risk also matters.
Choose Mistral Medium 3.5 when reasoning depth, larger context windows, and broader provider choice are central to the workload. Choose Qwen3-Max when vision-heavy evaluation and lower input-token cost are more important. For production, rerun your own prompts through the exact provider, region, and tool stack you plan to ship.
FAQ
Which has a larger context window, Mistral Medium 3.5 or Qwen3-Max?
Mistral Medium 3.5 supports 256K tokens, while Qwen3-Max supports 128K tokens. That gap matters most for long documents, large codebases, retrieval-heavy agents, and conversations where earlier context must remain visible.
Which is cheaper, Mistral Medium 3.5 or Qwen3-Max?
Qwen3-Max is cheaper on tracked token pricing. Mistral Medium 3.5 costs $1.5/1M input and $7.5/1M output tokens. Qwen3-Max costs $0.78/1M input and $3.9/1M output tokens. Provider discounts or batch pricing can still change the final bill.
Is Mistral Medium 3.5 or Qwen3-Max open source?
Mistral Medium 3.5 is listed under Mistral License. Qwen3-Max is listed under Proprietary. License labels affect whether you can self-host, redistribute weights, or rely only on hosted APIs, so confirm the upstream license before deployment.
Which is better for vision, Mistral Medium 3.5 or Qwen3-Max?
Both Mistral Medium 3.5 and Qwen3-Max expose vision. The better choice depends on benchmark fit, context budget, pricing, and whether your provider route exposes the same capability surface. Use this as a quick comparison signal, then confirm the provider-specific limits before committing to production.
Which is better for multimodal input, Mistral Medium 3.5 or Qwen3-Max?
Both Mistral Medium 3.5 and Qwen3-Max expose multimodal input. The better choice depends on benchmark fit, context budget, pricing, and whether your provider route exposes the same capability surface. Use this as a quick comparison signal, then confirm the provider-specific limits before committing to production.
Where can I run Mistral Medium 3.5 and Qwen3-Max?
Mistral Medium 3.5 is available on Mistral AI Studio and OpenRouter. Qwen3-Max is available on OpenRouter. Provider coverage can affect latency, region availability, compliance posture, and fallback options. Use this as a quick comparison signal, then confirm the provider-specific limits before committing to production.
Continue comparing
Last reviewed: 2026-05-14. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.