DeepSeek V4 vs Qwen3-Max
Benchmarks, API pricing and specs, head to head. Data updated 2026-06-10.
DeepSeek · Mar 2026
The open-weights shock of 2026: ~81% SWE-bench Verified, a 1M context and MIT license at $0.30/$0.50 per million tokens.
Alibaba (Qwen) · Sep 2025
Alibaba's trillion-parameter API flagship — frontier-adjacent quality with strong agentic tool use at mid-tier prices.
The verdict
DeepSeek V4 wins 1 of the 1 benchmarks these models share, against 0 for Qwen3-Max. On price the gap is dramatic: DeepSeek V4 works out roughly 6.9x cheaper per blended million tokens. DeepSeek V4 also takes 1M of context versus 262K for Qwen3-Max. And DeepSeek V4 is open-weights (MIT), so it can be self-hosted — a structural advantage if data control or vendor independence matters.
Benchmark head-to-head 1–0
Specs & pricing
| DeepSeek V4 | Qwen3-Max | |
|---|---|---|
| modhub Index | — | 80.5 |
| Input price / 1M | $0.3 | $1.2 |
| Output price / 1M | $0.5 | $6 |
| Context window | 1M | 262K |
| Max output | 64K | 66K |
| Open weights | yes (MIT) | no |
| Reasoning model | yes | yes |
| Multimodal input | text | text |
| Knowledge cutoff | Dec 2025 | Jun 2025 |
| Released | Mar 2026 | Sep 2025 |
| Example monthly cost* | $3.75 | $21.00 |
* 10M input + 1.5M output tokens per month at list prices, no caching. Green = better value on that row.
Frequently asked questions
- Which is better, DeepSeek V4 or Qwen3-Max?
- DeepSeek V4 wins 1 of the 1 benchmarks these models share, against 0 for Qwen3-Max. On price the gap is dramatic: DeepSeek V4 works out roughly 6.9x cheaper per blended million tokens. DeepSeek V4 also takes 1M of context versus 262K for Qwen3-Max. And DeepSeek V4 is open-weights (MIT), so it can be self-hosted — a structural advantage if data control or vendor independence matters.
- Which is cheaper, DeepSeek V4 or Qwen3-Max?
- DeepSeek V4 costs $0.3/$0.5 per million input/output tokens, while Qwen3-Max costs $1.2/$6. For a typical workload of 10M input and 1.5M output tokens per month, that's $3.75 versus $21.00.
- Which model is better for coding, DeepSeek V4 or Qwen3-Max?
- On SWE-bench Verified — the standard agentic-coding benchmark — DeepSeek V4 scores ~81% versus 69.6% for Qwen3-Max, making DeepSeek V4 the stronger pick for coding agents.