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Comparison · 3 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

Apodex 1.1 Mini vs Granite 4.2 8B vs Qwen3.8 Flash

Qwen3.8 Flash comes out ahead, 72 to 36 and 31 on our weighted score, though Granite 4.2 8B is 2.8× cheaper per token.

  1. Apodex

    Apodex 1.1 Mini

    Released Aug 24, 2026

    36/100
    • ECI—
    • Price—
    • Context262K
  2. IBM

    Granite 4.2 8B

    Released Aug 25, 2026

    31/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.06 / $0.15
    • Context131K
  3. Our pick

    Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3.8 Flash

    Released Aug 26, 2026

    72/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.15 / $0.47
    • Context1M
01 — Verdict

Qwen3.8 Flash is our pick

Qwen3.8 Flash is the better all-round choice, scoring 72/100 against Apodex 1.1 Mini (36) and Granite 4.2 8B (31). It leads on inputs & features and context window. The score weighs inputs & features 60%, context window 40%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.

  • CapabilityNot enough dataNo independent benchmark covers every model here yet
  • Lowest priceGranite 4.2 8BGranite 4.2 8B $0.083 · Qwen3.8 Flash $0.23 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend) · Apodex 1.1 Mini unpriced
  • Longest contextQwen3.8 FlashQwen3.8 Flash 1,000,000 · Apodex 1.1 Mini 262,144 · Granite 4.2 8B 131,072 tokens
  • Widest inputsQwen3.8 FlashApodex 1.1 Mini: Text · Granite 4.2 8B: Text · Qwen3.8 Flash: Text, Images, Video
  • Self-hostingApodex 1.1 Mini and Granite 4.2 8BPublishes downloadable weights (Apache-2.0)
How the score is built
MeasureWeightApodex 1.1 MiniGranite 4.2 8BQwen3.8 Flash
Inputs & features60%353580
Context window40%372560
Overall100%36/10031/10072/100

Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability and price. The remaining weights were rescaled.

02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.

Apodex 1.1 Mini vs Granite 4.2 8B vs Qwen3.8 Flash specifications side by side
SpecificationApodex 1.1 MiniApodexGranite 4.2 8BIBMQwen3.8 FlashAlibaba (Qwen)
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)———
ECI rank———
Price per million tokens
Input—$0.06 (best)$0.15
Output—$0.15 (best)$0.47
Cached input——$0.016
Blended (3:1)—$0.083 (best)$0.23
Long-context rate—Same rateSame rate
Price source—Median of 7 providersOfficial Alibaba API
Limits
Context window262,144 tokens131,072 tokens1,000,000 tokens (best)
Max output262,144 tokens (best)117,964 tokens131,072 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYesYes
ImagesNoNoYes
PDFsNoNoNo
AudioNoNoNo
VideoNoNoYes
ReasoningYesYesYeslow · medium · xhigh
Tool callingYesYesYes
Structured outputNoNoYes
Availability
WeightsOpenApache-2.0OpenProprietary
API model ID——qwen3.8-flash
API providers1728 (best)
ReleasedAug 24, 2026Aug 25, 2026Aug 26, 2026
Knowledge cutoff———
03 — Cost

What would a month cost?

Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.

  • Apodex 1.1 Mini—
  • Granite 4.2 8B$0.90
  • Qwen3.8 Flash$2.44
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Apodex 1.1 Mini, Granite 4.2 8B or Qwen3.8 Flash?

Qwen3.8 Flash is the better all-round choice, scoring 72/100 against Apodex 1.1 Mini (36) and Granite 4.2 8B (31). It leads on inputs & features and context window. The score weighs inputs & features 60%, context window 40%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.

Which is cheaper, Apodex 1.1 Mini, Granite 4.2 8B or Qwen3.8 Flash?

Granite 4.2 8B is cheaper at $0.06 input / $0.15 output per million tokens (median across 7 API providers). Qwen3.8 Flash costs $0.15 input / $0.47 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.083 per million tokens for Granite 4.2 8B versus $0.23 for Qwen3.8 Flash (2.8× as much). Apodex 1.1 Mini has no published per-token price.

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Apodex 1.1 Mini has not been scored yet, Granite 4.2 8B has not been scored yet and Qwen3.8 Flash has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Apodex 1.1 Mini, Granite 4.2 8B and Qwen3.8 Flash yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. All three support tool calling for agent workflows.

Which has the bigger context window?

Qwen3.8 Flash has the largest context window at 1,000,000 tokens, against 262,144 for Apodex 1.1 Mini and 131,072 for Granite 4.2 8B. Maximum output per response: Apodex 1.1 Mini up to 262,144, Granite 4.2 8B up to 117,964, Qwen3.8 Flash up to 131,072 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Apodex 1.1 Mini accepts text; Granite 4.2 8B accepts text; Qwen3.8 Flash accepts text, images and video. Qwen3.8 Flash handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

Apodex 1.1 Mini and Granite 4.2 8B publishes its weights (Apache-2.0) and can be self-hosted; Qwen3.8 Flash is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Qwen3.8 Flash is the newest, released Aug 26, 2026. Granite 4.2 8B came out Aug 25, 2026; Apodex 1.1 Mini came out Aug 24, 2026.

How do you decide the winner?

Each model gets a 0–100 score on capability (50%, independent benchmark results); price (25%, blended price per million tokens (3 input : 1 output), log scale); inputs & features (15%, image, PDF, audio and video input, tool calling, structured output and reasoning); context window (10%, maximum tokens per request, log scale). Dimensions missing for any model are dropped and the remaining weights rescaled, so every model is judged on the same evidence. Specs and prices come from public model listings and the labs’ own API pages; capability scores come from independent benchmark runs. Data updated Nov 2, 2026.