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Head-to-head comparison

LongCat 2.0 vs Qwen3 Max Thinking

LongCat 2.0 (Meituan) and Qwen3 Max Thinking (Qwen) compared on the ModelCap Index, API price, context window, provider availability, weight access and every public benchmark board they share. Figures are the same ones shown on the live rankings; nothing here is a hidden score.

Snapshot as of 18 August 2026

As of 18 August 2026, LongCat 2.0 holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#49 vs #55); LongCat 2.0 is 3.3× cheaper per output token ($1.20/1M vs $3.90/1M); LongCat 2.0 offers the longer context window (1M vs 262K tokens); and LongCat 2.0 ships open weights.

Which should you choose?

Choose LongCat 2.0 if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #49 against #55 (48.5 vs 44.5 points).
  • API cost matters — $1.20/1M output tokens against $3.90/1M, about 3.3× cheaper.
  • your workload is prompt-heavy — input tokens cost $0.30/1M against $0.78/1M.
  • you need the longer context window — 1M tokens against 262K.
  • you want to self-host: LongCat 2.0 ships open weights while Qwen3 Max Thinking is api only.
  • Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index is your yardstick — 34.0 against 32.5.
  • you want the more recently listed model — LongCat 2.0 was listed 20 July 2026, Qwen3 Max Thinking 9 February 2026.

Choose Qwen3 Max Thinking if…

  • ModelCap publishes no field on which Qwen3 Max Thinking leads LongCat 2.0 for this pair.

LongCat 2.0 vs Qwen3 Max Thinking: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of LongCat 2.0 and Qwen3 Max Thinking
FieldLongCat 2.0MeituanQwen3 Max ThinkingQwen
ModelCap Index position#49#55
Index score48.544.5
EvidenceMeasuredMeasured
Input price / 1M tokens$0.30$0.78
Output price / 1M tokens$1.20$3.90
Context window1M tokens262K tokens
Max output tokens262K66K
API providers listed11
Weight accessOpen weightsAPI only
Input modalitiesTextText
First listed20 July 20269 February 2026
PublisherMeituanQwen

Evidence: 1 public benchmark observation across 1 board · 1 public benchmark observation across 1 board. Prices are the lowest listed API offer per million tokens observed on the OpenRouter catalogue.

Benchmark scores: LongCat 2.0 vs Qwen3 Max Thinking

Public benchmark boards where LongCat 2.0 or Qwen3 Max Thinking has a published result
BoardLongCat 2.0Qwen3 Max ThinkingLeads
Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexArtificial Analysis34.0intelligence-index32.5intelligence-indexLongCat 2.0

Scores are the sources' own published figures for each model's best evaluated configuration; ModelCap never re-runs a benchmark.

Want a different pairing? Open the interactive comparison tool to swap either model for any current ranked language model.

LongCat 2.0 vs Qwen3 Max Thinking: common questions

Is LongCat 2.0 better than Qwen3 Max Thinking?

LongCat 2.0 ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 18 August 2026: #49 against #55. That is a capability ranking built from public benchmark evidence with published uncertainty; whether it is "better" for you also depends on price, context and where you can run it.

Is LongCat 2.0 cheaper than Qwen3 Max Thinking?

LongCat 2.0 is cheaper on output tokens: $1.20/1M against $3.90/1M. Input tokens are $0.30/1M for LongCat 2.0 and $0.78/1M for Qwen3 Max Thinking. Prices are the lowest listed API offer ModelCap observed, in USD per million tokens.

Which has the bigger context window, LongCat 2.0 or Qwen3 Max Thinking?

LongCat 2.0 has the larger context window: 1M tokens against 262K.

Which is better for coding, LongCat 2.0 or Qwen3 Max Thinking?

The two models do not share a coding benchmark board on ModelCap yet, so no head-to-head coding score is published; the ModelCap Index position is the closest overall signal.

Are LongCat 2.0 and Qwen3 Max Thinking open-weight models?

LongCat 2.0: Open weights. Qwen3 Max Thinking: API only. Open weights mean the checkpoint can be downloaded and self-hosted under its licence; API-only models are available solely through hosted endpoints.

Where can I run LongCat 2.0 and Qwen3 Max Thinking?

ModelCap currently lists 1 API provider for LongCat 2.0 and 1 for Qwen3 Max Thinking, from the OpenRouter catalogue snapshot the site serves; each model page lists the providers and their prices.

How current is this LongCat 2.0 vs Qwen3 Max Thinking comparison?

Every figure comes from the sealed ModelCap dataset published 18 August 2026; the page re-renders within a minute of each data refresh, and the ModelCap Index positions are the same ones shown on the live rankings.

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