ZMIME
Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

GPT-5.2 vs Qwen3.8 Max

Qwen3.8 Max comes out ahead, 69 to 61 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. OpenAI

    GPT-5.2

    Released Dec 11, 2025

    61/100
    • ECI153.5
    • Price$1.75 / $14.00
    • Context400K
    Full specs Remove GPT-5.2
  2. Our pick

    Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3.8 Max

    Released Aug 3, 2026

    69/100
    • ECI156.6
    • Price$2.00 / $6.00
    • Context1M
    Full specs Remove Qwen3.8 Max

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Qwen3.8 Max is our pick

Qwen3.8 Max is the better all-round choice, scoring 69/100 against GPT-5.2 (61). It leads on capability, price, inputs & features and context window. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityQwen3.8 MaxCapabilities Index (ECI): Qwen3.8 Max 156.6 · GPT-5.2 153.5
  • Lowest priceQwen3.8 MaxQwen3.8 Max $3.00 · GPT-5.2 $4.81 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextQwen3.8 MaxQwen3.8 Max 1,000,000 · GPT-5.2 400,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsQwen3.8 MaxGPT-5.2: Text, Images · Qwen3.8 Max: Text, Images, PDFs, Video
  • Self-hostingNo open weightsBoth are available only through APIs
How the score is built
MeasureWeightGPT-5.2Qwen3.8 Max
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%8386
Price25%1827
Inputs & features15%7090
Context window10%4460
Overall100%61/10069/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

GPT-5.2 vs Qwen3.8 Max specifications side by side
SpecificationGPT-5.2OpenAIQwen3.8 MaxAlibaba (Qwen)
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)153.5156.6 (best)
ECI rank#38 of 148#20 of 148 (best)
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions91.4%92.7% (best)
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics67.4%74.7% (best)
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics96.1%99.4% (best)
SWE-bench VerifiedFixing real GitHub issues73.8%—
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions37.1%45.8% (best)
Price per million tokens
Input$1.75 (best)$2.00
Output$14.00$6.00 (best)
Cached input$0.175 (best)$0.25
Blended (3:1)$4.81$3.00 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial OpenAI APIOfficial Alibaba API
Limits
Context window400,000 tokens1,000,000 tokens (best)
Max output128,000 tokens131,072 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesYes
PDFsNoYes
AudioNoNo
VideoNoYes
ReasoningYeslow · medium · high · xhighYeslow · medium · xhigh
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputYesYes
Availability
WeightsProprietaryProprietary
API model IDgpt-5.2qwen3.8-max
API providers2125 (best)
ReleasedDec 11, 2025Aug 3, 2026
Knowledge cutoffAug 31, 2025—
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.

  • GPT-5.2$45.50
  • Qwen3.8 Max$32.00
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: GPT-5.2 or Qwen3.8 Max?

Qwen3.8 Max is the better all-round choice, scoring 69/100 against GPT-5.2 (61). It leads on capability, price, inputs & features and context window. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, GPT-5.2 or Qwen3.8 Max?

Qwen3.8 Max is cheaper at $2.00 input / $6.00 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). GPT-5.2 costs $1.75 input / $14.00 output per million tokens (official OpenAI 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 $4.81 for GPT-5.2 (1.6× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

Qwen3.8 Max scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): Qwen3.8 Max 156.6 (#20 of 148) and GPT-5.2 153.5 (#38 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (154.5–158.8 vs 151.7–155.4), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — Qwen3.8 Max 92.7%, GPT-5.2 91.4%; FrontierMath Tiers 1–3 — Qwen3.8 Max 74.7%, GPT-5.2 67.4%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — Qwen3.8 Max 99.4%, GPT-5.2 96.1%; SimpleQA Verified — Qwen3.8 Max 45.8%, GPT-5.2 37.1%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen3.8 Max yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, Qwen3.8 Max 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?

Qwen3.8 Max has the largest context window at 1,000,000 tokens, against 400,000 for GPT-5.2. Maximum output per response: GPT-5.2 up to 128,000, Qwen3.8 Max up to 131,072 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

GPT-5.2 accepts text and images; Qwen3.8 Max accepts text, images, PDFs and video. Qwen3.8 Max handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

No. GPT-5.2 and Qwen3.8 Max are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.

Which is newer?

Qwen3.8 Max is the newest, released Aug 3, 2026. GPT-5.2 came out Dec 11, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: GPT-5.2 Aug 31, 2025.

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 Oct 4, 2026.

05 — Keep comparing

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