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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

Gemini 4 Argon vs Qwen3.8 Max

Gemini 4 Argon comes out ahead, 74 to 69 on our weighted score, though Qwen3.8 Max is 25% cheaper per token.

  1. Our pick

    Google

    Gemini 4 Argon

    Released Oct 13, 2026New

    74/100
    • ECI166.1
    • Price$2.00 / $10.00
    • Context1.05M
    Full specs Remove Gemini 4 Argon

  2. Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3.8 Max

    Released Aug 3, 2026

    69/100
    • ECI158.0
    • Price$2.00 / $6.00
    • Context1M
    Full specs Remove Qwen3.8 Max

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Gemini 4 Argon is our pick

Gemini 4 Argon is the better all-round choice, scoring 74/100 against Qwen3.8 Max (69). It leads on capability and inputs & features. Qwen3.8 Max wins on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityGemini 4 ArgonCapabilities Index (ECI): Gemini 4 Argon 166.1 · Qwen3.8 Max 158.0
  • Lowest priceQwen3.8 MaxQwen3.8 Max $3.00 · Gemini 4 Argon $4.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextGemini 4 ArgonGemini 4 Argon 1,048,576 · Qwen3.8 Max 1,000,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsGemini 4 ArgonGemini 4 Argon: Text, Images, PDFs, Audio, Video · Qwen3.8 Max: Text, Images, PDFs, Video
  • Self-hostingNo open weightsBoth are available only through APIs
How the score is built
MeasureWeightGemini 4 ArgonQwen3.8 Max
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%9686
Price25%2026
Inputs & features15%10090
Context window10%6160
Overall100%74/10069/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

Gemini 4 Argon vs Qwen3.8 Max specifications side by side
SpecificationGemini 4 ArgonGoogleQwen3.8 MaxAlibaba (Qwen)
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)166.1 (best)158.0
ECI rank#7 of 165 (best)#22 of 165
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions96.4% (best)92.7%
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics86.0% (best)74.7%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics100% (best)99.4%
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions76.0% (best)45.8%
Price per million tokens
Input$2.00$2.00
Output$10.00$6.00 (best)
Cached input$0.10 (best)$0.25
Blended (3:1)$4.00$3.00 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Google APIOfficial Alibaba API
Limits
Context window1,048,576 tokens (best)1,000,000 tokens
Max output65,536 tokens131,072 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesYes
PDFsYesYes
AudioYesNo
VideoYesYes
ReasoningYeslow · medium · highYeslow · medium · xhigh
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputYesYes
Availability
WeightsProprietaryProprietary
API model IDgemini-4-argonqwen3.8-max
API providers2428 (best)
ReleasedOct 13, 2026Aug 3, 2026
Knowledge cutoffMar 2026—
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.

  • Gemini 4 Argon$40.00
  • Qwen3.8 Max$32.00
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Gemini 4 Argon or Qwen3.8 Max?

Gemini 4 Argon is the better all-round choice, scoring 74/100 against Qwen3.8 Max (69). It leads on capability and inputs & features. Qwen3.8 Max wins on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, Gemini 4 Argon or Qwen3.8 Max?

Qwen3.8 Max is cheaper at $2.00 input / $6.00 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). Gemini 4 Argon costs $2.00 input / $10.00 output per million tokens (official Google API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $3.00 per million tokens for Qwen3.8 Max versus $4.00 for Gemini 4 Argon (1.3× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

Gemini 4 Argon scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): Gemini 4 Argon 166.1 (#7 of 165) and Qwen3.8 Max 158.0 (#22 of 165). Their confidence ranges do not overlap (163.1–170.3 vs 155.7–160.8), so the gap is a real one. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — Gemini 4 Argon 96.4%, Qwen3.8 Max 92.7%; FrontierMath Tiers 1–3 — Gemini 4 Argon 86.0%, Qwen3.8 Max 74.7%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — Gemini 4 Argon 100%, Qwen3.8 Max 99.4%; SimpleQA Verified — Gemini 4 Argon 76.0%, Qwen3.8 Max 45.8%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Gemini 4 Argon and Qwen3.8 Max yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, Gemini 4 Argon leads, which tends to carry over to coding, but test on your own codebase. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.

Which has the bigger context window?

Gemini 4 Argon has the largest context window at 1,048,576 tokens, against 1,000,000 for Qwen3.8 Max. Maximum output per response: Gemini 4 Argon up to 65,536, Qwen3.8 Max up to 131,072 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Gemini 4 Argon accepts text, images, PDFs, audio and video; Qwen3.8 Max accepts text, images, PDFs and video. Gemini 4 Argon handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

No. Gemini 4 Argon and Qwen3.8 Max are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.

Which is newer?

Gemini 4 Argon is the newest, released Oct 13, 2026. Qwen3.8 Max came out Aug 3, 2026. Knowledge cutoff: Gemini 4 Argon Mar 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.

05 — Keep comparing

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