Meta: Llama 4 Scout vs Qwen: Qwen3 Max Thinking
Head-to-head API pricing and cost comparison between Meta’s Meta: Llama 4 Scout and Qwen’s Qwen: Qwen3 Max Thinking. Prices auto-refresh daily from OpenRouter.
Meta: Llama 4 Scout is 90% cheaper for input tokens; Meta: Llama 4 Scout also wins on output tokens.
Side-by-side comparison
| Spec | Meta: Llama 4 Scout | Qwen: Qwen3 Max Thinking |
|---|---|---|
| Input price (per 1M) | $0.08 | $0.78 |
| Cached input (per 1M) | — | — |
| Output price (per 1M) | $0.30 | $3.90 |
| Batch input (per 1M) | — | — |
| Batch output (per 1M) | — | — |
| Reasoning price (per 1M) | — | — |
| Context window | 10000K | 262K |
| Vision support | Yes | No |
| Caching support | No | No |
| Batch API | No | No |
| Reasoning capability | No | Yes |
Monthly cost at volume
Estimated monthly API spend at common production traffic levels (input/output tokens per request shown).
| Volume | Meta: Llama 4 Scout | Qwen: Qwen3 Max Thinking | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
1K req/day 500in / 200out tokens | $3.00 | $35.10 | $32.10 Meta: Llama 4 Scout wins |
10K req/day 1500in / 500out tokens | $81.00 | $936.00 | $855.00 Meta: Llama 4 Scout wins |
100K req/day 3000in / 800out tokens | $1,440 | $16,380 | $14,940 Meta: Llama 4 Scout wins |
1M req/day 8000in / 2000out tokens | $37,200 | $421,200 | $384,000 Meta: Llama 4 Scout wins |
Adjust input/output token counts, request volume, batch & cached pricing.
Related comparisons
Frequently asked questions
Which is cheaper, Meta: Llama 4 Scout or Qwen: Qwen3 Max Thinking?
For input tokens, Meta: Llama 4 Scout is roughly 90% cheaper at $0.08/1M vs $0.78/1M. For output tokens, Meta: Llama 4 Scout wins at $0.30/1M. Real-world cost depends on your input/output ratio — use the calculator to model your actual workload.
What’s the context window difference?
Meta: Llama 4 Scout has a context window of 10000K tokens. Qwen: Qwen3 Max Thinking offers 262K tokens. Larger context windows are valuable for long documents, RAG pipelines, and multi-turn conversations — but they come with higher input-token bills if you fill them every request.
Should I use Meta: Llama 4 Scout or Qwen: Qwen3 Max Thinking?
Choose Meta: Llama 4 Scout if you’re already on the Meta stack, want broad ecosystem support, or prefer its lower input price. Choose Qwen: Qwen3 Max Thinking for Qwen’s ecosystem, or its differentiated capabilities. Run a small benchmark on your own prompts before committing — price is only one axis.
How are these prices kept current?
Prices are pulled directly from OpenRouter’s public models API once every 24 hours via a Convex cron job, then normalized to per-1M-token figures. Last refresh: May 28, 2026.