# Grok 4.3 vs Qwen3.6 Max Preview

> Qwen3.6 Max Preview is the stronger model overall, scoring 51.5 to 43.8 on the Noometry Index. Grok 4.3 costs 1.9× less per token, which makes it the better buy when Qwen3.6 Max Preview's lead doesn't matter for your workload.

- Canonical page: https://noometry.com/compare/grok-4-3-vs-qwen3-6-max-preview
- Last updated: 2026-10-12
- Shared benchmarks: 24

## Summary

- They share 24 benchmarks with published results for both. Grok 4.3 scores higher in 0 categories and Qwen3.6 Max Preview in 8 categories; 8 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in math, where Qwen3.6 Max Preview leads 54.1 to 46.0.
- The biggest single-benchmark swing is NYT Connections (extended): 55.2% for Grok 4.3 and 74.1% for Qwen3.6 Max Preview.
- Grok 4.3 is cheaper at $1.25 / $2.50 per million input/output tokens, against $1.30 / $7.80 for Qwen3.6 Max Preview.
- Grok 4.3 accepts more context: 1M tokens versus 262K.

## Snapshot

| | Grok 4.3 | Qwen3.6 Max Preview |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | xAI | Alibaba (Qwen) |
| Noometry Index | 43.8 | 51.5 |
| Rank | 86 | 43 |
| Context | 1M | 262K |
| Input $/M | $1.25 | $1.30 |
| Output $/M | $2.50 | $7.80 |
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary |

## Coding

- Grok 4.3: 41.6 (#121)
- Qwen3.6 Max Preview: 48.7 (#54)

| Benchmark | Grok 4.3 | Qwen3.6 Max Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena WebDev | 1357 | 1482 |
| LMArena Coding | 1415 | 1471 |
| SWE-bench Verified | — | 76.7% |
| SciCode | 47.3% | — |
| WeirdML | 49.9% | — |
| ALE-Bench | 944.17 | — |

## Agentic & Tool Use

- Grok 4.3: 27.7 (#99)
- Qwen3.6 Max Preview: —

| Benchmark | Grok 4.3 | Qwen3.6 Max Preview |
|---|---|---|
| Vending-Bench 2 | 35.26 | 4,254 |
| GDP.pdf | 8% | — |
| LMArena Search | 1165 | — |

## Reasoning

- Grok 4.3: 35.9 (#68)
- Qwen3.6 Max Preview: 41.7 (#53)

| Benchmark | Grok 4.3 | Qwen3.6 Max Preview |
|---|---|---|
| NYT Connections (extended) | 55.2% | 74.1% |
| Chess Puzzles | 25% | 20% |
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1396 | 1457 |
| DTBench | 90.7% | 87.2% |
| LMCA | 38.3% | 42.5% |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 149.16 | 149.24 |
| SimpleBench | — | 63% |
| CritPt | 8% | — |
| Mystery Game Puzzles | — | 19% |
| ForecastBench | 60.3 | — |

## Math

- Grok 4.3: 46.0 (#74)
- Qwen3.6 Max Preview: 54.1 (#46)

| Benchmark | Grok 4.3 | Qwen3.6 Max Preview |
|---|---|---|
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024-2025 | 93.3% | 91.1% |
| LMArena Math | 1388 | 1465 |
| FrontierMath (Tiers 1-3) | 42.8% | — |
| FrontierMath Tier 4 | 14.6% | — |
| ProofBench | 11% | — |
| FrontierMath (Feb 2025 set) | — | 23.1% |
| FrontierMath Tier 4 (v1) | — | 4.2% |

## Knowledge

- Grok 4.3: 52.5 (#62)
- Qwen3.6 Max Preview: 57.6 (#39)

| Benchmark | Grok 4.3 | Qwen3.6 Max Preview |
|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond | 88.8% | 87.4% |
| SimpleQA Verified | 33.2% | 52% |
| LMArena Expert | 1385 | 1478 |

## Multimodal

- Grok 4.3: 31.6 (#104)
- Qwen3.6 Max Preview: —

| Benchmark | Grok 4.3 | Qwen3.6 Max Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Vision | 1229 | — |
| Blueprint-Bench 2 | 0% | — |

## Multilingual

- Grok 4.3: 50.5 (#120)
- Qwen3.6 Max Preview: 54.2 (#48)

| Benchmark | Grok 4.3 | Qwen3.6 Max Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1385 | 1437 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1422 | 1487 |
| LMArena French | 1412 | 1449 |
| LMArena Russian | 1399 | 1445 |
| LMArena Spanish | 1398 | 1454 |
| LMArena German | 1395 | — |
| LMArena Japanese | 1379 | — |
| LMArena Korean | 1356 | — |

## Instruction Following

- Grok 4.3: 72.1 (#140)
- Qwen3.6 Max Preview: 75.7 (#55)

| Benchmark | Grok 4.3 | Qwen3.6 Max Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1366 | 1438 |

## Long Context

- Grok 4.3: 42.5 (#123)
- Qwen3.6 Max Preview: 44.6 (#61)

| Benchmark | Grok 4.3 | Qwen3.6 Max Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1393 | 1457 |

## Writing & Preference

- Grok 4.3: 58.5 (#118)
- Qwen3.6 Max Preview: 63.8 (#60)

| Benchmark | Grok 4.3 | Qwen3.6 Max Preview |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1397 | 1447 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1380 | 1435 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1406 | 1456 |
| EQ-Bench 4 | 1075 | — |

## FAQ

### Is Grok 4.3 better than Qwen3.6 Max Preview?

Qwen3.6 Max Preview is the stronger model overall, scoring 51.5 to 43.8 on the Noometry Index. Grok 4.3 costs 1.9× less per token, which makes it the better buy when Qwen3.6 Max Preview's lead doesn't matter for your workload.

### Which is cheaper, Grok 4.3 or Qwen3.6 Max Preview?

Grok 4.3 is cheaper. It lists at $1.25 per million input tokens and $2.50 per million output tokens; Qwen3.6 Max Preview lists at $1.30 and $7.80.

### Is Grok 4.3 or Qwen3.6 Max Preview better for coding?

Qwen3.6 Max Preview scores higher on coding benchmarks: 48.7 versus 41.6 in the Noometry coding category.

### Which has the bigger context window?

Grok 4.3 does, with 1M tokens against 262K.

### How many benchmarks do Grok 4.3 and Qwen3.6 Max Preview share?

24 benchmarks have published results for both models. Grok 4.3 has 40 scored results on Noometry and Qwen3.6 Max Preview has 29.