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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. Grok 4.6 vs Qwen 3 Max

Pairwise benchmark snapshot · Aug 16, 2026

Grok 4.6 vs Qwen 3 Max benchmark

In this head-to-head showdown, Grok 4.6 delivers higher overall intelligence and human-preferred responses (Elo 1,592 vs 1,518), while Grok 4.6 leads in SWE-bench software engineering benchmarks (69.1%), while Qwen 3 Max is more budget-friendly at $4.8/1M per 1M output tokens, while Grok 4.6 provides faster response streaming (118 tok/s). Review the complete breakdown below to determine which model best fits your performance and budget requirements.

Executive Comparison Verdict

Bottom Line: Choose Grok 4.6 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

Grok 4.6 (8)Qwen 3 Max (2)
Grok 4.6
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
xAI
Leads 8 of 10 metrics
Grok 4.6

xAI Aug 12 2026 post-training refresh of Grok 4.5. Same $2/$6 API price, 500k context, stronger agentic traces.

Elo 1,592$6/1M out
Alibaba
Leads 2 of 10 metrics
Qwen 3 Max

Alibaba flagship. Strong math and multilingual code.

Elo 1,518$4.8/1M out
Top Rival Showdowns for Grok 4.6
All Matchups
Compare vs:vs Claude Opus 4.5vs GPT-5vs Gemini 3 Provs DeepSeek V4 Provs Qwen3 235B
Preference LeaderGrok 4.6 Wins

Grok 4.6

Δ 74 Arena Elo pts

Throughput LeaderGrok 4.6 Wins

Grok 4.6

118 tok/s

Value per Dollar LeaderQwen 3 Max Wins

Qwen 3 Max

$4.8 / 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.

Grok 4.6 (8)vsQwen 3 Max (2)
Grok 4.6: 8W (80%)Overall: Grok 4.6Qwen 3 Max: 2W (20%)
← Grok 4.6Qwen 3 Max →
🏆Grok 4.6(5/5)

Intelligence & Reasoning

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

Benchmark
Grok 4.6vsQwen 3 Max
Preference Elo
1,592vs1,518+74
Coding Elo
1,568vs1,526+42
SWE-bench
69.1%vs67.8%+1.3%
LiveBench
71.4%vs69.4%+2%
GPQA Diamond
84.6%vs83.1%+1.5%
Grok 4.6: 5WQwen 3 Max: 0W
🏆Grok 4.6(2/2)

Speed & Latency

Generation throughput and time to first token responsiveness

Benchmark
Grok 4.6vsQwen 3 Max
Output speed
118 tok/svs80 tok/s+38 tok/s
Time to first token
195 msvs280 ms+85 ms
Grok 4.6: 2WQwen 3 Max: 0W
🏆Qwen 3 Max(2/3)

Pricing & Capacity

Cost per million tokens and max context window length

Benchmark
Grok 4.6vsQwen 3 Max
Output price
$6/1Mvs$4.8/1M+$1.2/1M
Input price
$2/1Mvs$1.2/1M+$0.8/1M
Context window
500kvs262k+238k
Grok 4.6: 1WQwen 3 Max: 2W

Side-by-Side Benchmark Matrix

Preference Elo+74
Grok 4.61,592
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
Qwen 3 Max1,518
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Coding Elo+42
Grok 4.61,568
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
Qwen 3 Max1,526
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
LiveBench+2%
Grok 4.671.4%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
Qwen 3 Max69.4%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
SWE-bench+1.3%
Grok 4.669.1%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
Qwen 3 Max67.8%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
GPQA Diamond+1.5%
Grok 4.684.6%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
Qwen 3 Max83.1%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Time to first token+85 ms
Grok 4.6195 ms
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
Qwen 3 Max280 ms
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Output speed+38 tok/s
Grok 4.6118 tok/s
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
Qwen 3 Max80 tok/s
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Input price+$0.8/1M
Grok 4.6$2/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
Qwen 3 Max$1.2/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Output price+$1.2/1M
Grok 4.6$6/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
Qwen 3 Max$4.8/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Context window+238k
Grok 4.6500k
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
Qwen 3 Max262k
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
BenchmarkGrok 4.6Qwen 3 MaxAdvantage Delta
Preference Elo
1,592
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
1,518
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+74
Coding Elo
1,568
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
1,526
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+42
LiveBench
71.4%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
69.4%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+2%
SWE-bench
69.1%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
67.8%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+1.3%
GPQA Diamond
84.6%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
83.1%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+1.5%
Time to first token
195 ms
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
280 ms
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+85 ms
Output speed
118 tok/s
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
80 tok/s
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+38 tok/s
Input price
$2/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
$1.2/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+$0.8/1M
Output price
$6/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
$4.8/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+$1.2/1M
Context window
500k
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
262k
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+238k
Interactive Simulator (USD)

Workload Cost & Savings Calculator

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

Save up to 29% 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)
Grok 4.6$160.00 / mo
In: $70Out: $90
Qwen 3 Max$114.00 / mo
In: $42Out: $72
Estimated Cost Delta

Qwen 3 Max is estimated to save $46.00/month ($552/year).

Based on 50M tokens (30% gen)

Key Selection Recommendations

  • 1
    Grok 4.6:Pick Grok 4.6 when repo-level coding accuracy is the constraint.
  • 2
    Qwen 3 Max:Pick Qwen 3 Max when you are optimizing output cost.
  • 3
    Grok 4.6:Pick Grok 4.6 when time-to-first-token matters more than peak Elo.

Recommended Workload Routing

Repo / coding agentsGrok 4.6

Higher SWE-bench (69.1%).

High-volume chatQwen 3 Max

Lower output list price ($4.8/1M).

Voice / low-latency UIGrok 4.6

Lower TTFT (195 ms).

Long-document RAGGrok 4.6

Larger window (500k).

Screenshots / visionGrok 4.6

Both accept images. Defaulting to the higher-Elo side (Grok 4.6).

Target WorkloadRecommended PickEvaluation Rationale
Repo / coding agentsGrok 4.6Higher SWE-bench (69.1%).
High-volume chatQwen 3 MaxLower output list price ($4.8/1M).
Voice / low-latency UIGrok 4.6Lower TTFT (195 ms).
Long-document RAGGrok 4.6Larger window (500k).
Screenshots / visionGrok 4.6Both accept images. Defaulting to the higher-Elo side (Grok 4.6).

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.

launchAug 12, 2026

Grok 4.6 (Aug 12): post-training refresh, same $2/$6 list

xAI’s Aug 12 2026 refresh of Grok 4.5. 500k context. The Grok vs ChatGPT hub remaps here.

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.

Community Sentiment

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CompareLLM AI Matrix

Verified Head-to-Head Telemetry

LIVE BENCHMARK
VS
xAI

Grok 4.6

Elo 1,592
SWE-bench69.1%
Speed (tok/s)118 tok/s
Input / 1M Tokens$2/1M
Output / 1M Tokens$6/1M
Alibaba

Qwen 3 Max

Elo 1,518
SWE-bench67.8%
Speed (tok/s)80 tok/s
Input / 1M Tokens$1.2/1M
Output / 1M Tokens$4.8/1M

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better overall, Grok 4.6 or Qwen 3 Max?
Grok 4.6 has the higher preference Elo in our latest snapshot (1,592). “Better” still depends on coding, price, and latency — see the table.
Which is better at coding, Grok 4.6 or Qwen 3 Max?
Grok 4.6 leads SWE-bench at 69.1% vs 67.8%. SWE-bench is one harness, not your repo.
Which is cheaper to run in production?
Qwen 3 Max output tokens are $4.8/1M versus $6/1M. Input prices and retry rates still move the real bill.
Which is faster, Grok 4.6 or Qwen 3 Max?
Grok 4.6 has the lower time-to-first-token (195 ms vs 280 ms). Tokens/sec is a separate column if you care about long completions.
Which has the larger context window?
Grok 4.6 accepts 500k 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. Grok 4.6 and Qwen 3 Max Elo cells are dated snapshots from the named source — we do not compute Arena ourselves.

Related news

  • compare · Aug 12, 2026

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

  • launch · Aug 12, 2026

    Grok 4.6 (Aug 12): post-training refresh, same $2/$6 list

  • 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 Grok 4.6 matchups →|All Qwen 3 Max matchups →
Grok 4.6 vs Grok 4 (previous grok)Qwen QwQ 32B vs Qwen 3 MaxClaude Opus 4.8 vs Grok 4.6GPT-5.6 Sol vs Grok 4.6Claude Opus 4.6 vs Grok 4.6Gemini 3.6 Pro vs Grok 4.6