Qwen Max vs Qwen Plus
Performance benchmarks + pricing comparison — updated April 2026
Qwen Max
QwenQwen's most powerful model. Strong reasoning and coding capabilities.
| Input | $1.60/M |
| Output | $6.40/M |
| Context | 32K tokens |
| Best For | Complex reasoning, advanced coding |
| Benchmark | 68/100 |
Qwen Plus
QwenBalanced Qwen model for general tasks. Good price-performance ratio.
| Input | $0.400/M |
| Output | $1.20/M |
| Context | 128K tokens |
| Best For | General-purpose tasks, bilingual coding |
| Benchmark | 55/100 |
Benchmark Performance Comparison
Third-party benchmark scores — higher is better. Data sourced from SWE-bench, LiveCodeBench, HumanEval, and BigCodeBench.
| Benchmark | Qwen Max | Qwen Plus | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Score | 68 | 55 | Qwen Max leads by 13pts |
| SWE-bench Verified | 62 | 48 | Qwen Max leads by 14pts |
| LiveCodeBench | 70 | 58 | Qwen Max leads by 12pts |
| HumanEval | 86 | 78 | Qwen Max leads by 8pts |
| BigCodeBench | 54 | 40 | Qwen Max leads by 14pts |
Cost Comparison by Scenario
Estimated cost per project with 30% cache hit rate. Actual costs may vary based on usage patterns.
| Scenario | Qwen Max | Qwen Plus | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small Script (1K lines) | $0.25 | $0.05 | Qwen Plus saves $0.20 (80%) |
| Medium Feature (10K lines) | $1.84 | $0.38 | Qwen Plus saves $1.46 (79%) |
| Large Project (50K lines) | $9.20 | $1.90 | Qwen Plus saves $7.30 (79%) |
| Code Review (5K lines) | $0.44 | $0.10 | Qwen Plus saves $0.34 (77%) |
Value Analysis (Price per Benchmark Score Point)
Lower is better — how much you pay for each point of benchmark performance.
| Model | Overall Score | Price per Score Point | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qwen Max | 68 | $0.024/pt | Higher cost per point |
| Qwen Plus | 55 | $0.007/pt | Better value |
Qwen Plus delivers the best value at $0.007 per score point.
Strengths & Weaknesses
Qwen Max
- + Strong Chinese language support
- + Good value
- - Less tested on English coding
Qwen Plus
- + Budget-friendly
- - Average performance
Verdict
Qwen Plus is cheaper at $0.400/M, but Qwen Max scores higher on benchmarks (68 vs 55).
Choose Qwen Plus for cost-sensitive projects, Qwen Max when performance matters most.
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