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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Grok 4.5 vs Qwen3.8 Max 0902

Qwen3.8 Max 0902 comes out ahead, 67 to 64 on our weighted score.

  1. xAI

    Grok 4.5

    Released Jul 8, 2026

    64/100
    • ECI154.0
    • Price$2.00 / $6.00
    • Context500K
    Full specs Remove Grok 4.5
  2. Our pick

    Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3.8 Max 0902

    Released Sep 2, 2026

    67/100
    • ECI155.2
    • Price$2.00 / $6.00
    • Context1M
    Full specs Remove Qwen3.8 Max 0902

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Qwen3.8 Max 0902 is our pick

Qwen3.8 Max 0902 is the better all-round choice, scoring 67/100 against Grok 4.5 (64). It leads on inputs & features and context window. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityQwen3.8 Max 0902Capabilities Index (ECI): Qwen3.8 Max 0902 155.2 · Grok 4.5 154.0
  • Lowest priceSame priceGrok 4.5 $3.00 · Qwen3.8 Max 0902 $3.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextQwen3.8 Max 0902Qwen3.8 Max 0902 1,000,000 · Grok 4.5 500,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsQwen3.8 Max 0902Grok 4.5: Text, Images · Qwen3.8 Max 0902: Text, Images, PDFs, Video
  • Self-hostingNo open weightsBoth are available only through APIs
How the score is built
MeasureWeightGrok 4.5Qwen3.8 Max 0902
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%8385
Price25%2727
Inputs & features15%7080
Context window10%4860
Overall100%64/10067/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

Grok 4.5 vs Qwen3.8 Max 0902 specifications side by side
SpecificationGrok 4.5xAIQwen3.8 Max 0902Alibaba (Qwen)
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)154.0155.2 (best)
ECI rank#36 of 148#28 of 148 (best)
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions93.4% (best)92.3%
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics57.2%65.6% (best)
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics97.8%100% (best)
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions48.3% (best)47.3%
Price per million tokens
Input$2.00$2.00
Output$6.00$6.00
Cached input$0.30—
Blended (3:1)$3.00$3.00
Long-context rateOver 200K: $4.00 / $12.00Same rate
Price sourceOfficial xAI APIMedian of 6 providers
Limits
Context window500,000 tokens1,000,000 tokens (best)
Max output500,000 tokens (best)131,072 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesYes
PDFsNoYes
AudioNoNo
VideoNoYes
ReasoningYeslow · medium · highYes
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputYesNo
Availability
WeightsProprietaryProprietary
API model IDgrok-4.5—
API providers24 (best)6
ReleasedJul 8, 2026Sep 2, 2026
Knowledge cutoff——
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.

  • Grok 4.5$32.00
  • Qwen3.8 Max 0902$32.00
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Grok 4.5 or Qwen3.8 Max 0902?

Qwen3.8 Max 0902 is the better all-round choice, scoring 67/100 against Grok 4.5 (64). It leads on inputs & features and context window. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, Grok 4.5 or Qwen3.8 Max 0902?

Grok 4.5 and Qwen3.8 Max 0902 cost the same: $2.00 input / $6.00 output per million tokens.

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

Qwen3.8 Max 0902 scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): Qwen3.8 Max 0902 155.2 (#28 of 148) and Grok 4.5 154.0 (#36 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (153.2–157.3 vs 152.3–156.1), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — Grok 4.5 93.4%, Qwen3.8 Max 0902 92.3%; FrontierMath Tiers 1–3 — Qwen3.8 Max 0902 65.6%, Grok 4.5 57.2%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — Qwen3.8 Max 0902 100%, Grok 4.5 97.8%; SimpleQA Verified — Grok 4.5 48.3%, Qwen3.8 Max 0902 47.3%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Grok 4.5 and Qwen3.8 Max 0902 yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, Qwen3.8 Max 0902 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 0902 has the largest context window at 1,000,000 tokens, against 500,000 for Grok 4.5. Maximum output per response: Grok 4.5 up to 500,000, Qwen3.8 Max 0902 up to 131,072 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Grok 4.5 accepts text and images; Qwen3.8 Max 0902 accepts text, images, PDFs and video. Qwen3.8 Max 0902 handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

No. Grok 4.5 and Qwen3.8 Max 0902 are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.

Which is newer?

Qwen3.8 Max 0902 is the newest, released Sep 2, 2026. Grok 4.5 came out Jul 8, 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.

05 — Keep comparing

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