Model comparison
Gemini 3.1 Pro vs Qwen3-Max
Google against Qwen, compared on context, price, and verified benchmark results.
Catalog record checked September 5, 2026Individual provider fields may changeEvidence confidence: High — see receipts below
Gemini 3.1 Pro
Frontier
Qwen
Qwen3-Max
Frontier
| Specification | Gemini 3.1 Pro | Qwen3-Max |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Qwen | |
| Tier | Frontier | Frontier |
| Context window | Winner: 1.05M | 262K |
| Max output | 66K | 66K |
| Input / 1M tokens | $2 | Winner: $1.20 |
| Output / 1M tokens | $12 | Winner: $6 |
| Weights | Closed | Closed |
| Parameters | Not disclosedUnverified | 1T (proprietary) |
| Reasoning levels | low, medium, high | low, high, max |
| Modalities | text, image, video, audio, pdf | text, image, video |
| API model id | gemini-3.1-pro-preview | qwen3-max |
| Released | February 19, 2026 | September 23, 2025 |
| Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index (2026-08-14) | Winner: 60 | 52 |
| SWE-bench Verified (2026-02) | 80.6 | Not verifiedUnverified |
| GPQA Diamond (2026-02) | 94.3 | Not verifiedUnverified |
| Humanity's Last Exam (2026-02) | 44.4 | Not verifiedUnverified |
| Terminal-Bench 2.1 (2026-07) | 73.8 | Not verifiedUnverified |
Prices are USD per million tokens at standard rates, excluding batch and caching discounts. Bold indicates the better figure where one is objectively better. Values we could not confirm from the provider are shown as “Not verified” rather than estimated.
Benchmark receipts
- 2026-08-14: Artificial AnalysisComposite index blending reasoning, knowledge, and coding evals into one 0–100 score. Comparability: directly comparable — AA occasionally rebaselines the index scale between snapshots — a score captured on one date is only comparable to same-snapshot scores (check measuredAt).
- 2026-07: Google DeepMind model evaluation report (vendor, Terminus-2; own Feb report separately reported TB 2.0 = 68.5 — versions preserved)Agentic terminal work: multi-step tasks executed in a sandboxed shell environment. Comparability: comparable with caveat — Scores across Terminal-Bench major versions (v1 vs v2) are NOT comparable; harness configuration (container, time limits) also shifts results.
- 2026-02: Google DeepMind model evaluation report (vendor, no tools; 51.4 with search+code)Real GitHub issue resolution: does the model's patch pass the hidden tests. Comparability: comparable with caveat — Post-audit vendor claims and pre-audit scores sit on different task trust levels; scaffolding (agent harness, compute budget) also dominates results. Never aggregate across scaffolds.
Pricing tiers: Gemini 3.1 Pro: $2/$12 per MTok (≤200K); $4/$18 (>200K). Still 'Preview' as of 2026-08-29; 3.5 Pro not yet released. · Qwen3-Max: Qwen API $1.20/$6.00 per MTok (≤32K); higher tiers for 32K–256K. OpenRouter lists ~$0.78/$3.90. Proprietary, API-only.
Gemini 3.1 Pro
Gemini 3.1 Pro is Google's current flagship Pro model with record benchmark scores and a 1M-token context.
Best for
- Very long documents
- Multimodal reasoning
- Frontier knowledge work
Watch out
Still in Preview; 3.5 Pro is 'coming soon' but unreleased as of 2026-08-29.
Qwen3-Max
Qwen3-Max is Alibaba's proprietary 1-trillion-parameter API model with multimodal input.
Best for
- Agentic coding
- Multimodal knowledge work
- Long-context via API
Watch out
Max line is proprietary/API-only (no published weights). Per-provider prices differ.
When the cheaper one wins
Qwen3-Max is cheaper on output at $6 per million tokens against $12 for Gemini 3.1 Pro — about 2.0×. Use the cheaper tier for classification, extraction, summarisation, and any task where the expensive model’s extra score does not change the accepted output. The expensive one only pays if your hardest task actually fails on the cheap tier. These are standard-tier API rates, excluding batch and cache discounts.
Run the model pickerEvidence confidence: High
How strong and complete the evidence behind this comparison is — not a prediction of which model is better.
- Pricing verified on both sides — Input and output rates are verified for both models.
- 4/5 core specs verified on both sides — Not published for at least one side: parameter count.
- 1 shared named benchmark with differing scores — Measured on: Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index.
- Verified within the last 90 days — Newest catalog check was 6 days ago.
- Both models carry source citations — Each side has at least two catalog sources on record.
Source receipts
Each catalog figure was checked against the provider or an independent second source on the date shown.
- Gemini 3.1 Pro: Google Cloud — Gemini 3.1 Pro (accessed 2026-08-29)
- Gemini 3.1 Pro: TechCrunch — Gemini 3.1 Pro (accessed 2026-08-29)
- Qwen3-Max: OpenRouter — Qwen3-Max (accessed 2026-08-29)
- Qwen3-Max: AI Release Tracker — Qwen3-Max (accessed 2026-08-29)
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- Claude Fable 5 vs Qwen3-Max
- Claude Mythos 5.1 vs Gemini 3.1 Pro
- Claude Mythos 5.1 vs Qwen3-Max
Diving deeper on one model? Gemini 3.1 Pro · Qwen3-Max
Common questions
Gemini 3.1 Pro vs Qwen3-Max
Answered from the verified figures on this page rather than general guidance.
Is Gemini 3.1 Pro or Qwen3-Max cheaper for input?
Qwen3-Max is cheaper at $1.20 per million input tokens, against $2 for Gemini 3.1 Pro — roughly 1.7× the price. Output tokens usually dominate a real bill, so weigh the output rate more heavily than the input rate. These are base rates; Gemini 3.1 Pro has tiered pricing: $2/$12 per MTok (≤200K); $4/$18 (>200K). Still 'Preview' as of 2026-08-29; 3.5 Pro not yet released. Qwen3-Max has tiered pricing: Qwen API $1.20/$6.00 per MTok (≤32K); higher tiers for 32K–256K. OpenRouter lists ~$0.78/$3.90. Proprietary, API-only.
Is Gemini 3.1 Pro or Qwen3-Max cheaper for output?
Qwen3-Max is cheaper at $6 per million output tokens, against $12 for Gemini 3.1 Pro — roughly 2.0× the price. Output tokens usually dominate a real bill, so weigh the output rate more heavily than the input rate. These are base rates; Gemini 3.1 Pro has tiered pricing: $2/$12 per MTok (≤200K); $4/$18 (>200K). Still 'Preview' as of 2026-08-29; 3.5 Pro not yet released. Qwen3-Max has tiered pricing: Qwen API $1.20/$6.00 per MTok (≤32K); higher tiers for 32K–256K. OpenRouter lists ~$0.78/$3.90. Proprietary, API-only.
Which has the larger context window, Gemini 3.1 Pro or Qwen3-Max?
Gemini 3.1 Pro accepts 1.05M tokens against 262K for Qwen3-Max. This only matters if you routinely send very long documents or large codebases.
Do Gemini 3.1 Pro and Qwen3-Max support the same reasoning levels?
Gemini 3.1 Pro exposes low, medium, high, while Qwen3-Max exposes low, high, max.
Should I use Gemini 3.1 Pro or Qwen3-Max?
Both sit in the frontier tier, so the choice usually comes down to price and context rather than capability. Gemini 3.1 Pro suits very long documents; Qwen3-Max suits agentic coding.
Next step
Choosing between them
The verified figures that separate this pair, computed from the catalog rather than restated boilerplate.
- Input price: Qwen3-Max costs $1.20 per 1M tokens versus $2 for Gemini 3.1 Pro — a 1.7x difference at the headline tier.
- Context: Gemini 3.1 Pro takes 1.05M against 262K for Qwen3-Max — only decisive if your prompts approach the smaller window.
- Measured capability: Gemini 3.1 Pro leads Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index 60 to 52 (measured 2026-08-14).
Choosing a harness rather than a model — Cursor, Copilot, Claude Code, Windsurf, or Lovable? Compare agentic harnesses · Latest releases.