Fugu Ultra v2 vs Qwen 3.8 Max Prime vs Ember-1
Too close to call on our weighted score (Qwen 3.8 Max Prime 39, Ember-1 36, Fugu Ultra v2 33). The right pick depends on what you value most.
Sakana AIFugu Ultra v2
33/100- ECI—
- Price$5.00 / $30.00
- Context1M
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen 3.8 Max Prime
39/100- ECI—
- Price$4.00 / $12.00
- Context1M
Fireworks AIEmber-1
36/100- ECI—
- Price$3.00 / $15.00
- Context1.05M
Too close to call
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 3 points (Qwen 3.8 Max Prime 39/100, Ember-1 36/100, Fugu Ultra v2 33/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Qwen 3.8 Max Prime on price and Ember-1 for long inputs. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. 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 priceQwen 3.8 Max Prime and Ember-1Qwen 3.8 Max Prime $6.00 · Ember-1 $6.00 · Fugu Ultra v2 $11.25 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextEmber-1Ember-1 1,048,576 · Fugu Ultra v2 1,000,000 · Qwen 3.8 Max Prime 1,000,000 tokens
- Widest inputsFugu Ultra v2 and Qwen 3.8 Max PrimeFugu Ultra v2: Text, Images, PDFs · Qwen 3.8 Max Prime: Text, Images, Video · Ember-1: Text, Images
- Self-hostingNo open weightsAll three are available only through APIs
| Measure | Weight | Fugu Ultra v2 | Qwen 3.8 Max Prime | Ember-1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 0 | 12 | 12 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 70 | 70 | 60 |
| Context window | 20% | 60 | 60 | 61 |
| Overall | 100% | 33/100 | 39/100 | 36/100 |
Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | Fugu Ultra v2Sakana AI | Qwen 3.8 Max PrimeAlibaba (Qwen) | Ember-1Fireworks AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $5.00 | $4.00 | $3.00 (best) |
| Output | $30.00 | $12.00 (best) | $15.00 |
| Cached input | — | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $11.25 | $6.00 (best) | $6.00 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 6 providers | Median of 5 providers | Median of 7 providers |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 1,000,000 tokens | 1,000,000 tokens | 1,048,576 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 128,000 tokens | 131,072 tokens (best) | 131,072 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| PDFs | Yes | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | Yes | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | — | — | — |
| API providers | 6 | 5 | 7 (best) |
| Released | Sep 11, 2026 | Sep 23, 2026 | Sep 22, 2026 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Aug 28, 2026 | — | — |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Fugu Ultra v2$110.00
- Qwen 3.8 Max Prime$64.00
- Ember-1$60.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Fugu Ultra v2, Qwen 3.8 Max Prime or Ember-1?
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 3 points (Qwen 3.8 Max Prime 39/100, Ember-1 36/100, Fugu Ultra v2 33/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Qwen 3.8 Max Prime on price and Ember-1 for long inputs. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
Which is cheaper, Fugu Ultra v2, Qwen 3.8 Max Prime or Ember-1?
Qwen 3.8 Max Prime is cheaper at $4.00 input / $12.00 output per million tokens (median across 5 API providers). Ember-1 costs $3.00 input / $15.00 output per million tokens (median across 7 API providers); Fugu Ultra v2 costs $5.00 input / $30.00 output per million tokens (median across 6 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $6.00 per million tokens for Qwen 3.8 Max Prime versus $6.00 for Ember-1 (1× as much) and $11.25 for Fugu Ultra v2 (1.9× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Fugu Ultra v2 has not been scored yet, Qwen 3.8 Max Prime has not been scored yet and Ember-1 has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Fugu Ultra v2, Qwen 3.8 Max Prime and Ember-1 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?
Ember-1 has the largest context window at 1,048,576 tokens, against 1,000,000 for Fugu Ultra v2 and 1,000,000 for Qwen 3.8 Max Prime. Maximum output per response: Fugu Ultra v2 up to 128,000, Qwen 3.8 Max Prime up to 131,072, Ember-1 up to 131,072 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Fugu Ultra v2 accepts text, images and PDFs; Qwen 3.8 Max Prime accepts text, images and video; Ember-1 accepts text and images. Fugu Ultra v2 handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
No. Fugu Ultra v2, Qwen 3.8 Max Prime and Ember-1 are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.
Which is newer?
Qwen 3.8 Max Prime is the newest, released Sep 23, 2026. Ember-1 came out Sep 22, 2026; Fugu Ultra v2 came out Sep 11, 2026. Knowledge cutoff: Fugu Ultra v2 Aug 28, 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.
