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© 2026 CompareLLM. Public benchmark data aggregated from Arena Elo, LiveBench, SWE-bench & OpenRouter.

Every score has a dated snapshot.

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  2. Comparisons
  3. Qwen 2.5 Plus vs Qwen 3 Max

Pairwise benchmark snapshot · Aug 16, 2026

Qwen 2.5 Plus vs Qwen 3 Max benchmark

This page compares Qwen 2.5 Plus (Alibaba) and Qwen 3 Max (Alibaba) using the latest snapshots we have as of Aug 16, 2026. On preference Elo, Qwen 3 Max is ahead by 73 points (1,518 vs 1,445; seed-bootstrap (Aug 1, 2026)). On SWE-bench coding, Qwen 3 Max resolves 67.8% versus 59.2% (seed-bootstrap (Aug 1, 2026)). Qwen 2.5 Plus streams faster (110 tok/s) while Qwen 2.5 Plus is the cheaper output token ($1/1M). Qwen 3 Max has the larger context window (262k tokens). Every cell below is a dated snapshot from a named public source — we do not invent missing scores, and we do not run SWE-bench ourselves.

Quick answer

Qwen 2.5 Plus vs Qwen 3 Max is a dated snapshot, not a lab score. Qwen 3 Max leads preference Elo (1,518 vs 1,445). Qwen 3 Max leads SWE-bench coding. Qwen 2.5 Plus is the cheaper output token. Elo is crowd preference, not an exam. Pick the column that matches the job.
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Alibaba

Qwen 2.5 Plus

Alibaba balanced flagship API model with high-throughput general reasoning.

Elo 1,445$1/1M out

Alibaba

Qwen 3 Max

Alibaba flagship. Strong math and multilingual code.

Elo 1,518$3.9/1M out

Swap or Add Any Model to this Matchup

Instant pairwise benchmark recalculation across 400+ LLMs

Model A
Model B
Quick vs:vs Claude Opus 4.5vs Claude Opus 4.6vs Claude Sonnet 4.5vs Claude 3.7 Sonnet

Interactive Comparison Diagram

Matchup Breakdown

Tug-of-War Matchup Matrix

Category wins across intelligence, speed, and pricing efficiency.

Qwen 2.5 Plus (4)vsQwen 3 Max (6)
Qwen 2.5 Plus: 4W (40%)Overall: Qwen 3 MaxQwen 3 Max: 6W (60%)
← Qwen 2.5 PlusQwen 3 Max →
Qwen 3 Max (5/5)

Intelligence & Reasoning

Preference Elo, Coding proficiency, SWE-bench & LiveBench accuracy

Preference Elo
1,445vs1,518
Coding Elo
1,460vs1,526
SWE-bench
59.2%vs67.8%
LiveBench
63.5%vs69.4%
GPQA Diamond
75.8%vs83.1%
Qwen 2.5 Plus: 0WQwen 3 Max: 5W
Qwen 2.5 Plus (2/2)

Speed & Latency

Generation throughput and time to first token responsiveness

Output speed
110 tok/svs80 tok/s
Time to first token
180 msvs280 ms
Qwen 2.5 Plus: 2WQwen 3 Max: 0W
Qwen 2.5 Plus (2/3)

Pricing & Capacity

Cost per million tokens and max context window length

Output price
$1/1Mvs$3.9/1M
Input price
$0.25/1Mvs$0.78/1M
Context window
128kvs262k
Qwen 2.5 Plus: 2WQwen 3 Max: 1W
Capability Matchup Radar

Multi-Dimensional Capability Radar

Each spoke is a skill. Farther from the center is better (0–100th percentile). Tap any dot to inspect details.

Tap any node to inspect
Percentile 0–100
Dimensional AdvantageQwen 3 Max 4/6
Preference Elo

Qwen 3 Max

73 pts advantage

Throughput Speed

Qwen 2.5 Plus

30 tok/s faster

Price Efficiency

Qwen 2.5 Plus

$2.90/1M cheaper

Full Benchmark Score Matrix

—
Elo
High is better
1,445
EloHigh is better
1,518+5%
Code Elo
High is better
1,460
Code EloHigh is better
1,526+5%
LiveBench
High is better
63.5%
LiveBenchHigh is better
69.4%+9%
SWE-bench
High is better
59.2%
SWE-benchHigh is better
67.8%+15%
GPQA
High is better
75.8%
GPQAHigh is better
83.1%+10%
TTFT
Low is better
+56%180 ms
TTFTLow is better
280 ms
Speed
High is better
+38%110 tok/s
SpeedHigh is better
80 tok/s
In $
Low is better
+212%$0.25/1M
In $Low is better
$0.78/1M
Out $
Low is better
+290%$1/1M
Out $Low is better
$3.9/1M
Context
High is better
128k
ContextHigh is better
262k+105%
Interactive Simulator

Workload Cost & Savings Calculator

Simulate monthly production API costs based on published $/1M tokens.

Save up to 72% with Qwen 2.5 Plus
Monthly Volume50M tokens/mo
Quick Presets:
Token Ratio (In vs Out)70% In / 30% Out
RAG / Search (10% out)Coding / Chat (50% out)
Qwen 2.5 Plus$23.75 / mo
In: $8.75Out: $15.00
Qwen 3 Max$85.80 / mo
In: $27.30Out: $58.50
Estimated Cost Delta

Qwen 2.5 Plus is estimated to save $62.05/month ($745/year).

Based on 50M tokens (30% gen)

Key Selection Recommendations

  • 1
    Qwen 3 Max:Pick Qwen 3 Max when repo-level coding accuracy is the constraint.
  • 2
    Qwen 2.5 Plus:Pick Qwen 2.5 Plus when you are optimizing output cost.
  • 3
    Qwen 2.5 Plus:Pick Qwen 2.5 Plus when time-to-first-token matters more than peak Elo.

Recommended Workload Routing

Repo / coding agentsQwen 3 Max

Higher SWE-bench (67.8%).

High-volume chatQwen 2.5 Plus

Lower output list price ($1/1M).

Voice / low-latency UIQwen 2.5 Plus

Lower TTFT (180 ms).

Long-document RAGQwen 3 Max

Larger window (262k).

Screenshots / visionQwen 3 Max

Both accept images. Defaulting to the higher-Elo side (Qwen 3 Max).

Target WorkloadRecommended PickEvaluation Rationale
Repo / coding agentsQwen 3 MaxHigher SWE-bench (67.8%).
High-volume chatQwen 2.5 PlusLower output list price ($1/1M).
Voice / low-latency UIQwen 2.5 PlusLower TTFT (180 ms).
Long-document RAGQwen 3 MaxLarger window (262k).
Screenshots / visionQwen 3 MaxBoth accept images. Defaulting to the higher-Elo side (Qwen 3 Max).

Related Editorial Dispatches & Benchmark Notes

View all news
launchApr 18, 2026

Qwen 3 Max: Alibaba’s flagship for math and multilingual code

Closed flagship. Strong math. Compare to Sol and Opus on GPQA and SWE-bench, not on brand heat.

launchSep 20, 2025

Qwen3 235B: the open MoE Qwen, not the Max SKU

Sep 2025 open-weight mixture-of-experts. Self-host path. Don’t confuse it with Qwen 3 Max.

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CompareLLM Matrix

Verified head-to-head card

LIVE
VS
Alibaba

Qwen 2.5 Plus

Elo 1,445
LiveBench63.5%
SWE-bench59.2%
Speed110 tok/s
Output cost$1/1M
Alibaba

Qwen 3 Max

Elo 1,518
LiveBench69.4%
SWE-bench67.8%
Speed80 tok/s
Output cost$3.9/1M

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better overall, Qwen 2.5 Plus or Qwen 3 Max?
Qwen 3 Max has the higher preference Elo in our latest snapshot (1,518). “Better” still depends on coding, price, and latency — see the table.
Which is better at coding, Qwen 2.5 Plus or Qwen 3 Max?
Qwen 3 Max leads SWE-bench at 67.8% vs 59.2%. SWE-bench is one harness, not your repo.
Which is cheaper to run in production?
Qwen 2.5 Plus output tokens are $1/1M versus $3.9/1M. Input prices and retry rates still move the real bill.
Which is faster, Qwen 2.5 Plus or Qwen 3 Max?
Qwen 2.5 Plus has the lower time-to-first-token (180 ms vs 280 ms). Tokens/sec is a separate column if you care about long completions.
Which has the larger context window?
Qwen 3 Max accepts 262k tokens versus 128k.
Can I self-host either model?
Neither model is marked open-weights here. You are comparing hosted APIs.
Are these scores from CompareLLM’s own evals?
No. V1 aggregates public leaderboards (and optional first-party latency pings). Each cell names its source and date. Read /methodology.
What does preference Elo mean on this page?
Preference Elo is a crowd vote from LMArena / Arena. People see two hidden answers and pick the one they like more. The model that wins more often gets a higher Elo. That means people preferred it — not that it passed a school test. It is not SWE-bench, not accuracy, and not a number we invent. Qwen 2.5 Plus and Qwen 3 Max Elo cells are dated snapshots from the named source — we do not compute Arena ourselves.

Related news

  • launch · Apr 18, 2026

    Qwen 3 Max: Alibaba’s flagship for math and multilingual code

  • launch · Sep 20, 2025

    Qwen3 235B: the open MoE Qwen, not the Max SKU

Similar Head-to-Head Comparisons

All Qwen 2.5 Plus matchups →|All Qwen 3 Max matchups →
Qwen 2.5 Plus vs Qwen 2.5 Coder 32B (next qwen)Qwen 3 Max vs Qwen QwQ 32B (previous qwen)Qwen 3 Max vs Qwen3.8 27B (next qwen)Qwen3 235B vs Qwen 2.5 PlusMistral Large 3 vs Qwen 2.5 PlusDoubao Pro 1.5 vs Qwen 2.5 Plus