Side-by-side comparison of pricing, 12 benchmarks, and generation speed.
| Metric | Llama 3.1 Instruct 405B | Qwen3 Max Thinking |
|---|---|---|
| Input ($/M tokens) | $2.75 | $1.2 |
| Output ($/M tokens) | $6.5 | $6 |
Data from Artificial Analysis API — 12 benchmarks
Qwen3 Max Thinking is cheaper overall. Its blended price (3:1 input/output ratio) is $2.40/M tokens vs $3.69/M for Llama 3.1 Instruct 405B.
Qwen3 Max Thinking wins 7 out of 12 benchmarks compared to 5 for Llama 3.1 Instruct 405B. See the detailed benchmark chart above for per-category results.
Qwen3 Max Thinking generates tokens faster at 34 tok/s vs 31 tok/s. Llama 3.1 Instruct 405B also has lower time-to-first-token (0.47s vs 1.58s).
Choose based on your priorities: Qwen3 Max Thinking for lower cost, Qwen3 Max Thinking for stronger benchmark performance, and Qwen3 Max Thinking for faster generation. For latency-sensitive apps, check the TTFT comparison above.