This model is deprecated. We only continue performance benchmarking for the default 10k input token workload. Results for other workloads are historical and no longer updated.

Alibaba has launched a newer model, Qwen3 Max Thinking. We suggest considering it instead.

For more information, see comparison of Qwen3 Max Thinking to other models and API provider benchmarks for Qwen3 Max Thinking.

Qwen3 Max Thinking (Preview) logo
Alibaba
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Proprietary model

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Released November 2025

Qwen3 Max Thinking (Preview) API Provider Benchmarking & Analysis

Model Comparison

Analysis of API providers for Qwen3 Max Thinking (Preview) across performance metrics including latency (time to first token), output speed (output tokens per second), price and others. API providers benchmarked include Alibaba Cloud.

Fastest

#1
Alibaba CloudAlibaba Cloud
58.3 t/s

Output speed

Total 1 providers

Lowest Latency

#1
Alibaba CloudAlibaba Cloud
38.25 s

Time to first answer token

Total 1 providers

Lowest Price

#1
Alibaba CloudAlibaba Cloud
$1.68

Blended price (per 1M tokens)

Total 1 providers

Qwen3 Max Thinking (Preview) is available through Alibaba Cloud.

Highlights

Speed

Output tokens per second · Higher is better

End-to-End Response Time

Seconds · Lower is better

Price

USD per 1M tokens (blended) · Lower is better

Pricing

Pricing: Cache Hit, Input, and Output

Price (USD per M Tokens) · Lower is better · 10,000 input tokens

Price per token for cached prompts (previously processed), typically offering a significant discount compared to regular input price, represented as USD per million tokens. The values shown here are the cache hit price; cache write and cache storage are billed separately and vary by provider — see "Cache pricing by provider" for detail.

Price per token included in the request/message sent to the API, represented as USD per million Tokens.

The blended cache price shown here uses cache hit price only. Other caching costs differ by provider:

  • Anthropic: charges a separate cache write fee, with different rates for 5-minute and 1-hour TTLs (1-hour TTL is more expensive).
  • Google (Vertex/Gemini): charges a per-hour cache storage fee in addition to cache hit pricing. Some providers also use tiered pricing for prompts above 200K tokens.
  • OpenAI, DeepSeek, others: typically charge only cache hit pricing with no write or storage fee.

See Prompt Caching for the full breakdown.

Price per token generated by the model (received from the API), represented as USD per million Tokens.

Pricing: Blended Price

Blended at 7:2:1 (cache-input-output) · USD per 1M tokens (blended) · Lower is better

Price per token, shown in USD per million tokens. Price is a blend of cache hit, input, and output token prices using the selected ratio (default 7:2:1 cache-input-output).

Price per token for cached prompts (previously processed), typically offering a significant discount compared to regular input price, represented as USD per million tokens. The values shown here are the cache hit price; cache write and cache storage are billed separately and vary by provider — see "Cache pricing by provider" for detail.

The blended cache price shown here uses cache hit price only. Other caching costs differ by provider:

  • Anthropic: charges a separate cache write fee, with different rates for 5-minute and 1-hour TTLs (1-hour TTL is more expensive).
  • Google (Vertex/Gemini): charges a per-hour cache storage fee in addition to cache hit pricing. Some providers also use tiered pricing for prompts above 200K tokens.
  • OpenAI, DeepSeek, others: typically charge only cache hit pricing with no write or storage fee.

See Prompt Caching for the full breakdown.

Figures represent median (P50) measurement over the past 72 hours to reflect sustained changes in performance.

Output Speed vs. Price

Blended at 7:2:1 (cache-input-output) · Output speed: output tokens per second · USD per 1M tokens (blended)
Most attractive quadrant

Tokens per second received while the model is generating tokens (ie. after first chunk has been received from the API for models which support streaming).

Price per token, shown in USD per million tokens. Price is a blend of cache hit, input, and output token prices using the selected ratio (default 7:2:1 cache-input-output).

Price per token for cached prompts (previously processed), typically offering a significant discount compared to regular input price, represented as USD per million tokens. The values shown here are the cache hit price; cache write and cache storage are billed separately and vary by provider — see "Cache pricing by provider" for detail.

The blended cache price shown here uses cache hit price only. Other caching costs differ by provider:

  • Anthropic: charges a separate cache write fee, with different rates for 5-minute and 1-hour TTLs (1-hour TTL is more expensive).
  • Google (Vertex/Gemini): charges a per-hour cache storage fee in addition to cache hit pricing. Some providers also use tiered pricing for prompts above 200K tokens.
  • OpenAI, DeepSeek, others: typically charge only cache hit pricing with no write or storage fee.

See Prompt Caching for the full breakdown.

Figures represent median (P50) measurement over the past 72 hours to reflect sustained changes in performance.

Speed

Measured by Output Speed (tokens per second)

Output Speed: Qwen3 Max Thinking (Preview)

Output speed: output tokens per second · 10,000 input tokens

Tokens per second received while the model is generating tokens (ie. after first chunk has been received from the API for models which support streaming).

Figures represent performance of the model's first-party API (e.g. OpenAI for o1) or the median across providers where a first-party API is not available (e.g. Meta's Llama models).

Latency vs. Output Speed

Latency: seconds to first token received · Output speed: output tokens per second · 10,000 input tokens
Most attractive quadrant

Tokens per second received while the model is generating tokens (ie. after first chunk has been received from the API for models which support streaming).

Time to first token received, in seconds, after API request sent. For reasoning models which share reasoning tokens, this will be the first reasoning token. For models which do not support streaming, this represents time to receive the completion.

Price per token, shown in USD per million tokens. Price is a blend of cache hit, input, and output token prices using the selected ratio (default 7:2:1 cache-input-output).

Figures represent median (P50) measurement over the past 72 hours to reflect sustained changes in performance.

Latency

Measured by Time (seconds) to First Token

Time to First Answer Token

Seconds to first token received · Lower is better · 10,000 input tokens

Time to first answer token received, in seconds, after API request sent. For reasoning models, this includes the 'thinking' time of the model before providing an answer. For models which do not support streaming, this represents time to receive the completion.

Figures represent median (P50) measurement over the past 72 hours to reflect sustained changes in performance.

End-to-End Response Time

Seconds to output 500 tokens, calculated based on time to first token, 'thinking' time for reasoning models, and output speed

End-to-End Response Time

Seconds to output 500 tokens, including reasoning model 'thinking' time · Lower is better · 10,000 input tokens

Seconds to receive a 500 token response. Key components:

  • Input time: Time to receive the first response token
  • Thinking time (only for reasoning models): Time reasoning models spend outputting tokens to reason prior to providing an answer. Amount of tokens based on the average reasoning tokens across a diverse set of 60 prompts (methodology details).
  • Answer time: Time to generate 500 output tokens, based on output speed

For fair comparison, the number of reasoning tokens is standardized across all providers for each model based on the model's representative query token counts.

Figures represent median (P50) measurement over the past 72 hours to reflect sustained changes in performance.

Key Comparison Metrics & API Features

Alibaba Cloud logoAlibaba Cloud
262k
Proprietary
--
58
3.97
46.82
34.28

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about Qwen3 Max Thinking (Preview) providers

Qwen3 Max Thinking (Preview) is available through 1 API provider: Alibaba Cloud. Each provider offers different performance characteristics and pricing.

Qwen3 Max Thinking (Preview) is currently available through 1 API provider that we benchmark and track.

The fastest provider for Qwen3 Max Thinking (Preview) by output speed is Alibaba Cloud (58.3 t/s). Output speed measures how quickly tokens are generated after the model starts responding.

The provider with the lowest time to first answer token for Qwen3 Max Thinking (Preview) is Alibaba Cloud (38.25s). Lower latency means faster initial response time.

The most affordable provider for Qwen3 Max Thinking (Preview) by blended price is Alibaba Cloud ($1.68 per 1M tokens). Blended price uses a 7:2:1 cache hit/input/output token ratio.

The provider with the lowest input token pricing for Qwen3 Max Thinking (Preview) is Alibaba Cloud ($1.20 per 1M input tokens).

The provider with the lowest output token pricing for Qwen3 Max Thinking (Preview) is Alibaba Cloud ($6.00 per 1M output tokens).

All 1 providers of Qwen3 Max Thinking (Preview) support function calling (tool use).

Alibaba Cloud leads across all key metrics for Qwen3 Max Thinking (Preview), offering the fastest speed, lowest latency, and most competitive pricing.

When choosing a provider for Qwen3 Max Thinking (Preview), consider: output speed (for throughput-intensive tasks), latency (for interactive applications requiring quick first responses), pricing (for cost-sensitive workloads), and API features like JSON mode or function calling.

Yes, provider performance can vary over time due to infrastructure changes, load balancing, and updates. We continuously benchmark all providers and display historical performance trends in the "Over Time" charts.

For information about Qwen3 Max Thinking (Preview)'s intelligence, capabilities, modalities, and how it compares to other models, see the model overview page. View model overview