GPT-4.1 Max vs Qwen3-Max: which model should you choose?
We compared GPT-4.1 Max and Qwen3-Max on price, context window and 12 benchmarks. GPT-4.1 Max has the stronger average benchmark score; GPT-4.1 Max is cheaper on a blended 3:1 basis.
GPT-4.1 Max
GPT-4.1 Max is a frontier model from OpenAI. It offers a 400,000-token context window, costs $17.34 per million input tokens and $66.38 per million output tokens, and averages 84.7 across the index's benchmark suite.
- Input
- $17.34 / 1M
- Output
- $66.38 / 1M
- Context
- 400,000
- Avg score
- 84.7
- Open weights
- No
Qwen3-Max
Qwen3-Max is a frontier model from Alibaba Cloud. It offers a 400,000-token context window, costs $17.37 per million input tokens and $94.30 per million output tokens, and averages 84.4 across the index's benchmark suite.
- Input
- $17.37 / 1M
- Output
- $94.30 / 1M
- Context
- 400,000
- Avg score
- 84.4
- Open weights
- No
Specification comparison
| Spec | GPT-4.1 Max | Qwen3-Max | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Input price / 1M | $17.34 | $17.37 | A |
| Output price / 1M | $66.38 | $94.30 | A |
| Context window | 400,000 | 400,000 | Tie |
| Max output | 8,192 | 4,096 | A |
| Average score | 84.7 | 84.4 | A |
| Arena Elo | 1467.6 | 1449.2 | A |
| Open weights | No | No | Tie |
Benchmark comparison
GPT-4.1 Max wins 7, Qwen3-Max wins 5, and 0 benchmarks are tied. The table shows the modelled score for each model and the gap.
| Benchmark | GPT-4.1 Max | Qwen3-Max | Gap | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MMLU-Pro | 87.4 | 84.0 | 3.4 | GPT-4.1 Max |
| GPQA Diamond | 81.2 | 82.3 | 1.1 | Qwen3-Max |
| SWE-bench Verified | 74.8 | 73.3 | 1.5 | GPT-4.1 Max |
| HumanEval | 88.8 | 88.5 | 0.3 | GPT-4.1 Max |
| MATH-500 | 87.3 | 89.7 | 2.4 | Qwen3-Max |
| AIME 2025 | 84.9 | 81.1 | 3.8 | GPT-4.1 Max |
| LiveCodeBench | 78.5 | 82.2 | 3.7 | Qwen3-Max |
| IFEval | 92.1 | 92.5 | 0.4 | Qwen3-Max |
| TruthfulQA | 85.4 | 83.4 | 2.0 | GPT-4.1 Max |
| HellaSwag | 90.7 | 92.9 | 2.2 | Qwen3-Max |
| MMMU | 80.5 | 78.7 | 1.8 | GPT-4.1 Max |
| Arena Elo | 1467.6 | 1449.2 | 18.4 | GPT-4.1 Max |
Price analysis
On a blended 3:1 input-to-output basis, GPT-4.1 Max costs about $29.60 per million tokens and Qwen3-Max costs about $36.60. GPT-4.1 Max is roughly 19% cheaper than Qwen3-Max. At high volume, that gap compounds quickly, so price should carry real weight unless the quality difference is decisive.
Both models list a 400,000-token context window. That is enough for long documents, large codebases and multi-step agent traces.
Verdict
Across 12 shared benchmarks, GPT-4.1 Max wins 7, Qwen3-Max wins 5, and 0 are tied. On the index average, GPT-4.1 Max leads Qwen3-Max by 0.3 points (84.7 versus 84.4).
The price picture favours GPT-4.1 Max. The context picture is effectively a tie. Those two dimensions often matter more than a few benchmark points once a model is good enough for the task.
If you need a single default, start with GPT-4.1 Max for quality-sensitive work, and check whether its price holds at your expected volume before committing.
Choose GPT-4.1 Max if
- You want the higher average benchmark score in this index.
- Unit cost matters and you want the cheaper blended price.
- You need the larger 8,192-token output limit.
Choose Qwen3-Max if
- You prefer Alibaba Cloud's tooling or already use it.
FAQ
Is GPT-4.1 Max better than Qwen3-Max?
On the index average, GPT-4.1 Max leads Qwen3-Max by 0.3 points (84.7 versus 84.4). The better choice depends on price, context and your task. GPT-4.1 Max wins 7 benchmarks, Qwen3-Max wins 5.
Which is cheaper, GPT-4.1 Max or Qwen3-Max?
GPT-4.1 Max is cheaper on a blended 3:1 basis at about $29.60 per million tokens, versus $36.60 for Qwen3-Max.
Which has the larger context window?
Both models list a 400,000-token context window.
Are these models open weights?
GPT-4.1 Max is proprietary; Qwen3-Max is proprietary.
Which should I choose for production?
If you need a single default, start with GPT-4.1 Max for quality-sensitive work, and check whether its price holds at your expected volume before committing.