Compare / Qwen3.6-Max-Preview vs Grok 4.5
Qwen3.6-Max-Preview vs Grok 4.5
Which is cheaper, which is more capable, and which does better at each kind of work, from 13 results on 4 sources that measured both models.
Of the 13 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 xAI, every model from both labs.
Qwen3.6-Max-Preview or Grok 4.5? The short answer
Pick Grok 4.5 if quality matters most: it scores higher (Intelligence Index 38.8 against 28.4). Pick Qwen3.6-Max-Preview if cost matters more: it costs 23% less per token.
- Qwen3.6-Max-Preview is cheaper: $2.31 against $3.00 per million tokens, 23% less.
- Grok 4.5 scores higher on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index: 38.8 against 28.4.
- Grok 4.5 is newer: released 8 Jul 2026, against 20 Apr 2026 for Qwen3.6-Max-Preview.
- On third-party benchmarks, on the results both models have: Qwen3.6-Max-Preview does better for agents and tool use; Grok 4.5 for reasoning and knowledge.
Head to head
Every fact side by side
| Qwen3.6-Max-Preview | Grok 4.5 | |
|---|---|---|
| Price per million tokens | $1.03 in · $6.16 out | $2.00 in · $6.00 out |
| Blended (3 in : 1 out) | $2.31 | $3.00 |
| Cheapest host, blended | – | $3.00 (xAI) |
| Cached input, per million | – | $0.30 cached input |
| Intelligence Index | 28.4 | 38.8 |
| Spring Prompt overall | – | – |
| Output speed, tokens a second | – | – |
| Context window | 262,144 tokens | 500,000 tokens |
| Released | 20 Apr 2026 | 8 Jul 2026 (newer) |
| Weights | Closed | Closed |
| 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 | Grok 4.5 |
|---|---|---|
| Arena (formerly LMArena) reported by Arena (formerly LMArena) · 3 results | ||
| Overall · TextArena rating, higher is better 51 · 43 of 387 measured | 1,460 | 1,466 |
| Overall · Text factualityArena rating, higher is better 51 · 33 of 163 measured | 1,453 | 1,465 |
| Business, management and finance · TextArena rating, higher is better 64 · 42 of 380 measured | 1,451 | 1,465 |
| Artificial Analysis reported by Artificial Analysis · 3 results | ||
| Artificial Analysis Intelligence Indexindex score, higher is better 57 · 31 of 243 measured | 28.4 | 38.8high reasoning |
| GPQA Diamond% of questions, higher is better 55 · 13 of 231 measured | 88.8% | 93.1%high reasoning |
| Humanity's Last Exam% of questions, higher is better 70 · 28 of 242 measured | 30.8% | 42.7%high reasoning |
| SimpleQA Verified (Epoch AI) reported by SimpleQA Verified (Epoch AI) · 1 result | ||
| Correct answers% of questions, higher is better 21 · 28 of 76 measured | 52.0% | 48.3%high reasoning |
| Vending-Bench 2 reported by Vending-Bench 2 · 1 result | ||
| Money after a yearUS dollars, higher is better 31 · 33 of 58 measured | $4,254 | $3,887 |
Show all 13 results (5 more)
| Measure | Qwen3.6-Max-Preview | Grok 4.5 |
|---|---|---|
| Arena (formerly LMArena) reported by Arena (formerly LMArena) · 4 results | ||
| Creative writing · TextArena rating, higher is better 50 · 30 of 385 measured | 1,437 | 1,450 |
| Expert prompts · TextArena rating, higher is better 36 · 54 of 338 measured | 1,500 | 1,489 |
| Instruction following · TextArena rating, higher is better 56 · 41 of 387 measured | 1,450 | 1,461 |
| Writing, literature and language · TextArena rating, higher is better 50 · 34 of 386 measured | 1,446 | 1,458 |
| Artificial Analysis reported by Artificial Analysis · 1 result | ||
| Long-context reasoning (AA-LCR)% of questions, higher is better 33 · 48 of 233 measured | 80.7% | 79.3%high reasoning |
Compare them with other models
Quick answers
Is Qwen3.6-Max-Preview better than Grok 4.5?
Pick Grok 4.5 if quality matters most: it scores higher (Intelligence Index 38.8 against 28.4). Pick Qwen3.6-Max-Preview if cost matters more: it costs 23% less per token.
Which is cheaper, Qwen3.6-Max-Preview or Grok 4.5?
Qwen3.6-Max-Preview is cheaper: $2.31 against $3.00 per million tokens, 23% less.
Which is better for agents and tool use, Qwen3.6-Max-Preview or Grok 4.5?
Grok 4.5 ranks 46 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 Grok 4.5?
Grok 4.5 ranks 23 of 198 models on sale for hard questions across science, maths and general knowledge, against 59 for Qwen3.6-Max-Preview.
Which is better for writing, Qwen3.6-Max-Preview or Grok 4.5?
Grok 4.5 ranks 40 of 188 models on sale for what people prefer in blind comparisons, and judged writing quality, against 41 for Qwen3.6-Max-Preview.
Which is better for sticking to the facts, Qwen3.6-Max-Preview or Grok 4.5?
Grok 4.5 ranks 43 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 Grok 4.5?
Grok 4.5: 500,000 tokens, against 262,144 for Qwen3.6-Max-Preview.
Run Qwen3.6-Max-Preview and Grok 4.5 on your own prompt
Benchmarks aren't your data. Try both side by side in the playground, with the cost of every answer.