Model comparison
Qwen 3.6 Max (preview) vs Qwen3.6 Plus
Head-to-head evidence from 17 shared benchmark results across 6 categories. Overall scores shown here use the public BenchAlign v5 ranking lane.
Public leaderboard positions: Qwen 3.6 Max (preview) #53 (Supported); Qwen3.6 Plus #30 (Supported). Intervals and evidence labels describe ranking uncertainty, not a guarantee for a specific workload.
Evidence parity. Qwen 3.6 Max (preview) and Qwen3.6 Plus share 17 comparable benchmark results. 4 of 8 categories are comparable. 4 results are unique to Qwen 3.6 Max (preview); 43 to Qwen3.6 Plus.
Updated July 23, 2026- Shared results
- 17
- Qwen 3.6 Max (preview) only
- 4
- Qwen3.6 Plus only
- 43
- Comparable categories
- 4 / 8
Pick Qwen3.6 Plus if you want the stronger benchmark profile. Qwen 3.6 Max (preview) only becomes the better choice if knowledge is the priority.
Confidence note. This is a partial-evidence comparison with 17 shared benchmark results across 6 evidence categories; 4 of 8 categories currently have scoreable aggregates for both models. Treat the verdict as directional until coverage is more balanced.
Why this result
Qwen3.6 Plus is clearly ahead on the BenchAlign aggregate, 65.2 to 59.72. The gap is large enough that you do not need to squint at the spreadsheet to see the difference.
Qwen3.6 Plus's sharpest advantage is in mathematics, where it averages 60.5 against 18.4. The single biggest benchmark swing on the page is FrontierMath v2 (Tier 4), 4.167% to 8.333%. Qwen 3.6 Max (preview) does hit back in knowledge, so the answer changes if that is the part of the workload you care about most.
Qwen3.6 Plus gives you the larger context window at 1M, compared with 256K for Qwen 3.6 Max (preview).
Category breakdown
Exact category averages are shown below. Not measured means BenchLM does not have enough sourced public coverage for that model and category.
| Category | Qwen 3.6 Max (preview) | Δ | Qwen3.6 Plus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Math | Qwen 3.6 Max (preview)18.4 | Margin→ 42.1 | Qwen3.6 Plus60.5 |
| Coding | Qwen 3.6 Max (preview)51.0 | Margin→ 19.3 | Qwen3.6 Plus70.3 |
| Knowledge | Qwen 3.6 Max (preview)73.9 | Margin← 16.8 | Qwen3.6 Plus57.1 |
| Agentic | Qwen 3.6 Max (preview)65.4 | Margin← 3.8 | Qwen3.6 Plus61.6 |
| Reasoning | Qwen 3.6 Max (preview)Not measured | MarginNo overlap | Qwen3.6 Plus62.0 |
| Multilingual | Qwen 3.6 Max (preview)Not measured | MarginNo overlap | Qwen3.6 Plus84.7 |
| Multimodal | Qwen 3.6 Max (preview)Not measured | MarginNo overlap | Qwen3.6 Plus79.8 |
| Inst. Following | Qwen 3.6 Max (preview)Not measured | MarginNo overlap | Qwen3.6 Plus82.3 |
Decisive benchmark drivers
The largest measured benchmark gaps in this matchup, with exact reported values.
More
- Source ↗
FrontierMath v2 (Tier 4)
MathA 4.167%B 8.333%Winner: Qwen3.6 PlusΔ 4.2FrontierMath v2 (Tier 4): Qwen 3.6 Max (preview) scored 4.167%; Qwen3.6 Plus scored 8.333%. Qwen3.6 Plus wins this benchmark. - Source ↗
Terminal-Bench 2.0
AgenticA 65.4%B 61.6%Winner: Qwen 3.6 Max (preview)Δ 3.8Terminal-Bench 2.0: Qwen 3.6 Max (preview) scored 65.4%; Qwen3.6 Plus scored 61.6%. Qwen 3.6 Max (preview) wins this benchmark. - Source ↗
FrontierMath v2 (Tiers 1-3)
MathA 23.103%B 26.207%Winner: Qwen3.6 PlusΔ 3.1FrontierMath v2 (Tiers 1-3): Qwen 3.6 Max (preview) scored 23.103%; Qwen3.6 Plus scored 26.207%. Qwen3.6 Plus wins this benchmark. - Source ↗
SuperGPQA
KnowledgeA 73.9%B 71.6%Winner: Qwen 3.6 Max (preview)Δ 2.3SuperGPQA: Qwen 3.6 Max (preview) scored 73.9%; Qwen3.6 Plus scored 71.6%. Qwen 3.6 Max (preview) wins this benchmark. - Source ↗
SWE-bench Pro
CodingA 57.3%B 56.6%Winner: Qwen 3.6 Max (preview)Δ 0.7SWE-bench Pro: Qwen 3.6 Max (preview) scored 57.3%; Qwen3.6 Plus scored 56.6%. Qwen 3.6 Max (preview) wins this benchmark.
Operational comparison
Runtime and commercial metrics are compared only when both models have a complete sourced value.
| Metric | Qwen 3.6 Max (preview) | Qwen3.6 Plus | Comparison |
|---|---|---|---|
| Input / output priceUSD per 1M tokens | Qwen 3.6 Max (preview)Not available | Qwen3.6 PlusNot available | A complete price comparison is not available. |
| Generation speedtokens per second | Qwen 3.6 Max (preview)Not available | Qwen3.6 PlusNot available | A complete speed comparison is not available. |
| First-answer latencyseconds to first token | Qwen 3.6 Max (preview)Not available | Qwen3.6 PlusNot available | A complete latency comparison is not available. |
| Context windowmaximum listed tokens | Qwen 3.6 Max (preview)256K | Qwen3.6 Plus1M | Qwen3.6 Plus lists the larger context window. |
Benchmark Deep Dive
AgenticQwen 3.6 Max (preview) wins17 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Qwen 3.6 Max (preview) | Qwen3.6 Plus | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Terminal-Bench 2.0Source | 65.4% | 61.6% | Qwen 3.6 Max (preview) leads |
| QwenClawBenchSource | 59.0% | 57.2% | Qwen 3.6 Max (preview) leads |
| QwenWebBenchSource | 1532 | — | Not comparable |
| τ²-bench resultsSource | 95.9% | 97.7% | Qwen3.6 Plus leads |
| Claw-EvalSource | — | 58.8% | Not comparable |
| τ³-bench resultsSource | — | 70.7% | Not comparable |
| VITA-BenchSource | — | 44.3% | Not comparable |
| DeepPlanningSource | — | 41.5% | Not comparable |
| ToolathlonSource | — | 39.8% | Not comparable |
| MCP AtlasSource | — | 48.2% | Not comparable |
| MCP-TasksSource | — | 74.1% | Not comparable |
| WideResearchSource | — | 74.3% | Not comparable |
| AA Agentic IndexSource | — | 27.6% | Not comparable |
| GDPval-AASource | — | 31.8% | Not comparable |
| GDPval-AASource | — | 1135 | Not comparable |
| Gert LabsSource | — | 50.60% | Not comparable |
| ResearchClawBenchSource | — | 18.0% | Not comparable |
CodingQwen3.6 Plus wins10 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Qwen 3.6 Max (preview) | Qwen3.6 Plus | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| SWE-bench ProSource | 57.3% | 56.6% | Qwen 3.6 Max (preview) leads |
| SciCodeSource | 47% | — | Not comparable |
| NL2RepoSource | 42.9% | — | Not comparable |
| Terminal-Bench 2.0Source | 65.4% | — | Not comparable |
| AA-SciCodeSource | 46.9% | 40.7% | Qwen 3.6 Max (preview) leads |
| SWE-bench VerifiedSource | — | 78.8% | Not comparable |
| SWE MultilingualSource | — | 73.8% | Not comparable |
| LiveCodeBench v6Source | — | 87.1% | Not comparable |
| Vibe Code BenchSource | — | 25.56% | Not comparable |
| AA Coding IndexSource | — | 54.5% | Not comparable |
Reasoning4 benchmarks
KnowledgeQwen 3.6 Max (preview) wins12 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Qwen 3.6 Max (preview) | Qwen3.6 Plus | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| SuperGPQASource | 73.9% | 71.6% | Qwen 3.6 Max (preview) leads |
| Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexSource | 40.0% | 39.6% | Qwen 3.6 Max (preview) leads |
| AA-GPQA DiamondSource | 88.8% | 88.2% | Qwen 3.6 Max (preview) leads |
| AA-HLESource | 28.9% | 25.7% | Qwen 3.6 Max (preview) leads |
| AA-Omniscience IndexSource | 10.2% | 2.7% | Qwen 3.6 Max (preview) leads |
| AA-Omniscience AccuracySource | 37.7% | 26.2% | Qwen 3.6 Max (preview) leads |
| AA-Omniscience Hallucination RateSource | 44.2% | 32.0% | Qwen3.6 Plus leads |
| GPQASource | — | 90.4% | Not comparable |
| MMLU-ProSource | — | 88.5% | Not comparable |
| MMLU-ReduxSource | — | 94.5% | Not comparable |
| C-EvalSource | — | 93.3% | Not comparable |
| HLESource | — | 28.8% | Not comparable |
MathQwen3.6 Plus wins7 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Qwen 3.6 Max (preview) | Qwen3.6 Plus | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| FrontierMath v2 (Tiers 1-3)Source | 23.103% | 26.207% | Qwen3.6 Plus leads |
| FrontierMath v2 (Tier 4)Source | 4.167% | 8.333% | Qwen3.6 Plus leads |
| AIME26Source | — | 95.3% | Not comparable |
| HMMT Feb 2025Source | — | 96.7% | Not comparable |
| HMMT Nov 2025Source | — | 94.6% | Not comparable |
| HMMT Feb 2026Source | — | 87.8% | Not comparable |
| MMAnswerBenchSource | — | 83.8% | Not comparable |
Multilingual2 benchmarks
Multimodal9 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Qwen 3.6 Max (preview) | Qwen3.6 Plus | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| MMMUSource | — | 86.0% | Not comparable |
| MMMU-ProSource | — | 78.8% | Not comparable |
| MathVisionSource | — | 88.0% | Not comparable |
| VideoMMMUSource | — | 84.0% | Not comparable |
| ScreenSpot ProSource | — | 68.2% | Not comparable |
| CharXivSource | — | 81.5% | Not comparable |
| V*Source | — | 96.9% | Not comparable |
| AA-MMMU-ProSource | — | 78.0% | Not comparable |
| Design Arena WebsiteSource | — | 1249 | Not comparable |
Frequently Asked Questions (5)
Which is better, Qwen 3.6 Max (preview) or Qwen3.6 Plus?
Qwen3.6 Plus is ahead on BenchLM's BenchAlign leaderboard, 65.2 to 59.72. The biggest single separator in this matchup is FrontierMath v2 (Tier 4), where the scores are 4.167% and 8.333%.
Which is better for knowledge tasks, Qwen 3.6 Max (preview) or Qwen3.6 Plus?
Qwen 3.6 Max (preview) has the edge for knowledge tasks in this comparison, averaging 73.9 versus 57.1. Inside this category, AA-Omniscience Hallucination Rate is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.
Which is better for coding, Qwen 3.6 Max (preview) or Qwen3.6 Plus?
Qwen3.6 Plus has the edge for coding in this comparison, averaging 70.3 versus 51. Inside this category, AA-SciCode is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.
Which is better for math, Qwen 3.6 Max (preview) or Qwen3.6 Plus?
Qwen3.6 Plus has the edge for math in this comparison, averaging 60.5 versus 18.4. Inside this category, FrontierMath v2 (Tier 4) is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.
Which is better for agentic tasks, Qwen 3.6 Max (preview) or Qwen3.6 Plus?
Qwen 3.6 Max (preview) has the edge for agentic tasks in this comparison, averaging 65.4 versus 61.6. Inside this category, Terminal-Bench 2.0 is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.
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