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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. Llama 4 Scout vs Qwen 3 Max

Pairwise benchmark snapshot · Aug 16, 2026

Llama 4 Scout vs Qwen 3 Max benchmark

In this head-to-head showdown, Qwen 3 Max delivers higher overall intelligence and human-preferred responses (Elo 1,518 vs 1,412), while Qwen 3 Max leads in SWE-bench software engineering benchmarks (67.8%), while Llama 4 Scout is more budget-friendly at $0.3/1M per 1M output tokens. Review the complete breakdown below to determine which model best fits your performance and budget requirements.

Executive Comparison Verdict

Bottom Line: Choose Qwen 3 Max if your priority is peak reasoning, complex code generation, and top preference Elo. Choose Llama 4 Scout 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

Llama 4 Scout (5)Qwen 3 Max (5)
Llama 4 Scout
5 of 10 Wins
✓Time to first token✓Output speed✓Input price✓Output price✓Context window
Qwen 3 Max
5 of 10 Wins
✓Preference Elo✓Coding Elo✓LiveBench✓SWE-bench✓GPQA Diamond
Meta
Leads 5 of 10 metrics
Llama 4 Scout

Meta open-weight Llama 4 long-context sibling of Maverick. Common public API lists sit near $0.08–$0.30 / $0.30–$0.70 per 1M; we store a conservative hosted list until OpenRouter overwrites.

Scout 10M CtxElo 1,412$0.3/1M out
Alibaba
Leads 5 of 10 metrics
Qwen 3 Max

Alibaba flagship. Strong math and multilingual code.

Elo 1,518$4.8/1M out

Llama 4 Series Lineage & Sibling Variants

2 models

Currently comparing Llama 4 Scout vs Qwen 3 Max. Alternative family tiers available.

Active: Llama 4 Scout
Llama 4 Maverick$0.6
Top Rival Showdowns for Llama 4 Scout
All Matchups
Compare vs:vs Claude Opus 4.5vs GPT-5vs Gemini 3 Provs Grok 4.6vs DeepSeek V4 Pro
Preference LeaderQwen 3 Max Wins

Qwen 3 Max

Δ 106 Arena Elo pts

Throughput LeaderLlama 4 Scout Wins

Llama 4 Scout

155 tok/s

Value per Dollar LeaderLlama 4 Scout Wins

Llama 4 Scout

$0.3 / 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
0–100 %ile
Head-to-Head Comparison

Overall Matchup Breakdown

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

Llama 4 Scout (5)vsQwen 3 Max (5)
Llama 4 Scout: 5W (50%)Overall: Even matchupQwen 3 Max: 5W (50%)
← Llama 4 ScoutQwen 3 Max →
🏆Qwen 3 Max(5/5)

Intelligence & Reasoning

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

Benchmark
Llama 4 ScoutvsQwen 3 Max
Preference Elo
1,412vs1,518+106
Coding Elo
1,398vs1,526+128
SWE-bench
52.4%vs67.8%+15.4%
LiveBench
59.6%vs69.4%+9.8%
GPQA Diamond
71.2%vs83.1%+11.9%
Llama 4 Scout: 0WQwen 3 Max: 5W
🏆Llama 4 Scout(2/2)

Speed & Latency

Generation throughput and time to first token responsiveness

Benchmark
Llama 4 ScoutvsQwen 3 Max
Output speed
155 tok/svs80 tok/s+75 tok/s
Time to first token
130 msvs280 ms+150 ms
Llama 4 Scout: 2WQwen 3 Max: 0W
🏆Llama 4 Scout(3/3)

Pricing & Capacity

Cost per million tokens and max context window length

Benchmark
Llama 4 ScoutvsQwen 3 Max
Output price
$0.3/1Mvs$4.8/1M+$4.5/1M
Input price
$0.08/1Mvs$1.2/1M+$1.12/1M
Context window
10Mvs262k+9.7M
Llama 4 Scout: 3WQwen 3 Max: 0W

Side-by-Side Benchmark Matrix

Preference Elo+106
Llama 4 Scout1,412
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
Qwen 3 Max1,518
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Coding Elo+128
Llama 4 Scout1,398
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
Qwen 3 Max1,526
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
LiveBench+9.8%
Llama 4 Scout59.6%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
Qwen 3 Max69.4%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
SWE-bench+15.4%
Llama 4 Scout52.4%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
Qwen 3 Max67.8%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
GPQA Diamond+11.9%
Llama 4 Scout71.2%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
Qwen 3 Max83.1%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Time to first token+150 ms
Llama 4 Scout130 ms
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
Qwen 3 Max280 ms
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Output speed+75 tok/s
Llama 4 Scout155 tok/s
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
Qwen 3 Max80 tok/s
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Input price+$1.12/1M
Llama 4 Scout$0.08/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
Qwen 3 Max$1.2/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Output price+$4.5/1M
Llama 4 Scout$0.3/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
Qwen 3 Max$4.8/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Context window+9.7M
Llama 4 Scout10M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
Qwen 3 Max262k
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
BenchmarkLlama 4 ScoutQwen 3 MaxAdvantage Delta
Preference Elo
1,412
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
1,518
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+106
Coding Elo
1,398
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
1,526
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+128
LiveBench
59.6%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
69.4%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+9.8%
SWE-bench
52.4%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
67.8%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+15.4%
GPQA Diamond
71.2%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
83.1%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+11.9%
Time to first token
130 ms
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
280 ms
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+150 ms
Output speed
155 tok/s
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
80 tok/s
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+75 tok/s
Input price
$0.08/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
$1.2/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+$1.12/1M
Output price
$0.3/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
$4.8/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+$4.5/1M
Context window
10M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
262k
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+9.7M
Interactive Simulator (USD)

Workload Cost & Savings Calculator

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

Save up to 94% with Llama 4 Scout
Monthly Volume50M tokens/mo
Quick Presets:
Token Ratio (In vs Out)70% In / 30% Out
RAG / Search (10% out)Coding / Chat (50% out)
Llama 4 Scout$7.30 / mo
In: $2.8Out: $4.5
Qwen 3 Max$114.00 / mo
In: $42Out: $72
Estimated Cost Delta

Llama 4 Scout is estimated to save $106.70/month ($1,280/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
    Llama 4 Scout:Pick Llama 4 Scout when you are optimizing output cost.
  • 3
    Llama 4 Scout:Pick Llama 4 Scout 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 chatLlama 4 Scout

Lower output list price ($0.3/1M).

Voice / low-latency UILlama 4 Scout

Lower TTFT (130 ms).

Long-document RAGLlama 4 Scout

Larger window (10M).

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 chatLlama 4 ScoutLower output list price ($0.3/1M).
Voice / low-latency UILlama 4 ScoutLower TTFT (130 ms).
Long-document RAGLlama 4 ScoutLarger window (10M).
Screenshots / visionQwen 3 MaxBoth accept images. Defaulting to the higher-Elo side (Qwen 3 Max).

Related Editorial Dispatches & Benchmark Notes

View all news
compareAug 16, 2026

Haiku 4.5 vs Llama 4 Scout: cheap Claude versus cheap open Llama

$1/$5 hosted Claude vs a cheap long-context open sibling. The alternative-to-Sonnet pair that is honest.

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.

launchApr 8, 2026

Llama 4 Scout: long-context open sibling of Maverick

Huge window, cheap hosted lists. The Haiku alternative that is actually open-weight.

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
Meta

Llama 4 Scout

Elo 1,412
SWE-bench52.4%
Speed (tok/s)155 tok/s
Input / 1M Tokens$0.08/1M
Output / 1M Tokens$0.3/1M
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, Llama 4 Scout 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, Llama 4 Scout or Qwen 3 Max?
Qwen 3 Max leads SWE-bench at 67.8% vs 52.4%. SWE-bench is one harness, not your repo.
Which is cheaper to run in production?
Llama 4 Scout output tokens are $0.3/1M versus $4.8/1M. Input prices and retry rates still move the real bill.
Which is faster, Llama 4 Scout or Qwen 3 Max?
Llama 4 Scout has the lower time-to-first-token (130 ms vs 280 ms). Tokens/sec is a separate column if you care about long completions.
Which has the larger context window?
Llama 4 Scout accepts 10M tokens versus 262k.
Can I self-host either model?
Llama 4 Scout is marked open-weights in our catalog. The other side is a closed API. Check the provider license before you ship weights.
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. Llama 4 Scout and Qwen 3 Max Elo cells are dated snapshots from the named source — we do not compute Arena ourselves.

Related news

  • compare · Aug 16, 2026

    Haiku 4.5 vs Llama 4 Scout: cheap Claude versus cheap open Llama

  • launch · Apr 18, 2026

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

  • launch · Apr 8, 2026

    Llama 4 Scout: long-context open sibling of Maverick

  • launch · Sep 20, 2025

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

Similar Head-to-Head Comparisons

All Llama 4 Scout matchups →|All Qwen 3 Max matchups →
Llama 4 Scout vs Llama 4 Maverick (previous llama)Llama 4 Maverick vs Qwen 3 MaxQwen QwQ 32B vs Qwen 3 MaxQwen 2.5 Coder 32B vs Llama 4 ScoutQwen3.8 27B vs Llama 4 ScoutQwen3 235B vs Llama 4 Scout