Model comparison
Qwen3 Max vs Step 2 16k Exp 202412
Qwen3 Max is the stronger model overall, scoring 43.5 to 38.6 on the Noometry Index.
Last verified . 12 shared benchmarks.
Alibaba (Qwen)
StepFunSummary
- They share 12 benchmarks with published results for both. Qwen3 Max scores higher in 7 categories and Step 2 16k Exp 202412 in 1 category; 8 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in knowledge, where Qwen3 Max leads 48.1 to 34.6.
Side by side
| Qwen3 Max | Step 2 16k Exp 202412 | |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Alibaba (Qwen) | StepFun |
| Noometry Index | 43.5 | 38.6 |
| Released | 2025-09-23 | — |
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Context window | 262K | — |
| Max output | 66K | — |
| Input $ / M tokens | $1.20 | — |
| Output $ / M tokens | $6 | — |
| Results tracked | 33 | 12 |
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Category by category
Coding Qwen3 Max leads
Qwen3 Max: 42.4 (#93), Step 2 16k Exp 202412: 37.9 (#170)
| Benchmark | Qwen3 Max | Step 2 16k Exp 202412 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1456 | 1316 |
| ALE-Bench | 370.45 | — |
Agentic & Tool Use Not comparable
Qwen3 Max: —, Step 2 16k Exp 202412: —
| Benchmark | Qwen3 Max | Step 2 16k Exp 202412 |
|---|---|---|
| Vending-Bench 2 | 71.56 | — |
Reasoning Step 2 16k Exp 202412 leads
Qwen3 Max: 22.0 (#186), Step 2 16k Exp 202412: 24.8 (#140)
| Benchmark | Qwen3 Max | Step 2 16k Exp 202412 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1448 | 1299 |
| Kagi LLM Benchmark | 72.5% | — |
| NYT Connections (extended) | 30.1% | — |
| Chess Puzzles | 4% | — |
| Mystery Game Puzzles | 5% | — |
| DTBench | 82.1% | — |
| LMCA | 28.3% | — |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 142.41 | — |
Math Qwen3 Max leads
Qwen3 Max: 37.6 (#94), Step 2 16k Exp 202412: 33.6 (#171)
| Benchmark | Qwen3 Max | Step 2 16k Exp 202412 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | 1447 | 1305 |
| FrontierMath (Tiers 1-3) | 18.9% | — |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024-2025 | 73.3% | — |
| MATH Level 5 | 97.1% | — |
Knowledge Qwen3 Max leads
Qwen3 Max: 48.1 (#72), Step 2 16k Exp 202412: 34.6 (#187)
| Benchmark | Qwen3 Max | Step 2 16k Exp 202412 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1457 | 1279 |
| GPQA Diamond | 72.6% | — |
| SimpleQA Verified | 48.7% | — |
Multilingual Qwen3 Max leads
Qwen3 Max: 53.9 (#58), Step 2 16k Exp 202412: 43.9 (#176)
| Benchmark | Qwen3 Max | Step 2 16k Exp 202412 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1429 | 1290 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1479 | 1331 |
| LMArena Russian | 1428 | 1324 |
| LMArena French | 1450 | — |
| LMArena German | 1463 | — |
| LMArena Japanese | 1399 | — |
| LMArena Korean | 1397 | — |
| LMArena Spanish | 1463 | — |
Instruction Following Qwen3 Max leads
Qwen3 Max: 75.0 (#81), Step 2 16k Exp 202412: 68.1 (#187)
| Benchmark | Qwen3 Max | Step 2 16k Exp 202412 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1420 | 1287 |
Long Context Qwen3 Max leads
Qwen3 Max: 41.6 (#129), Step 2 16k Exp 202412: 39.7 (#165)
| Benchmark | Qwen3 Max | Step 2 16k Exp 202412 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1439 | 1307 |
| Fiction.LiveBench | 66.7% | — |
| CL-bench | 14.5% | — |
Writing & Preference Qwen3 Max leads
Qwen3 Max: 62.6 (#72), Step 2 16k Exp 202412: 52.5 (#168)
| Benchmark | Qwen3 Max | Step 2 16k Exp 202412 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1439 | 1321 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1401 | 1328 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1446 | 1292 |
Frequently asked questions
Is Qwen3 Max better than Step 2 16k Exp 202412?
Qwen3 Max is the stronger model overall, scoring 43.5 to 38.6 on the Noometry Index.
Is Qwen3 Max or Step 2 16k Exp 202412 better for coding?
Qwen3 Max scores higher on coding benchmarks: 42.4 versus 37.9 in the Noometry coding category.
How many benchmarks do Qwen3 Max and Step 2 16k Exp 202412 share?
12 benchmarks have published results for both models. Qwen3 Max has 33 scored results on Noometry and Step 2 16k Exp 202412 has 12.