Compare / Qwen3-Max vs Gemini 3.6 Flash
Qwen3-Max vs Gemini 3.6 Flash
Which is cheaper, which is more capable, and which does better at each kind of work, from 14 results on 4 sources that measured both models.
Of the 14 results both models have, the better value on each. Results whose reported ranges overlap are too close to call.
Results as of 14 October 2026 (catalogue release 2026-10-14-7d7cf32c3f6d). See also Alibaba vs Google, every model from both labs.
Qwen3-Max or Gemini 3.6 Flash? The short answer
Pick Gemini 3.6 Flash if quality matters most: it scores higher (Intelligence Index 34.0 against 15.6). Pick Qwen3-Max if cost matters more: it costs 48% less per token.
- Qwen3-Max is cheaper: $1.56 against $3.00 per million tokens, 48% less.
- Gemini 3.6 Flash scores higher on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index: 34.0 against 15.6.
- Gemini 3.6 Flash is newer: released 21 Jul 2026, against 24 Sep 2025 for Qwen3-Max.
- On third-party benchmarks, on the results both models have: Gemini 3.6 Flash does better for reasoning and knowledge, writing and sticking to the facts.
Head to head
Every fact side by side
| Qwen3-Max | Gemini 3.6 Flash | |
|---|---|---|
| Price per million tokens | $0.78 in · $3.90 out | $1.50 in · $7.50 out |
| Blended (3 in : 1 out) | $1.56 | $3.00 |
| Cheapest host, blended | – | $1.50 (Google) |
| Intelligence Index | 15.6 | 34.0 |
| Spring Prompt overall | – | – |
| Output speed, tokens a second | – | – |
| Context window | 262,144 tokens | 1,048,576 tokens |
| Released | 24 Sep 2025 | 21 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.
From our research
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-Max | Gemini 3.6 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Arena (formerly LMArena) reported by Arena (formerly LMArena) · 3 results | ||
| Overall · TextArena rating, higher is better 108 · 19 of 387 measured | 1,423 | 1,483high reasoning |
| Business, management and finance · TextArena rating, higher is better 110 · 30 of 380 measured | 1,419 | 1,472high reasoning |
| Creative writing · TextArena rating, higher is better 105 · 12 of 385 measured | 1,393 | 1,471high reasoning |
| Artificial Analysis reported by Artificial Analysis · 3 results | ||
| Artificial Analysis Intelligence Indexindex score, higher is better 124 · 42 of 244 measured | 15.6 | 34.0high reasoning |
| GPQA Diamond% of questions, higher is better 132 · 15 of 231 measured | 76.4% | 92.8%high reasoning |
| Humanity's Last Exam% of questions, higher is better 141 · 38 of 243 measured | 11.9% | 40.8%high reasoning |
| SimpleQA Verified (Epoch AI) reported by SimpleQA Verified (Epoch AI) · 1 result | ||
| Correct answers% of questions, higher is better 27 · 11 of 76 measured | 48.7% | 66.2%high reasoning |
| UGI Leaderboard reported by UGI Leaderboard · 3 results | ||
| Writing score · UGIscore out of 100, higher is better 115 · 11 of 230 measured | 38.6 | 69.8medium reasoning |
| Requested-length error · UGI% off the requested word count, lower is better 134 · 33 of 230 measured | 23.0% | 9.0%minimal reasoning |
| Style adherence · UGIscore from 0 to 1, higher is better 155 · 159 of 230 measured | 0.33 | 0.33medium reasoning |
Show all 14 results (4 more)
| Measure | Qwen3-Max | Gemini 3.6 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Arena (formerly LMArena) reported by Arena (formerly LMArena) · 3 results | ||
| Expert prompts · TextArena rating, higher is better 137 · 37 of 338 measured | 1,417 | 1,500high reasoning |
| Instruction following · TextArena rating, higher is better 106 · 28 of 387 measured | 1,413 | 1,472high reasoning |
| Writing, literature and language · TextArena rating, higher is better 101 · 16 of 386 measured | 1,405 | 1,474high reasoning |
| Artificial Analysis reported by Artificial Analysis · 1 result | ||
| Long-context reasoning (AA-LCR)% of questions, higher is better 155 · 39 of 234 measured | 50.0% | 80.0%high reasoning |
Compare them with other models
Quick answers
Is Qwen3-Max better than Gemini 3.6 Flash?
Pick Gemini 3.6 Flash if quality matters most: it scores higher (Intelligence Index 34.0 against 15.6). Pick Qwen3-Max if cost matters more: it costs 48% less per token.
Which is cheaper, Qwen3-Max or Gemini 3.6 Flash?
Qwen3-Max is cheaper: $1.56 against $3.00 per million tokens, 48% less.
Which is better for agents and tool use, Qwen3-Max or Gemini 3.6 Flash?
Gemini 3.6 Flash ranks 50 of 166 models on sale for multi-step tasks with tools: support desks, coding agents, function calls, against 156 for Qwen3-Max.
Which is better for reasoning and knowledge, Qwen3-Max or Gemini 3.6 Flash?
Gemini 3.6 Flash ranks 33 of 200 models on sale for hard questions across science, maths and general knowledge, against 123 for Qwen3-Max.
Which is better for writing, Qwen3-Max or Gemini 3.6 Flash?
Gemini 3.6 Flash ranks 14 of 189 models on sale for what people prefer in blind comparisons, and judged writing quality, against 100 for Qwen3-Max.
Which is better for sticking to the facts, Qwen3-Max or Gemini 3.6 Flash?
Gemini 3.6 Flash ranks 22 of 153 models on sale for summarising without inventing things, and factual answers, against 51 for Qwen3-Max.
Which has the bigger context window, Qwen3-Max or Gemini 3.6 Flash?
Gemini 3.6 Flash: 1,048,576 tokens, against 262,144 for Qwen3-Max.
Run Qwen3-Max and Gemini 3.6 Flash on your own prompt
Benchmarks aren't your data. Try both side by side in the playground, with the cost of every answer.