Compare / Qwen3.5-27B vs Qwen3.6-Max-Preview
Qwen3.5-27B vs Qwen3.6-Max-Preview
Which is cheaper, which is more capable, and which does better at each kind of work, from 15 results on 3 sources that measured both models.
Of the 15 results both models have, the better value on each. Results whose reported ranges overlap are too close to call.
Results as of 9 October 2026 (catalogue release 2026-10-09-dd620e778ac5).
Qwen3.5-27B or Qwen3.6-Max-Preview? The short answer
Pick Qwen3.6-Max-Preview if quality matters most: it scores higher (Intelligence Index 28.4 against 22.9). Pick Qwen3.5-27B if cost matters more: it costs 3.1 times less per token.
- Qwen3.5-27B is cheaper: $0.74 against $2.31 per million tokens, 3.1 times less.
- Qwen3.6-Max-Preview scores higher on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index: 28.4 against 22.9.
- Qwen3.6-Max-Preview is newer: released 20 Apr 2026, against 24 Feb 2026 for Qwen3.5-27B.
- On third-party benchmarks, on the results both models have: Qwen3.6-Max-Preview does better for agents and tool use, reasoning and knowledge, writing and sticking to the facts.
Head to head
Every fact side by side
| Qwen3.5-27B | Qwen3.6-Max-Preview | |
|---|---|---|
| Price per million tokens | $0.27 in · $2.16 out | $1.03 in · $6.16 out |
| Blended (3 in : 1 out) | $0.74 | $2.31 |
| Cheapest host, blended | $0.54 (Alibaba) | – |
| Intelligence Index | 22.9 | 28.4 |
| Spring Prompt overall | – | – |
| Output speed, tokens a second | – | – |
| Context window | 262,144 tokens | 262,144 tokens |
| Released | 24 Feb 2026 | 20 Apr 2026 (newer) |
| Weights | Open | Closed |
| Developer based in | China | China |
Prices are the developer's list price where we have read it, otherwise the typical host on OpenRouter; see every model's price. Intelligence and speed from Artificial Analysis.
Which is better for what
Each model's rank among the models on sale today, for each kind of work, from our own benchmarks and licensed sources. Further right is better; the better rank is in green.
Every shared result
Each model's best result on every measure both have, grouped by benchmark, with the setting that produced it. Under each measure, every model that benchmark has measured is a grey tick, best to the right, so you can see where the two sit in the field. The headline measures of each benchmark come first; the rest are under "Show all". Green marks the better value; where a source reports ranges that overlap, neither is marked.
| Measure | Qwen3.5-27B | Qwen3.6-Max-Preview |
|---|---|---|
| Arena (formerly LMArena) reported by Arena (formerly LMArena) · 3 results | ||
| Overall · TextArena rating, higher is better 129 · 51 of 387 measured | 1,409 | 1,460 |
| Overall · Text factualityArena rating, higher is better 112 · 51 of 163 measured | 1,420 | 1,453 |
| Business, management and finance · TextArena rating, higher is better 128 · 64 of 380 measured | 1,408 | 1,451 |
| Artificial Analysis reported by Artificial Analysis · 3 results | ||
| Artificial Analysis Intelligence Indexindex score, higher is better 86 · 57 of 243 measured | 22.9 | 28.4 |
| GPQA Diamond% of questions, higher is better 74 · 55 of 231 measured | 85.8% | 88.8% |
| Humanity's Last Exam% of questions, higher is better 95 · 70 of 242 measured | 23.9% | 30.8% |
| Vending-Bench 2 reported by Vending-Bench 2 · 1 result | ||
| Money after a yearUS dollars, higher is better 50 · 31 of 58 measured | $201.98 | $4,254 |
Show all 15 results (8 more)
| Measure | Qwen3.5-27B | Qwen3.6-Max-Preview |
|---|---|---|
| Arena (formerly LMArena) reported by Arena (formerly LMArena) · 4 results | ||
| Creative writing · TextArena rating, higher is better 145 · 50 of 385 measured | 1,358 | 1,437 |
| Expert prompts · TextArena rating, higher is better 112 · 36 of 338 measured | 1,441 | 1,500 |
| Instruction following · TextArena rating, higher is better 122 · 56 of 387 measured | 1,401 | 1,450 |
| Writing, literature and language · TextArena rating, higher is better 135 · 50 of 386 measured | 1,380 | 1,446 |
| Artificial Analysis reported by Artificial Analysis · 4 results | ||
| IFBench% of instructions, higher is better 24 · 14 of 195 measured | 75.6% | 76.6% |
| Long-context reasoning (AA-LCR)% of questions, higher is better 63 · 33 of 233 measured | 77.7% | 80.7% |
| Terminal-Bench Hard% of tasks, higher is better 61 · 23 of 190 measured | 32.6% | 43.9% |
| τ²-bench telecom% of tasks, higher is better 28 · 12 of 193 measured | 93.9% | 95.9% |
Quick answers
Is Qwen3.5-27B better than Qwen3.6-Max-Preview?
Pick Qwen3.6-Max-Preview if quality matters most: it scores higher (Intelligence Index 28.4 against 22.9). Pick Qwen3.5-27B if cost matters more: it costs 3.1 times less per token.
Which is cheaper, Qwen3.5-27B or Qwen3.6-Max-Preview?
Qwen3.5-27B is cheaper: $0.74 against $2.31 per million tokens, 3.1 times less.
Which is better for agents and tool use, Qwen3.5-27B or Qwen3.6-Max-Preview?
Qwen3.6-Max-Preview ranks 81 of 164 models on sale for multi-step tasks with tools: support desks, coding agents, function calls, against 145 for Qwen3.5-27B.
Which is better for reasoning and knowledge, Qwen3.5-27B or Qwen3.6-Max-Preview?
Qwen3.6-Max-Preview ranks 59 of 198 models on sale for hard questions across science, maths and general knowledge, against 82 for Qwen3.5-27B.
Which is better for writing, Qwen3.5-27B or Qwen3.6-Max-Preview?
Qwen3.6-Max-Preview ranks 41 of 188 models on sale for what people prefer in blind comparisons, and judged writing quality, against 98 for Qwen3.5-27B.
Which is better for sticking to the facts, Qwen3.5-27B or Qwen3.6-Max-Preview?
Qwen3.6-Max-Preview ranks 45 of 152 models on sale for summarising without inventing things, and factual answers, against 121 for Qwen3.5-27B.
Run Qwen3.5-27B and Qwen3.6-Max-Preview on your own prompt
Benchmarks aren't your data. Try both side by side in the playground, with the cost of every answer.