Pairwise benchmark snapshot · Aug 1, 2026
In this head-to-head showdown, Claude Opus 4.6 delivers higher overall intelligence and human-preferred responses (Elo 1,574 vs 1,440), while Claude Opus 4.6 leads in SWE-bench software engineering benchmarks (75.9%), while Qwen3 235B is more budget-friendly at $0.88/1M per 1M output tokens. Review the complete breakdown below to determine which model best fits your performance and budget requirements.
9 direct benchmark disciplines evaluated across capability, speed, and cost
Follow-on Opus release. Slightly behind 4.5 on official SWE-bench bash-only in the last published sweep; stronger multi-step autonomous agent reasoning.
Open-weight Qwen3 mixture-of-experts.
Currently comparing Claude Opus 4.6 vs Qwen3 235B. Alternative family tiers available.
Simulate accuracy gains vs added response time & token cost
Reasoning models “think before answering” by generating internal reasoning tokens. Higher effort improves math, coding, and logic accuracy, but increases response delay and token costs.
Δ 134 Arena Elo pts
74 tok/s
$0.88 / 1M output
Relative percentile scores computed across all active models in the benchmark catalog.
Comparing top Western standard models with China's leading frontier rival across 6 skill dimensions. Tap any spoke or dot to inspect.
Category wins across reasoning intelligence, generation speed, and token cost.
Preference Elo, Coding proficiency, SWE-bench & LiveBench accuracy
Generation throughput and time to first token responsiveness
Cost per million tokens and max context window length
| Benchmark | Claude Opus 4.6 | Qwen3 235B | Advantage Delta |
|---|---|---|---|
| Preference Elo | +134 | ||
| Coding Elo | — | — | |
| LiveBench | +8.5% | ||
| SWE-bench | +16.5% | ||
| GPQA Diamond | +8% | ||
| Time to first token | +40 ms | ||
| Output speed | 64 tok/s | 74 tok/s | +10 tok/s |
| Input price | $0.22/1M | +$14.78/1M | |
| Output price | $0.88/1M | +$74.12/1M | |
| Context window | +69k |
Simulate monthly production API costs in USD (US Dollar).
Qwen3 235B is estimated to save $1,629.10/month ($19,549/year).
Higher SWE-bench (75.9%).
Lower output list price ($0.88/1M).
Lower TTFT (320 ms).
Larger window (200k).
Claude Opus 4.6 is the side marked multimodal in the catalog.
| Target Workload | Recommended Pick | Evaluation Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Repo / coding agents | Claude Opus 4.6 | Higher SWE-bench (75.9%). |
| High-volume chat | Qwen3 235B | Lower output list price ($0.88/1M). |
| Voice / low-latency UI | Qwen3 235B | Lower TTFT (320 ms). |
| Long-document RAG | Claude Opus 4.6 | Larger window (200k). |
| Screenshots / vision | Claude Opus 4.6 | Claude Opus 4.6 is the side marked multimodal in the catalog. |
Slightly behind 4.5 on one official SWE-bench sweep; stronger long-horizon traces. We keep the row for old vs URLs.
Sep 2025 open-weight mixture-of-experts. Self-host path. Don’t confuse it with Qwen 3 Max.
No comments posted on this matchup yet. Be the first to share an evaluation note!
Dynamic OpenGraph banner generated at /compare/claude-opus-4-6-vs-qwen-3-235b/opengraph-image
Verified Head-to-Head Telemetry