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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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  3. GPT-5.6 Sol vs Qwen 3 Max

Pairwise benchmark snapshot · Aug 17, 2026

GPT-5.6 Sol vs Qwen 3 Max benchmark

In this head-to-head showdown, GPT-5.6 Sol delivers higher overall intelligence and human-preferred responses (Elo 1,608 vs 1,518), while GPT-5.6 Sol leads in SWE-bench software engineering benchmarks (77.6%), while Qwen 3 Max is more budget-friendly at $3.9/1M per 1M output tokens, while GPT-5.6 Sol provides faster response streaming (84 tok/s). Review the complete breakdown below to determine which model best fits your performance and budget requirements.

Executive Comparison Verdict

Bottom Line: Choose GPT-5.6 Sol if your priority is peak reasoning, complex code generation, and top preference Elo. Choose Qwen 3 Max if you are optimizing for low latency, high throughput, and cost-efficient API deployment.
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Verified Head-to-Head Advantage Breakdown

10 direct benchmark disciplines evaluated across capability, speed, and cost

GPT-5.6 Sol (8)Qwen 3 Max (2)
GPT-5.6 Sol
8 of 10 Wins
✓Preference Elo✓Coding Elo✓LiveBench✓SWE-bench✓GPQA Diamond✓Time to first token✓Output speed✓Context window
Qwen 3 Max
2 of 10 Wins
✓Input price✓Output price
OpenAI
Leads 8 of 10 metrics
GPT-5.6 Sol

OpenAI 5.6 flagship tier. Official API $5/$30 per 1M tokens (OpenAI pricing, Jul 30 2026 update left Sol unchanged).

Elo 1,608$30/1M out
Alibaba
Leads 2 of 10 metrics
Qwen 3 Max

Alibaba flagship. Strong math and multilingual code.

Elo 1,518$3.9/1M out

GPT-5.6 Sol Thinking Depth & Cost Scaler

Model A

Simulate accuracy gains vs added response time & token cost

Mode: Medium (Standard)

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.

Thinking Delay
270 ms
Standard speed
Reasoning Depth
~1,500
Internal tokens
Cost / 1k Calls
$56.50
4.9× standard bill
Accuracy Boost
+4.5% accuracy
STEM & SWE-bench
Top Rival Showdowns for GPT-5.6 Sol
All Matchups
Compare vs:vs Claude Opus 4.5vs Gemini 3 Provs Grok 4.6vs DeepSeek V4 Provs Qwen3 235B
Preference LeaderGPT-5.6 Sol Wins

GPT-5.6 Sol

Δ 90 Arena Elo pts

Throughput LeaderGPT-5.6 Sol Wins

GPT-5.6 Sol

84 tok/s

Value per Dollar LeaderQwen 3 Max Wins

Qwen 3 Max

$3.9 / 1M output

Capability Percentiles

Relative percentile scores computed across all active models in the benchmark catalog.

Multi-Dimensional Capability Radar

Leaders Matchup Capability Radar

Comparing top Western standard models with China's leading frontier rival across 6 skill dimensions. Tap any spoke or dot to inspect.

Tap any node to inspect
Percentile 0–100
Head-to-Head Comparison

Overall Matchup Breakdown

Category wins across reasoning intelligence, generation speed, and token cost.

GPT-5.6 Sol (8)vsQwen 3 Max (2)
GPT-5.6 Sol: 8W (80%)Overall: GPT-5.6 SolQwen 3 Max: 2W (20%)
← GPT-5.6 SolQwen 3 Max →
🏆GPT-5.6 Sol(5/5)

Intelligence & Reasoning

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

Benchmark
GPT-5.6 SolvsQwen 3 Max
Preference Elo
1,608vs1,518+90
Coding Elo
1,602vs1,526+76
SWE-bench
77.6%vs67.8%+9.8%
LiveBench
73.9%vs69.4%+4.5%
GPQA Diamond
86.8%vs83.1%+3.7%
GPT-5.6 Sol: 5WQwen 3 Max: 0W
🏆GPT-5.6 Sol(2/2)

Speed & Latency

Generation throughput and time to first token responsiveness

Benchmark
GPT-5.6 SolvsQwen 3 Max
Output speed
84 tok/svs80 tok/s+4 tok/s
Time to first token
270 msvs280 ms+10 ms
GPT-5.6 Sol: 2WQwen 3 Max: 0W
🏆Qwen 3 Max(2/3)

Pricing & Capacity

Cost per million tokens and max context window length

Benchmark
GPT-5.6 SolvsQwen 3 Max
Output price
$30/1Mvs$3.9/1M+$26.1/1M
Input price
$5/1Mvs$0.78/1M+$4.22/1M
Context window
1.1Mvs262k+788k
GPT-5.6 Sol: 1WQwen 3 Max: 2W

Side-by-Side Benchmark Matrix

Preference Elo+90
GPT-5.6 Sol1,608
lmarena · Aug 16, 2026
Qwen 3 Max1,518
lmarena · Aug 17, 2026
Coding Elo+76
GPT-5.6 Sol1,602
lmarena · Aug 16, 2026
Qwen 3 Max1,526
lmarena · Aug 17, 2026
LiveBench+4.5%
GPT-5.6 Sol73.9%
livebench · Aug 16, 2026
Qwen 3 Max69.4%
livebench · Aug 17, 2026
SWE-bench+9.8%
GPT-5.6 Sol77.6%
swebench · Aug 16, 2026
Qwen 3 Max67.8%
swebench · Aug 17, 2026
GPQA Diamond+3.7%
GPT-5.6 Sol86.8%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
Qwen 3 Max83.1%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Time to first token+10 ms
GPT-5.6 Sol270 ms
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
Qwen 3 Max280 ms
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Output speed+4 tok/s
GPT-5.6 Sol84 tok/s
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
Qwen 3 Max80 tok/s
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Input price+$4.22/1M
GPT-5.6 Sol$5/1M
openrouter · Aug 17, 2026
Qwen 3 Max$0.78/1M
openrouter · Aug 17, 2026
Output price+$26.1/1M
GPT-5.6 Sol$30/1M
openrouter · Aug 17, 2026
Qwen 3 Max$3.9/1M
openrouter · Aug 17, 2026
Context window+788k
GPT-5.6 Sol1.1M
openrouter · Aug 17, 2026
Qwen 3 Max262k
openrouter · Aug 17, 2026
BenchmarkGPT-5.6 SolQwen 3 MaxAdvantage Delta
Preference Elo
1,608
lmarena · Aug 16, 2026
1,518
lmarena · Aug 17, 2026
+90
Coding Elo
1,602
lmarena · Aug 16, 2026
1,526
lmarena · Aug 17, 2026
+76
LiveBench
73.9%
livebench · Aug 16, 2026
69.4%
livebench · Aug 17, 2026
+4.5%
SWE-bench
77.6%
swebench · Aug 16, 2026
67.8%
swebench · Aug 17, 2026
+9.8%
GPQA Diamond
86.8%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
83.1%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+3.7%
Time to first token
270 ms
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
280 ms
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+10 ms
Output speed
84 tok/s
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
80 tok/s
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+4 tok/s
Input price
$5/1M
openrouter · Aug 17, 2026
$0.78/1M
openrouter · Aug 17, 2026
+$4.22/1M
Output price
$30/1M
openrouter · Aug 17, 2026
$3.9/1M
openrouter · Aug 17, 2026
+$26.1/1M
Context window
1.1M
openrouter · Aug 17, 2026
262k
openrouter · Aug 17, 2026
+788k
Interactive Simulator (USD)

Workload Cost & Savings Calculator

Simulate monthly production API costs in USD (US Dollar).

Save up to 86% with Qwen 3 Max
Monthly Volume50M tokens/mo
Quick Presets:
Token Ratio (In vs Out)70% In / 30% Out
RAG / Search (10% out)Coding / Chat (50% out)
GPT-5.6 Sol$625.00 / mo
In: $175Out: $450
Qwen 3 Max$85.80 / mo
In: $27.3Out: $58.5
Estimated Cost Delta

Qwen 3 Max is estimated to save $539.20/month ($6,470/year).

Based on 50M tokens (30% gen)

Key Selection Recommendations

  • 1
    GPT-5.6 Sol:Pick GPT-5.6 Sol when repo-level coding accuracy is the constraint.
  • 2
    Qwen 3 Max:Pick Qwen 3 Max when you are optimizing output cost.
  • 3
    GPT-5.6 Sol:Pick GPT-5.6 Sol when time-to-first-token matters more than peak Elo.

Recommended Workload Routing

Repo / coding agentsGPT-5.6 Sol

Higher SWE-bench (77.6%).

High-volume chatQwen 3 Max

Lower output list price ($3.9/1M).

Voice / low-latency UIGPT-5.6 Sol

Lower TTFT (270 ms).

Long-document RAGGPT-5.6 Sol

Larger window (1.1M).

Screenshots / visionGPT-5.6 Sol

Both accept images. Defaulting to the higher-Elo side (GPT-5.6 Sol).

Target WorkloadRecommended PickEvaluation Rationale
Repo / coding agentsGPT-5.6 SolHigher SWE-bench (77.6%).
High-volume chatQwen 3 MaxLower output list price ($3.9/1M).
Voice / low-latency UIGPT-5.6 SolLower TTFT (270 ms).
Long-document RAGGPT-5.6 SolLarger window (1.1M).
Screenshots / visionGPT-5.6 SolBoth accept images. Defaulting to the higher-Elo side (GPT-5.6 Sol).

Related Editorial Dispatches & Benchmark Notes

View all news
compareAug 12, 2026

Grok vs ChatGPT: price and Elo, not a personality contest

Brand hub remaps to top xAI vs top OpenAI. After Aug 12 that is Grok 4.6 vs Sol.

compareJul 24, 2026

Claude vs GPT benchmark: this hub always remaps to the current Elo leaders

Not a frozen 2025 article. Today that is usually Opus 5 vs GPT-5.6 Sol. Dated cells, not a brand fight.

compareJul 16, 2026

Gemini vs GPT: long context versus the OpenAI flagship invoice

Hub remaps to top Google vs top OpenAI Elo. Usually 3.6 Pro vs Sol. Window vs price is the plot.

launchJul 9, 2026

GPT-5.6 Sol: OpenAI’s $5/$30 flagship tier on this leaderboard

Jul 9 2026 family; Jul 30 price update left Sol unchanged. This is the GPT side of Claude vs GPT.

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CompareLLM AI Matrix

Verified Head-to-Head Telemetry

LIVE BENCHMARK
VS
OpenAI

GPT-5.6 Sol

Elo 1,608
SWE-bench77.6%
Speed (tok/s)84 tok/s
Input / 1M Tokens$5/1M
Output / 1M Tokens$30/1M
Alibaba

Qwen 3 Max

Elo 1,518
SWE-bench67.8%
Speed (tok/s)80 tok/s
Input / 1M Tokens$0.78/1M
Output / 1M Tokens$3.9/1M

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better overall, GPT-5.6 Sol or Qwen 3 Max?
GPT-5.6 Sol has the higher preference Elo in our latest snapshot (1,608). “Better” still depends on coding, price, and latency — see the table.
Which is better at coding, GPT-5.6 Sol or Qwen 3 Max?
GPT-5.6 Sol leads SWE-bench at 77.6% vs 67.8%. SWE-bench is one harness, not your repo.
Which is cheaper to run in production?
Qwen 3 Max output tokens are $3.9/1M versus $30/1M. Input prices and retry rates still move the real bill.
Which is faster, GPT-5.6 Sol or Qwen 3 Max?
GPT-5.6 Sol has the lower time-to-first-token (270 ms vs 280 ms). Tokens/sec is a separate column if you care about long completions.
Which has the larger context window?
GPT-5.6 Sol accepts 1.1M tokens versus 262k.
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. GPT-5.6 Sol 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

  • compare · Aug 12, 2026

    Grok vs ChatGPT: price and Elo, not a personality contest

  • compare · Jul 24, 2026

    Claude vs GPT benchmark: this hub always remaps to the current Elo leaders

  • compare · Jul 16, 2026

    Gemini vs GPT: long context versus the OpenAI flagship invoice

Similar Head-to-Head Comparisons

All GPT-5.6 Sol matchups →|All Qwen 3 Max matchups →
GPT-5.6 Sol vs GPT-5 (previous gpt-flagship)GPT-5 vs Qwen 3 MaxGPT-5.6 Terra vs Qwen 3 MaxGPT-4.5 Orion vs Qwen 3 MaxQwen QwQ 32B vs Qwen 3 MaxOpenAI: o3 Mini vs Qwen 3 Max