GPT-5.6 Terra vs Qwen3.8 Max
Too close to call on our weighted score (Qwen3.8 Max 69, GPT-5.6 Terra 68). The right pick depends on what you value most.
OpenAIGPT-5.6 Terra
68/100- ECI159.8
- Price$2.00 / $12.00
- Context1.05M
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen3.8 Max
69/100- ECI156.6
- Price$2.00 / $6.00
- Context1M
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Make it a three-way comparison.
Too close to call
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 1 points (Qwen3.8 Max 69/100, GPT-5.6 Terra 68/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: GPT-5.6 Terra for raw capability and Qwen3.8 Max on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
- CapabilityGPT-5.6 TerraCapabilities Index (ECI): GPT-5.6 Terra 159.8 · Qwen3.8 Max 156.6
- Lowest priceQwen3.8 MaxQwen3.8 Max $3.00 · GPT-5.6 Terra $4.50 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextGPT-5.6 TerraGPT-5.6 Terra 1,050,000 · Qwen3.8 Max 1,000,000 tokens
- Widest inputsQwen3.8 MaxGPT-5.6 Terra: Text, Images, PDFs · Qwen3.8 Max: Text, Images, PDFs, Video
- Self-hostingNo open weightsBoth are available only through APIs
| Measure | Weight | GPT-5.6 Terra | Qwen3.8 Max |
|---|---|---|---|
| CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI) | 50% | 90 | 86 |
| Price | 25% | 19 | 27 |
| Inputs & features | 15% | 80 | 90 |
| Context window | 10% | 61 | 60 |
| Overall | 100% | 68/100 | 69/100 |
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | GPT-5.6 TerraOpenAI | Qwen3.8 MaxAlibaba (Qwen) |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 159.8 (best) | 156.6 |
| ECI rank | #9 of 148 (best) | #20 of 148 |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | 93.3% (best) | 92.7% |
| FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics | 86.0% (best) | 74.7% |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | 99.7% (best) | 99.4% |
| SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions | 43.2% | 45.8% (best) |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $2.00 | $2.00 |
| Output | $12.00 | $6.00 (best) |
| Cached input | $0.20 (best) | $0.25 |
| Blended (3:1) | $4.50 | $3.00 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Over 272K: $4.00 / $18.00 | Same rate |
| Price source | Official OpenAI API | Official Alibaba API |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 1,050,000 tokens (best) | 1,000,000 tokens |
| Max output | 128,000 tokens | 131,072 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | Yes |
| PDFs | Yes | Yes |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | Yes |
| Reasoning | Yeslow · medium · high · xhigh · max | Yeslow · medium · xhigh |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | Yes |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | gpt-5.6-terra | qwen3.8-max |
| API providers | 38 (best) | 25 |
| Released | Jul 9, 2026 | Aug 3, 2026 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Feb 16, 2026 | — |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- GPT-5.6 Terra$44.00
- Qwen3.8 Max$32.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: GPT-5.6 Terra or Qwen3.8 Max?
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 1 points (Qwen3.8 Max 69/100, GPT-5.6 Terra 68/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: GPT-5.6 Terra for raw capability and Qwen3.8 Max on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
Which is cheaper, GPT-5.6 Terra or Qwen3.8 Max?
Qwen3.8 Max is cheaper at $2.00 input / $6.00 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). GPT-5.6 Terra costs $2.00 input / $12.00 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 $4.50 for GPT-5.6 Terra (1.5× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
GPT-5.6 Terra scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): GPT-5.6 Terra 159.8 (#9 of 148) and Qwen3.8 Max 156.6 (#20 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (157.1–162.8 vs 154.5–158.8), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — GPT-5.6 Terra 93.3%, Qwen3.8 Max 92.7%; FrontierMath Tiers 1–3 — GPT-5.6 Terra 86.0%, Qwen3.8 Max 74.7%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — GPT-5.6 Terra 99.7%, Qwen3.8 Max 99.4%; SimpleQA Verified — Qwen3.8 Max 45.8%, GPT-5.6 Terra 43.2%.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for GPT-5.6 Terra and Qwen3.8 Max yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, GPT-5.6 Terra 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?
GPT-5.6 Terra has the largest context window at 1,050,000 tokens, against 1,000,000 for Qwen3.8 Max. Maximum output per response: GPT-5.6 Terra up to 128,000, Qwen3.8 Max up to 131,072 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
GPT-5.6 Terra accepts text, images and PDFs; 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-5.6 Terra 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-5.6 Terra came out Jul 9, 2026. Knowledge cutoff: GPT-5.6 Terra Feb 16, 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 Oct 4, 2026.
