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Comparison · 3 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

GPT-5 Chat vs Qwen3.8 Max Preview vs Jamba Large

Qwen3.8 Max Preview comes out ahead, 47 to 34 and 30 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. OpenAI

    GPT-5 Chat

    Released Aug 7, 2025

    34/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$1.25 / $10.00
    • Context400K
  2. Our pick

    Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3.8 Max Preview

    Released Jul 19, 2026

    47/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$2.00 / $6.00
    • Context1M
  3. AI21 Labs

    Jamba Large

    Released Jul 1, 2025

    30/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$2.00 / $8.00
    • Context256K
01 — Verdict

Qwen3.8 Max Preview is our pick

Qwen3.8 Max Preview is the better all-round choice, scoring 47/100 against GPT-5 Chat (34) and Jamba Large (30). It leads on price, inputs & features and context window. 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 priceQwen3.8 Max PreviewQwen3.8 Max Preview $3.00 · GPT-5 Chat $3.44 · Jamba Large $3.50 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextQwen3.8 Max PreviewQwen3.8 Max Preview 1,000,000 · GPT-5 Chat 400,000 · Jamba Large 256,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsQwen3.8 Max PreviewGPT-5 Chat: Text, Images · Qwen3.8 Max Preview: Text, Images, Video · Jamba Large: Text
  • Self-hostingJamba LargePublishes downloadable weights
How the score is built
MeasureWeightGPT-5 ChatQwen3.8 Max PreviewJamba Large
Price50%242724
Inputs & features30%457035
Context window20%446036
Overall100%34/10047/10030/100

Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. 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.

GPT-5 Chat vs Qwen3.8 Max Preview vs Jamba Large specifications side by side
SpecificationGPT-5 ChatOpenAIQwen3.8 Max PreviewAlibaba (Qwen)Jamba LargeAI21 Labs
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)———
ECI rank———
Price per million tokens
Input$1.25 (best)$2.00$2.00
Output$10.00$6.00 (best)$8.00
Cached input———
Blended (3:1)$3.44$3.00 (best)$3.50
Long-context rateSame rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 2 providersMedian of 6 providersOfficial AI21 Labs API
Limits
Context window400,000 tokens1,000,000 tokens (best)256,000 tokens
Max output128,000 tokens131,072 tokens (best)4,096 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYesYes
ImagesYesYesNo
PDFsNoNoNo
AudioNoNoNo
VideoNoYesNo
ReasoningYesYesNo
Tool callingNoYesYes
Structured outputYesNoYes
Availability
WeightsProprietaryProprietaryOpen
API model ID——jamba-large
API providers26 (best)1
ReleasedAug 7, 2025Jul 19, 2026Jul 1, 2025
Knowledge cutoffSep 30, 2024—Aug 22, 2024
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 Chat$32.50
  • Qwen3.8 Max Preview$32.00
  • Jamba Large$36.00
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: GPT-5 Chat, Qwen3.8 Max Preview or Jamba Large?

Qwen3.8 Max Preview is the better all-round choice, scoring 47/100 against GPT-5 Chat (34) and Jamba Large (30). It leads on price, inputs & features and context window. 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, GPT-5 Chat, Qwen3.8 Max Preview or Jamba Large?

Qwen3.8 Max Preview is cheaper at $2.00 input / $6.00 output per million tokens (median across 6 API providers). GPT-5 Chat costs $1.25 input / $10.00 output per million tokens (median across 2 API providers); Jamba Large costs $2.00 input / $8.00 output per million tokens (official AI21 Labs 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 Preview versus $3.44 for GPT-5 Chat (1.1× as much) and $3.50 for Jamba Large (1.2× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. GPT-5 Chat has not been scored yet, Qwen3.8 Max Preview has not been scored yet and Jamba Large has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for GPT-5 Chat, Qwen3.8 Max Preview and Jamba Large yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Note that GPT-5 Chat does not support tool calling, which most coding agents need.

Which has the bigger context window?

Qwen3.8 Max Preview has the largest context window at 1,000,000 tokens, against 400,000 for GPT-5 Chat and 256,000 for Jamba Large. Maximum output per response: GPT-5 Chat up to 128,000, Qwen3.8 Max Preview up to 131,072, Jamba Large up to 4,096 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

GPT-5 Chat accepts text and images; Qwen3.8 Max Preview accepts text, images and video; Jamba Large accepts text. Qwen3.8 Max Preview handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

Jamba Large publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; GPT-5 Chat and Qwen3.8 Max Preview is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Qwen3.8 Max Preview is the newest, released Jul 19, 2026. GPT-5 Chat came out Aug 7, 2025; Jamba Large came out Jul 1, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: GPT-5 Chat Sep 30, 2024, Jamba Large Aug 22, 2024.

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.