Compare / Qwen3.6-Max-Preview vs DeepSeek-V3.2-Exp

Qwen3.6-Max-Preview vs DeepSeek-V3.2-Exp

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.

AlibabaQwen3.6-Max-Preview Released 20 Apr 2026 · $1.03 in · $6.16 out
DeepSeekDeepSeek-V3.2-Exp Released 29 Sep 2025 · $0.27 in · $0.41 out
Qwen3.6-Max-Preview wins 114 too close to callDeepSeek-V3.2-Exp wins 0

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). See also Alibaba vs DeepSeek, every model from both labs.

Qwen3.6-Max-Preview or DeepSeek-V3.2-Exp? The short answer

Pick Qwen3.6-Max-Preview if quality matters most: it scores higher (Intelligence Index 28.4 against 16.6). Pick DeepSeek-V3.2-Exp if cost matters more: it costs 7.6 times less per token.

  • DeepSeek-V3.2-Exp is cheaper: $0.30 against $2.31 per million tokens, 7.6 times less.
  • Qwen3.6-Max-Preview scores higher on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index: 28.4 against 16.6.
  • Qwen3.6-Max-Preview is newer: released 20 Apr 2026, against 29 Sep 2025 for DeepSeek-V3.2-Exp.
  • On third-party benchmarks, on the results both models have: Qwen3.6-Max-Preview does better for agents and tool use, reasoning and knowledge and writing.

Head to head

28.4
Intelligence Index
16.6
$2.31
Price per million tokens, blendedlower is better
$0.30
262,144
Context window, tokens
163,840

Every fact side by side

Qwen3.6-Max-PreviewDeepSeek-V3.2-Exp
Price per million tokens$1.03 in · $6.16 out$0.27 in · $0.41 out
Blended (3 in : 1 out)$2.31$0.30
Cheapest host, blended––
Intelligence Index28.416.6
Spring Prompt overall––
Output speed, tokens a second––
Context window262,144 tokens163,840 tokens
Released20 Apr 2026 (newer)29 Sep 2025
WeightsClosedOpen
Developer based inChinaChina

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.

Agents and tool useMulti-step tasks with tools: support desks, coding agents, function calls 81 of 164 72 of 164
Reasoning and knowledgeHard questions across science, maths and general knowledge 59 of 198 106 of 198
WritingWhat people prefer in blind comparisons, and judged writing quality 41 of 188 71 of 188
Sticking to the factsSummarising without inventing things, and factual answers 45 of 152 40 of 152

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.

MeasureQwen3.6-Max-PreviewDeepSeek-V3.2-Exp
Arena (formerly LMArena) reported by Arena (formerly LMArena) · 3 results
Overall · TextArena rating, higher is better 51 · 105 of 387 measured 1,460 1,425thinking reasoning
Overall · Text factualityArena rating, higher is better 51 · 66 of 163 measured 1,453 1,446thinking reasoning
Business, management and finance · TextArena rating, higher is better 64 · 104 of 380 measured 1,451 1,422
Artificial Analysis reported by Artificial Analysis · 3 results
Artificial Analysis Intelligence Indexindex score, higher is better 57 · 119 of 243 measured 28.4 16.6thinking reasoning
GPQA Diamond% of questions, higher is better 55 · 110 of 231 measured 88.8% 79.7%thinking reasoning
Humanity's Last Exam% of questions, higher is better 70 · 126 of 242 measured 30.8% 14.9%thinking reasoning
Vending-Bench 2 reported by Vending-Bench 2 · 1 result
Money after a yearUS dollars, higher is better 31 · 44 of 58 measured $4,254 $1,034
Show all 15 results (8 more)
MeasureQwen3.6-Max-PreviewDeepSeek-V3.2-Exp
Arena (formerly LMArena) reported by Arena (formerly LMArena) · 4 results
Creative writing · TextArena rating, higher is better 50 · 79 of 385 measured 1,437 1,410
Expert prompts · TextArena rating, higher is better 36 · 99 of 338 measured 1,500 1,449thinking reasoning
Instruction following · TextArena rating, higher is better 56 · 98 of 387 measured 1,450 1,416thinking reasoning
Writing, literature and language · TextArena rating, higher is better 50 · 90 of 386 measured 1,446 1,411
Artificial Analysis reported by Artificial Analysis · 4 results
IFBench% of instructions, higher is better 14 · 93 of 195 measured 76.6% 54.2%thinking reasoning
Long-context reasoning (AA-LCR)% of questions, higher is better 33 · 96 of 233 measured 80.7% 72.3%thinking reasoning
Terminal-Bench Hard% of tasks, higher is better 23 · 65 of 190 measured 43.9% 31.1%thinking reasoning
τ²-bench telecom% of tasks, higher is better 12 · 126 of 193 measured 95.9% 33.9%no reasoning

Quick answers

Is Qwen3.6-Max-Preview better than DeepSeek-V3.2-Exp?

Pick Qwen3.6-Max-Preview if quality matters most: it scores higher (Intelligence Index 28.4 against 16.6). Pick DeepSeek-V3.2-Exp if cost matters more: it costs 7.6 times less per token.

Which is cheaper, Qwen3.6-Max-Preview or DeepSeek-V3.2-Exp?

DeepSeek-V3.2-Exp is cheaper: $0.30 against $2.31 per million tokens, 7.6 times less.

Which is better for agents and tool use, Qwen3.6-Max-Preview or DeepSeek-V3.2-Exp?

DeepSeek-V3.2-Exp ranks 72 of 164 models on sale for multi-step tasks with tools: support desks, coding agents, function calls, against 81 for Qwen3.6-Max-Preview.

Which is better for reasoning and knowledge, Qwen3.6-Max-Preview or DeepSeek-V3.2-Exp?

Qwen3.6-Max-Preview ranks 59 of 198 models on sale for hard questions across science, maths and general knowledge, against 106 for DeepSeek-V3.2-Exp.

Which is better for writing, Qwen3.6-Max-Preview or DeepSeek-V3.2-Exp?

Qwen3.6-Max-Preview ranks 41 of 188 models on sale for what people prefer in blind comparisons, and judged writing quality, against 71 for DeepSeek-V3.2-Exp.

Which is better for sticking to the facts, Qwen3.6-Max-Preview or DeepSeek-V3.2-Exp?

DeepSeek-V3.2-Exp ranks 40 of 152 models on sale for summarising without inventing things, and factual answers, against 45 for Qwen3.6-Max-Preview.

Which has the bigger context window, Qwen3.6-Max-Preview or DeepSeek-V3.2-Exp?

Qwen3.6-Max-Preview: 262,144 tokens, against 163,840 for DeepSeek-V3.2-Exp.

Run Qwen3.6-Max-Preview and DeepSeek-V3.2-Exp on your own prompt

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