Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs Qwen 3 Coder
Detailed comparison of API pricing, technical specifications, and benchmark scores. Updated 2026-06-29.
Cost at a Glance
Claude Sonnet 4.6 is 10× more expensive than Qwen 3 Coder — switching could save 90% on your monthly API bill.
At 5M input + 2M output tokens per month:
Choosing Qwen 3 Coder could save you $40.50/mo
Price Comparison (per 1M tokens)
| Metric | Claude Sonnet 4.6 | Qwen 3 Coder |
|---|---|---|
| Input (per 1M tokens) | $3.00 | $0.30 |
| Output (per 1M tokens) | $15.00 | $1.50 |
| Cache Write (per 1M tokens) | $3.75 | — |
| Cache Read (per 1M tokens) | $0.30 | — |
| Batch Input (per 1M tokens) | $1.50 | — |
| Batch Output (per 1M tokens) | $7.50 | — |
Prices are per 1 million tokens. Actual costs depend on your monthly token volume. Use the calculator →
Specifications
| Spec | Claude Sonnet 4.6 | Qwen 3 Coder |
|---|---|---|
| Context Window | 1M | 1M |
| Max Output Tokens | 128K | 64K |
| Knowledge Cutoff | 2026-03 | 2026-03 |
| Modalities | Text, Image | Text |
| Prompt Caching | Yes | No |
| Batch API | Yes | No |
| Thinking / Reasoning | Yes | No |
Benchmark Scores
| Benchmark | Claude Sonnet 4.6 | Qwen 3 Coder |
|---|---|---|
| SWE-bench Verified | 79.6 | 77.0 |
| MMLU-Pro | 85.2 | 80.5 |
| HumanEval | 94.1 | 91.0 |
Benchmark scores from official provider reports. Higher is better. Missing scores indicate the provider has not published that benchmark yet.
Use Cases
Claude Sonnet 4.6
Qwen 3 Coder
About the Providers
Claude Sonnet 4.6 is developed by Anthropic. Qwen 3 Coder is developed by Alibaba. This is a cross-provider comparison between Anthropic and Alibaba models. For the most up-to-date pricing, always check the official API documentation from each provider.