Grok 4.6 vs Hy3 vs Qwen3.8 Max
Hy3 comes out ahead, 58 to 53 and 44 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
xAIGrok 4.6
44/100- ECI156.6
- Price$2.00 / $6.00
- Context500K
- Our pick
TencentHy3
58/100- ECI—
- Price$0.132 / $0.53
- Context256K
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen3.8 Max
53/100- ECI156.6
- Price$2.00 / $6.00
- Context1M
Hy3 is our pick
Hy3 is the better all-round choice, scoring 58/100 against Qwen3.8 Max (53) and Grok 4.6 (44). It leads on price. Qwen3.8 Max wins on 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 priceHy3Hy3 $0.232 · Grok 4.6 $3.00 · Qwen3.8 Max $3.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextQwen3.8 MaxQwen3.8 Max 1,000,000 · Grok 4.6 500,000 · Hy3 256,000 tokens
- Widest inputsQwen3.8 MaxGrok 4.6: Text, Images · Hy3: Text · Qwen3.8 Max: Text, Images, PDFs, Video
- Self-hostingHy3Publishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | Grok 4.6 | Hy3 | Qwen3.8 Max |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 27 | 80 | 27 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 70 | 35 | 90 |
| Context window | 20% | 48 | 36 | 60 |
| Overall | 100% | 44/100 | 58/100 | 53/100 |
Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | Grok 4.6xAI | Hy3Tencent | Qwen3.8 MaxAlibaba (Qwen) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 156.6 (best) | — | 156.6 |
| ECI rank | #19 of 148 (best) | — | #20 of 148 |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | 94.0% (best) | — | 92.7% |
| FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics | 66.0% | — | 74.7% (best) |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | 99.2% | — | 99.4% (best) |
| SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions | 49.3% (best) | — | 45.8% |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $2.00 | $0.132 (best) | $2.00 |
| Output | $6.00 | $0.53 (best) | $6.00 |
| Cached input | $0.50 | — | $0.25 (best) |
| Blended (3:1) | $3.00 | $0.232 (best) | $3.00 |
| Long-context rate | Over 200K: $4.00 / $12.00 | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official xAI API | Median of 15 providers | Official Alibaba API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 500,000 tokens | 256,000 tokens | 1,000,000 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 500,000 tokens (best) | 128,000 tokens | 131,072 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | No | Yes |
| PDFs | No | No | Yes |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | Yes |
| Reasoning | Yeslow · medium · high · xhigh | Yeshigh | Yeslow · medium · xhigh |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | No | Yes |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Open | Proprietary |
| API model ID | grok-4.6 | hy3 | qwen3.8-max |
| API providers | 29 (best) | 18 | 25 |
| Released | Aug 12, 2026 | Jul 6, 2026 | Aug 3, 2026 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Feb 1, 2026 | — | — |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Grok 4.6$32.00
- Hy3$2.38
- Qwen3.8 Max$32.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Grok 4.6, Hy3 or Qwen3.8 Max?
Hy3 is the better all-round choice, scoring 58/100 against Qwen3.8 Max (53) and Grok 4.6 (44). It leads on price. Qwen3.8 Max wins on 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, Grok 4.6, Hy3 or Qwen3.8 Max?
Hy3 is cheaper at $0.132 input / $0.53 output per million tokens (median across 15 API providers; free on Tencent TokenHub). Grok 4.6 costs $2.00 input / $6.00 output per million tokens (official xAI API price); Qwen3.8 Max costs $2.00 input / $6.00 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.232 per million tokens for Hy3 versus $3.00 for Grok 4.6 (13× as much) and $3.00 for Qwen3.8 Max (13× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Grok 4.6 has an ECI of 156.6, Hy3 has not been scored yet and Qwen3.8 Max has an ECI of 156.6.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Grok 4.6, Hy3 and Qwen3.8 Max yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. All three 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 500,000 for Grok 4.6 and 256,000 for Hy3. Maximum output per response: Grok 4.6 up to 500,000, Hy3 up to 128,000, Qwen3.8 Max up to 131,072 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Grok 4.6 accepts text and images; Hy3 accepts text; Qwen3.8 Max accepts text, images, PDFs and video. Qwen3.8 Max handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Hy3 publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Grok 4.6 and Qwen3.8 Max is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Grok 4.6 is the newest, released Aug 12, 2026. Qwen3.8 Max came out Aug 3, 2026; Hy3 came out Jul 6, 2026. Knowledge cutoff: Grok 4.6 Feb 1, 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.
