Compare / Qwen3.6-Max-Preview vs Gemma 4 31B
Qwen3.6-Max-Preview vs Gemma 4 31B
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). See also Alibaba vs Google, every model from both labs.
Qwen3.6-Max-Preview or Gemma 4 31B? The short answer
Pick Qwen3.6-Max-Preview if quality matters most: it scores higher (Intelligence Index 28.4 against 14.7). Pick Gemma 4 31B if cost matters more: it costs 11 times less per token.
- Gemma 4 31B is cheaper: $0.21 against $2.31 per million tokens, 11 times less.
- Qwen3.6-Max-Preview scores higher on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index: 28.4 against 14.7.
- Qwen3.6-Max-Preview is newer: released 20 Apr 2026, against 2 Apr 2026 for Gemma 4 31B.
- On third-party benchmarks, on the results both models have: Qwen3.6-Max-Preview does better for reasoning and knowledge and sticking to the facts.
Head to head
Every fact side by side
| Qwen3.6-Max-Preview | Gemma 4 31B | |
|---|---|---|
| Price per million tokens | $1.03 in · $6.16 out | $0.14 in · $0.40 out |
| Blended (3 in : 1 out) | $2.31 | $0.21 |
| Cheapest host, blended | – | $0.15 (DeepInfra, FP4) |
| Intelligence Index | 28.4 | 14.7 |
| Spring Prompt overall | – | – |
| Output speed, tokens a second | – | 43 |
| Context window | 262,144 tokens | 262,144 tokens |
| Released | 20 Apr 2026 (newer) | 2 Apr 2026 |
| Weights | Closed | Open |
| Developer based in | China | the US |
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 | Qwen3.6-Max-Preview | Gemma 4 31B |
|---|---|---|
| Arena (formerly LMArena) reported by Arena (formerly LMArena) · 3 results | ||
| Overall · TextArena rating, higher is better 51 · 65 of 387 measured | 1,460 | 1,453 |
| Overall · Text factualityArena rating, higher is better 51 · 60 of 163 measured | 1,453 | 1,450 |
| Business, management and finance · TextArena rating, higher is better 64 · 66 of 380 measured | 1,451 | 1,449 |
| Artificial Analysis reported by Artificial Analysis · 3 results | ||
| Artificial Analysis Intelligence Indexindex score, higher is better 57 · 130 of 243 measured | 28.4 | 14.7 |
| GPQA Diamond% of questions, higher is better 55 · 75 of 231 measured | 88.8% | 85.7% |
| Humanity's Last Exam% of questions, higher is better 70 · 97 of 242 measured | 30.8% | 23.6% |
| SimpleQA Verified (Epoch AI) reported by SimpleQA Verified (Epoch AI) · 1 result | ||
| Correct answers% of questions, higher is better 21 · 74 of 76 measured | 52.0% | 10.4% |
Show all 15 results (8 more)
| Measure | Qwen3.6-Max-Preview | Gemma 4 31B |
|---|---|---|
| Arena (formerly LMArena) reported by Arena (formerly LMArena) · 4 results | ||
| Creative writing · TextArena rating, higher is better 50 · 74 of 385 measured | 1,437 | 1,420 |
| Expert prompts · TextArena rating, higher is better 36 · 42 of 338 measured | 1,500 | 1,498 |
| Instruction following · TextArena rating, higher is better 56 · 49 of 387 measured | 1,450 | 1,453 |
| Writing, literature and language · TextArena rating, higher is better 50 · 63 of 386 measured | 1,446 | 1,435 |
| Artificial Analysis reported by Artificial Analysis · 4 results | ||
| IFBench% of instructions, higher is better 14 · 24 of 195 measured | 76.6% | 75.6% |
| Long-context reasoning (AA-LCR)% of questions, higher is better 33 · 112 of 233 measured | 80.7% | 69.7% |
| Terminal-Bench Hard% of tasks, higher is better 23 · 46 of 190 measured | 43.9% | 36.4% |
| τ²-bench telecom% of tasks, higher is better 12 · 88 of 193 measured | 95.9% | 65.5%no reasoning |
Compare them with other models
Quick answers
Is Qwen3.6-Max-Preview better than Gemma 4 31B?
Pick Qwen3.6-Max-Preview if quality matters most: it scores higher (Intelligence Index 28.4 against 14.7). Pick Gemma 4 31B if cost matters more: it costs 11 times less per token.
Which is cheaper, Qwen3.6-Max-Preview or Gemma 4 31B?
Gemma 4 31B is cheaper: $0.21 against $2.31 per million tokens, 11 times less.
Which is better for agents and tool use, Qwen3.6-Max-Preview or Gemma 4 31B?
Qwen3.6-Max-Preview ranks 81 of 164 models on sale for multi-step tasks with tools: support desks, coding agents, function calls, against 101 for Gemma 4 31B.
Which is better for reasoning and knowledge, Qwen3.6-Max-Preview or Gemma 4 31B?
Qwen3.6-Max-Preview ranks 59 of 198 models on sale for hard questions across science, maths and general knowledge, against 93 for Gemma 4 31B.
Which is better for writing, Qwen3.6-Max-Preview or Gemma 4 31B?
Qwen3.6-Max-Preview ranks 41 of 188 models on sale for what people prefer in blind comparisons, and judged writing quality, against 74 for Gemma 4 31B.
Which is better for sticking to the facts, Qwen3.6-Max-Preview or Gemma 4 31B?
Qwen3.6-Max-Preview ranks 45 of 152 models on sale for summarising without inventing things, and factual answers, against 90 for Gemma 4 31B.
Run Qwen3.6-Max-Preview and Gemma 4 31B on your own prompt
Benchmarks aren't your data. Try both side by side in the playground, with the cost of every answer.