Qwen3-Coder-Next vs Qwen3-Max
Benchmarks, API pricing and specs, head to head. Data updated 2026-06-10.
Alibaba (Qwen) · Feb 2026
The 2026 open coding specialist: 70.6% SWE-bench Verified under Apache 2.0 from $0.11 per million input 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
Qwen3-Coder-Next wins 1 of the 1 benchmarks these models share, against 0 for Qwen3-Max. On price the gap is dramatic: Qwen3-Coder-Next works out roughly 8.5x cheaper per blended million tokens. And Qwen3-Coder-Next is open-weights (Apache 2.0), so it can be self-hosted — a structural advantage if data control or vendor independence matters.
Benchmark head-to-head 1–0
Specs & pricing
| Qwen3-Coder-Next | Qwen3-Max | |
|---|---|---|
| modhub Index | — | 80.5 |
| Input price / 1M | $0.11 | $1.2 |
| Output price / 1M | $0.8 | $6 |
| Context window | 262K | 262K |
| Max output | 66K | 66K |
| Open weights | yes (Apache 2.0) | no |
| Reasoning model | yes | yes |
| Multimodal input | text | text |
| Knowledge cutoff | Nov 2025 | Jun 2025 |
| Released | Feb 2026 | Sep 2025 |
| Example monthly cost* | $2.30 | $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, Qwen3-Coder-Next or Qwen3-Max?
- Qwen3-Coder-Next wins 1 of the 1 benchmarks these models share, against 0 for Qwen3-Max. On price the gap is dramatic: Qwen3-Coder-Next works out roughly 8.5x cheaper per blended million tokens. And Qwen3-Coder-Next is open-weights (Apache 2.0), so it can be self-hosted — a structural advantage if data control or vendor independence matters.
- Which is cheaper, Qwen3-Coder-Next or Qwen3-Max?
- Qwen3-Coder-Next costs $0.11/$0.8 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 $2.30 versus $21.00.
- Which model is better for coding, Qwen3-Coder-Next or Qwen3-Max?
- On SWE-bench Verified — the standard agentic-coding benchmark — Qwen3-Coder-Next scores 70.6% versus 69.6% for Qwen3-Max, making Qwen3-Coder-Next the stronger pick for coding agents.