Qwen3-Max vs Qwen3.5-397B-A17B
Qwen3-Max (2025) and Qwen3.5-397B-A17B (2026) are frontier reasoning models from Alibaba. Qwen3-Max ships a 262k-token context window, while Qwen3.5-397B-A17B ships a 262k-token context window. On SWE-bench Verified, Qwen3-Max leads by 2.6 pts. On pricing, Qwen3-Max ranges from $1.20 to $3/1M input tokens by tier; Qwen3.5-397B-A17B costs $0.39/1M input tokens. This comparison covers specs, pricing, API access, capabilities, benchmarks, input and output token costs, and production fit for coding and agent workloads.
Qwen3.5-397B-A17B is safer overall; choose Qwen3-Max when vision-heavy evaluation matters.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | Qwen3-Max | Qwen3.5-397B-A17B |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | multimodal apps, tool-calling agents, 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 | 262k | 262k |
| Cheapest output | $3.90/1M tokens | $2.34/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 3 tracked | 4 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | SWE-bench Verified leader | 4 shared |
Decision tradeoffs
- Qwen3-Max holds a shared-benchmark lead on SWE-bench Verified, ahead by 2.6 points.
- Local decision data tags Qwen3-Max for Coding, RAG, and Agents.
- Qwen3.5-397B-A17B holds a shared-benchmark lead on MultiChallenge, ahead by 26.4 points.
- Qwen3.5-397B-A17B has the lower cheapest tracked output price at $2.34/1M tokens.
- Qwen3.5-397B-A17B has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and route flexibility.
- Qwen3.5-397B-A17B uniquely exposes Reasoning in local model data.
- Local decision data tags Qwen3.5-397B-A17B 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.
Qwen3-Max
$1,599
Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenRouter
Qwen3.5-397B-A17B
$897
Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenRouter
Estimated monthly gap: $702. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.
Switch friction
- Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter and Novita AI; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Qwen3.5-397B-A17B is $1.56/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
- Qwen3.5-397B-A17B adds Reasoning in local capability data.
- Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter and Novita AI; start route-level A/B tests there.
- Qwen3-Max is $1.56/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
- Check replacement coverage for Reasoning before moving production traffic.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2025-04-28 | 2026-02-16 |
| Context window | 262k | 262k |
| Parameters | — | 397B |
| Architecture | Decoder Only | Mixture of Experts |
| License | Apache 2.0OSI-approved | Apache 2.0OSI-approved |
| Openness | Open source | Open source |
| Weights | Unknown | Available |
| Code | Unknown | Unknown |
| Commercial use | Commercial use: permitted | Commercial use: permitted |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2025-12 | - |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Qwen3-Max | Qwen3.5-397B-A17B |
|---|---|---|
| Input price |
| $0.39/1M tokens |
| Output price |
| $2.34/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | Qwen3-Max | Qwen3.5-397B-A17B |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | Yes | Yes |
| Multimodal | Yes | Yes |
| Reasoning | No | Yes |
| 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 | Qwen3-Max | Qwen3.5-397B-A17B |
|---|---|---|
| SWE-bench Verified | 78.8 | 76.2 |
| MultiChallenge | 41.2 | 67.6 |
| τ-bench | 76.8 | 86.7 |
| Berkeley Function Calling Leaderboard v3 | 71.9 | 72.9 |
Continue comparing
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Last reviewed: 2026-06-29. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.