Qwen3 Max alternatives
Match · Updated July 2026
The closest alternative to Qwen3 Max is gpt-oss-120b — comparable intelligence (23.8 vs 24.0); for a cheaper option, GPT-5.6 Luna runs $0.100/M vs $0.780/M; and the best open-weight substitute is Kimi K3.
Closest match
Cheaper alternatives
gpt-5.6-luna
$0.100/M input · 51.2 intel
gemini-3.5-flash:batch
$0.750/M input · 50.2 intel
gemini-3.6-flash:batch
$0.750/M input · 50.1 intel
minimax-m3
$0.300/M input · 44.4 intel
minimax-m3:batch
$0.150/M input · 44.4 intel
deepseek-v4-pro
$0.435/M input · 44.3 intel
Smarter alternatives
deepseek-v3.2
24.7 intel · $0.269/M
gemini-3.1-flash-lite
25.0 intel · $0.250/M
gemini-3.1-flash-lite:batch
25.0 intel · $0.125/M
gemini-3.1-flash-lite-preview
25.0 intel · $0.250/M
gpt-5-mini
25.3 intel · $0.250/M
gpt-5-mini:batch
25.3 intel · $0.125/M
Open-source alternatives
kimi-k3
57.1 intel · open weights · 1.0M ctx
glm-5.2
51.1 intel · open weights · 1.0M ctx
minimax-m3
44.4 intel · open weights · 1.0M ctx
minimax-m3:batch
44.4 intel · open weights · 524K ctx
deepseek-v4-pro
44.3 intel · open weights · 1.0M ctx
kimi-k2.6
44.2 intel · open weights · 262K ctx
Frequently asked
What is the best alternative to Qwen3 Max?
gpt-oss-120b is the closest alternative to Qwen3 Max, with an Intelligence Index of 23.8 (Qwen3 Max scores 24.0) at $0.037 per million input tokens.
Is there a cheaper alternative to Qwen3 Max?
Yes — GPT-5.6 Luna costs $0.100 per million input tokens versus $0.780 for Qwen3 Max, while staying within ~8 points of its Intelligence Index.
Is there an open-source alternative to Qwen3 Max?
Kimi K3 is the strongest open-weight alternative to Qwen3 Max — downloadable from Hugging Face and self-hostable, scoring 57.1 on intelligence.