Intelligence
25 scoreAlibaba · Flagships Analysis
Qwen3 Max Thinking (Preview)
Intelligence, Performance & Price Analysis
Canonical slug: qwen3-max-thinking-preview · Canonical model registry at build time
Speed
59.0 output tokens/secLatency
4.12s TTFTInput Price
$1.20 / 1M tokensOutput Price
$6.00 / 1M tokensExecutive Assessment
Routing Verdict & Tradeoffs
Ethen Routing Verdict
Strong general-purpose model
Qwen3 Max Thinking (Preview) scores 25 (estimated) on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, placing it below average among other reasoning models in a similar price tier (median: 28). Qwen3 Max Thinking (Preview) generates output at 59.0 tokens per second (based on Alibaba's API), which is below average compared to other reasoning models in a similar price tier (median: 81.2 t/s). Qwen3 Max Thinking (Preview) costs $1.20 per 1M input tokens (better than average, median: $1.50) and $6.00 per 1M output tokens (better than average, median: $8.40), based on Alibaba's API.
Suitable for most production tasks, but high-volume or repetitive work should still be compared against cheaper routes.
Task Fit Assessment
| Workload | Rating | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Complex reasoning & agentic workflows | optimal | Intelligence score 25 supports capable reasoning, but very hard tasks may benefit from higher-tier models. |
| High-volume chat & customer-facing | optimal | Output speed 59.0 tokens/sec is adequate for chat. |
| Latency-sensitive applications | viable | TTFT 4.12s — latency may be noticeable in interactive use. |
| Cost-sensitive pipelines | viable | Output pricing at $6.00 is premium. Route high-volume simple tasks to cheaper alternatives. |
Cost Pressure Analysis
High
Pricing is premium — input $1.20, output $6.00. This model is expensive for high-volume or output-heavy workloads.
Technical Specifications
Architecture and Limits
| Specification | Value | Validation Authority |
|---|---|---|
| Model type | Proprietary | inferred |
| Reasoning | Yes | faq |
| Input modalities | Qwen3 Max Thinking (Preview) supports text input. | faq |
| Output modalities | Qwen3 Max Thinking (Preview) supports text output. | faq |
| Context window | 260k tokens | faq |
| Open weights / source | No, Qwen3 Max Thinking (Preview) is proprietary. The model weights are not publicly available. | faq |
| Parameters | Qwen3 Max Thinking (Preview) is a proprietary model and Alibaba has not disclosed the model size or parameter count. | faq |
| API availability | Yes, Qwen3 Max Thinking (Preview) is available via API through 1 provider. | faq |
Evidence charts
Profile visualizations
Charts are the same canonical evidence cards previously published for this slug, contained inside the D18D page grammar.
AA-Omniscience Index
AA-Omniscience Index (higher is better) measures knowledge reliability and hallucination. It rewards correct answers, penalizes hallucinations, and has no penalty for refusing to answer. Scores range from -100 to 100, where 0 means as many correct as incorrect answers, and negative scores mean more incorrect than correct. · Evaluation results measured independently by Artificial Analysis
Retrieved 2026-07-08
Chart source and provenance are listed in Methodology & sources below.
- Source:
- Published benchmark dataset
- Retrieval date:
- 2026-07-08
- Methodology:
- Independent test run by Artificial Analysis on dedicated hardware.
Bars intentionally show many models at once so the page feels like a benchmark report rather than a dashboard.
Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index by Open Weights / Proprietary
Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index v4.1 incorporates 9 evaluations: GDPval-AA v2, 𝜏³-Banking, Terminal-Bench v2.1, SciCode, Humanity's Last Exam, GPQA Diamond, CritPt, AA-Omniscience, AA-LCR · Evaluation results measured independently by Artificial Analysis
Retrieved 2026-07-08
Chart source and provenance are listed in Methodology & sources below.
- Source:
- Published benchmark dataset
- Retrieval date:
- 2026-07-08
- Methodology:
- Independent test run by Artificial Analysis on dedicated hardware.
Higher values indicate stronger overall capability. Bars show how models compare on composite intelligence metrics.
Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index
Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index v4.1 incorporates 9 evaluations: GDPval-AA v2, 𝜏³-Banking, Terminal-Bench v2.1, SciCode, Humanity's Last Exam, GPQA Diamond, CritPt, AA-Omniscience, AA-LCR · Evaluation results measured independently by Artificial Analysis
Retrieved 2026-07-08
Chart source and provenance are listed in Methodology & sources below.
- Source:
- Published benchmark dataset
- Retrieval date:
- 2026-07-08
- Methodology:
- Independent test run by Artificial Analysis on dedicated hardware.
Higher values indicate stronger overall capability. Bars show how models compare on composite intelligence metrics.
Intelligence
Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index · Higher is better · Evaluation results measured independently by Artificial Analysis
Retrieved 2026-07-08
Chart source and provenance are listed in Methodology & sources below.
- Source:
- Published benchmark dataset
- Retrieval date:
- 2026-07-08
- Methodology:
- Independent test run by Artificial Analysis on dedicated hardware.
Higher values indicate stronger overall capability. Bars show how models compare on composite intelligence metrics.
Output Speed
Output tokens per second · Higher is better · Evaluation results measured independently by Artificial Analysis
Retrieved 2026-07-08
Chart source and provenance are listed in Methodology & sources below.
- Source:
- Published benchmark dataset
- Retrieval date:
- 2026-07-08
- Methodology:
- Independent test run by Artificial Analysis on dedicated hardware.
Speed should be read together with latency and cost; fast output does not always mean better user-perceived performance.
Speed
Output tokens per second · Higher is better · Evaluation results measured independently by Artificial Analysis
Retrieved 2026-07-08
Chart source and provenance are listed in Methodology & sources below.
- Source:
- Published benchmark dataset
- Retrieval date:
- 2026-07-08
- Methodology:
- Independent test run by Artificial Analysis on dedicated hardware.
Speed should be read together with latency and cost; fast output does not always mean better user-perceived performance.
End-to-End Response Time
Seconds to output 500 tokens, including reasoning model 'thinking' time · Lower is better · Evaluation results measured independently by Artificial Analysis
Retrieved 2026-07-08
Chart source and provenance are listed in Methodology & sources below.
- Source:
- Published benchmark dataset
- Retrieval date:
- 2026-07-08
- Methodology:
- Independent test run by Artificial Analysis on dedicated hardware.
Bars intentionally show many models at once so the page feels like a benchmark report rather than a dashboard.
Latency: Time To First Answer Token
Seconds to first answer token received · Accounts for reasoning model 'thinking' time · Evaluation results measured independently by Artificial Analysis
Retrieved 2026-07-08
Chart source and provenance are listed in Methodology & sources below.
- Source:
- Published benchmark dataset
- Retrieval date:
- 2026-07-08
- Methodology:
- Independent test run by Artificial Analysis on dedicated hardware.
Latency includes thinking / reasoning time when applicable. Lower is better for interactive use cases.
Context Window
Context window: tokens limit · Higher is better · Evaluation results measured independently by Artificial Analysis
Retrieved 2026-07-08
Chart source and provenance are listed in Methodology & sources below.
- Source:
- Published benchmark dataset
- Retrieval date:
- 2026-07-08
- Methodology:
- Independent test run by Artificial Analysis on dedicated hardware.
Larger context windows enable complex multi-turn tasks but may increase latency and cost for long inputs.
Cost per Intelligence Index Task
Weighted average cost (USD) per Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index task, segmented by token type. Lower is better · Evaluation results measured independently by Artificial Analysis
Retrieved 2026-07-08
Chart source and provenance are listed in Methodology & sources below.
- Source:
- Published benchmark dataset
- Retrieval date:
- 2026-07-08
- Methodology:
- Independent test run by Artificial Analysis on dedicated hardware.
Higher values indicate stronger overall capability. Bars show how models compare on composite intelligence metrics.
Ethen Gateway should route away from this model when the task is simple, repetitive, or likely to generate many output tokens.
Cost per Task
Weighted average cost (USD) per Intelligence Index task · Lower is better · Evaluation results measured independently by Artificial Analysis
Retrieved 2026-07-08
Chart source and provenance are listed in Methodology & sources below.
- Source:
- Published benchmark dataset
- Retrieval date:
- 2026-07-08
- Methodology:
- Independent test run by Artificial Analysis on dedicated hardware.
Ethen Gateway should route away from this model when the task is simple, repetitive, or likely to generate many output tokens.
Cost to Run Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index
Cost (USD) to run all evaluations in the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index · Evaluation results measured independently by Artificial Analysis
Retrieved 2026-07-08
Chart source and provenance are listed in Methodology & sources below.
- Source:
- Published benchmark dataset
- Retrieval date:
- 2026-07-08
- Methodology:
- Independent test run by Artificial Analysis on dedicated hardware.
Higher values indicate stronger overall capability. Bars show how models compare on composite intelligence metrics.
Ethen Gateway should route away from this model when the task is simple, repetitive, or likely to generate many output tokens.
Pricing: Cache Hit, Input, and Output
Price (USD per M Tokens) · Evaluation results measured independently by Artificial Analysis
Retrieved 2026-07-08
Chart source and provenance are listed in Methodology & sources below.
- Source:
- Published benchmark dataset
- Retrieval date:
- 2026-07-08
- Methodology:
- Independent test run by Artificial Analysis on dedicated hardware.
Bars intentionally show many models at once so the page feels like a benchmark report rather than a dashboard.
Time per Intelligence Index Task
Weighted average decode time (minutes) per task; excludes TTFT and overhead time · Lower is better · Evaluation results measured independently by Artificial Analysis
Retrieved 2026-07-08
Chart source and provenance are listed in Methodology & sources below.
- Source:
- Published benchmark dataset
- Retrieval date:
- 2026-07-08
- Methodology:
- Independent test run by Artificial Analysis on dedicated hardware.
Higher values indicate stronger overall capability. Bars show how models compare on composite intelligence metrics.
Methodology
Methodology & Provenance
This page is rendered from the normalized profile and page JSON for Qwen3 Max Thinking (Preview).
Benchmark values are preserved as normalized; only layout, disclosure ordering, and typography are adjusted for readability.
Frequently Asked Questions
Model FAQs & Technical Disclosures
Qwen3 Max Thinking (Preview) was released on November 3, 2025.
Qwen3 Max Thinking (Preview) was created by Alibaba.
Qwen3 Max Thinking (Preview) scores 25 (estimated) on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, placing it below average among other reasoning models in a similar price tier (median: 28).
Qwen3 Max Thinking (Preview) generates output at 59.0 tokens per second (based on Alibaba's API), which is below average compared to other reasoning models in a similar price tier (median: 81.2 t/s).
Qwen3 Max Thinking (Preview) has a time to first token (TTFT) of 4.12s (based on Alibaba's API), which is somewhat higher than average compared to other reasoning models in a similar price tier (median: 2.78s).
Qwen3 Max Thinking (Preview) costs $1.20 per 1M input tokens (better than average, median: $1.50) and $6.00 per 1M output tokens (better than average, median: $8.40), based on Alibaba's API.
Qwen3 Max Thinking (Preview) costs $1.20 per 1M input tokens and $6.00 per 1M output tokens (based on Alibaba's API). For a blended rate (7:2:1 cache hit/input/output ratio), this is $1.68 per 1M tokens. Pricing may vary by provider.
Yes, Qwen3 Max Thinking (Preview) is a reasoning model. It uses extended thinking or chain-of-thought reasoning to work through complex problems before providing an answer.
Qwen3 Max Thinking (Preview) supports text input.
Qwen3 Max Thinking (Preview) supports text output.
No, Qwen3 Max Thinking (Preview) does not support image input. It can only process text.
No, Qwen3 Max Thinking (Preview) is not multimodal. It only supports text input.
Qwen3 Max Thinking (Preview) has a context window of 260k tokens. This determines how much text and conversation history the model can process in a single request.
No, Qwen3 Max Thinking (Preview) is proprietary. The model weights are not publicly available.
Qwen3 Max Thinking (Preview) is a proprietary model and Alibaba has not disclosed the model size or parameter count.
Qwen3 Max Thinking (Preview) achieves a score of 25 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index. This composite benchmark evaluates models across reasoning, knowledge, mathematics, and coding.
Yes, Qwen3 Max Thinking (Preview) is available via API through 1 provider.
Qwen3 Max Thinking (Preview) is available through 1 API provider.