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Grok 4 vs Qwen Max
Side-by-side pricing, context window, features, and per-use-case verdict. Data sourced from LiteLLM, updated regularly.
Specifications
| Feature | Grok 4 | Qwen Max |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | xai | dashscope |
| Model ID | xai/grok-4 | dashscope/qwen-max |
| Input / 1M tokens | $3.00 | $1.60 (47% cheaper) |
| Output / 1M tokens | $15.00 | $6.40 (57% cheaper) |
| Cached input / 1M | — | — |
| Context window | 256kk tokens | 31kk tokens |
| Max output | 256kk tokens | 8kk tokens |
| Vision | ⬜ | ⬜ |
| Function calling | ✅ | ✅ |
| Prompt caching | ✅ | ⬜ |
| Web search | ✅ | ⬜ |
| JSON schema | ⬜ | ⬜ |
Monthly cost comparison
No cache discount applied — pure token costs at three usage scales.
| Scale | Grok 4 | Qwen Max | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small 1M in / 0.2M out | $6.00 | $2.88 | Qwen Max saves 52% |
| Medium 10M in / 2M out | $60.00 | $28.80 | Qwen Max saves 52% |
| Large 100M in / 20M out | $600 | $288 | Qwen Max saves 52% |
Category winners
Cheapest input
Qwen Max
$1.60/M
· 47% less than the other
Cheapest output
Qwen Max
$6.40/M
· 57% less than the other
Larger context
Grok 4
256kk tokens · 733% larger window
More features
Grok 4
3 / 5 capabilities
Better for…
Short interactions & high-throughput APIs
$6.40/M output — 57% cheaper on output at scale
Qwen Max
Long-document processing & large codebases
256k context window vs 31k — 733% larger context
Grok 4
Agentic workflows & tool use
Supports 3 of 5 tracked capabilities (vision, function calling, caching, web search, JSON schema)
Grok 4
Cost-sensitive production at scale
$288/month at 100M-token scale — 52% cheaper than the alternative
Qwen Max
Deep-dive on each model
Pricing data sourced from LiteLLM and refreshed regularly. Always verify with each provider's official pricing page before making business decisions.