comparison
Qwen3 Max vs Grok 4.20
Token pricing, context window and real monthly cost, side by side. Qwen3 Max is the cheaper of the two for a typical workload (near-identical cost).
Positioned by published specs — size, context and modality — not measured performance; a smaller model can sometimes outperform a larger one on your task.
Qwen3 Max and Grok 4.20 are the same class (Flagship) on size & context, so they're plausible substitutes — decide on price, modality and provider fit.
| metric | Qwen3 Max | Grok 4.20 |
|---|---|---|
| Input / 1M | $0.78 | $1.25 |
| Output / 1M | $3.90 | $2.50 |
| Context | 262K | 2M |
| Technical class | Flagship | Flagship |
| Cost @ typical workload | $624/mo | $625/mo |
| Modality | Text only | text + image |
| Price source | routed | list |
| Provider | Qwen | xAI |
Snapshot . Cost uses a typical workload; tune it in the calculator. How we measure →
Which should you pick?
On a typical workload, Qwen3 Max costs $624/mo against Grok 4.20's $625/mo, essentially the same. But the ranking depends on your output-to-input ratio: output is the pricier direction for both, so an output-heavy job (code generation, long answers) widens the gap while an input-heavy one (summarization, retrieval) narrows it. If you need to fit more in a single prompt, Grok 4.20 has the larger 2M-token window (~3,000 pages). Only Grok 4.20 accepts image input — decisive if your prompts include images. By technical class — a spec read of size and context, not measured capability — both are Flagship, so this is a like-for-like price decision.
These are list and routed market prices, not measured outcomes. Two models at the same rate can still cost different amounts to finish the same task, because verbose or reasoning-heavy models emit more tokens. That gap is exactly what measured cost-per-task captures. The technical-class read above is likewise spec-based — size, context and modality, not measured performance — so a smaller model can still outperform a larger one on your specific task.
Frequently asked questions
Is Qwen3 Max or Grok 4.20 cheaper?
For a typical workload (1,500 input + 500 output tokens × 200,000 requests/month), Qwen3 Max costs $624/mo versus $625/mo for Grok 4.20. Because output is priced higher than input, the winner can flip if your workload writes much more or less than this; check your own numbers in the calculator.
What's the main difference between Qwen3 Max and Grok 4.20?
On price, Qwen3 Max is $0.78/$3.90 per 1M (in/out) and Grok 4.20 is $1.25/$2.50. By technical class (size & context) they're the same — both Flagship. Grok 4.20 has the larger context window at 2M tokens. Only Grok 4.20 accepts image input.
Which handles longer prompts, Qwen3 Max or Grok 4.20?
Grok 4.20 — its 2M-token context window (~3,000 pages of text) is the larger of the two, by roughly 8×.
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- Qwen3 Max vs GPT-5.4 nano
- Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs Qwen3 Max
Related
- Qwen3 Max and Grok 4.20 — full specs and price history.
- API cost calculator — compare on your own workload.
- All comparisons — the full head-to-head index.