Grok 4.6 vs Qwen3.8 Max 0902 vs Qwen3.8 Max
Too close to call on our weighted score (Qwen3.8 Max 69, Qwen3.8 Max 0902 67, Grok 4.6 65). The right pick depends on what you value most.
xAIGrok 4.6
65/100- ECI156.6
- Price$2.00 / $6.00
- Context500K
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen3.8 Max 0902
67/100- ECI155.2
- Price$2.00 / $6.00
- Context1M
- Alibaba (Qwen)
Qwen3.8 Max
69/100- ECI156.6
- Price$2.00 / $6.00
- Context1M
Too close to call
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 2 points (Qwen3.8 Max 69/100, Qwen3.8 Max 0902 67/100, Grok 4.6 65/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Grok 4.6 for raw capability. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
- CapabilityGrok 4.6Capabilities Index (ECI): Grok 4.6 156.6 · Qwen3.8 Max 156.6 · Qwen3.8 Max 0902 155.2
- Lowest priceSame priceGrok 4.6 $3.00 · Qwen3.8 Max 0902 $3.00 · Qwen3.8 Max $3.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextQwen3.8 Max 0902 and Qwen3.8 MaxQwen3.8 Max 0902 1,000,000 · Qwen3.8 Max 1,000,000 · Grok 4.6 500,000 tokens
- Widest inputsQwen3.8 Max 0902 and Qwen3.8 MaxGrok 4.6: Text, Images · Qwen3.8 Max 0902: Text, Images, PDFs, Video · Qwen3.8 Max: Text, Images, PDFs, Video
- Self-hostingNo open weightsAll three are available only through APIs
| Measure | Weight | Grok 4.6 | Qwen3.8 Max 0902 | Qwen3.8 Max |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI) | 50% | 86 | 85 | 86 |
| Price | 25% | 27 | 27 | 27 |
| Inputs & features | 15% | 70 | 80 | 90 |
| Context window | 10% | 48 | 60 | 60 |
| Overall | 100% | 65/100 | 67/100 | 69/100 |
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | Grok 4.6xAI | Qwen3.8 Max 0902Alibaba (Qwen) | Qwen3.8 MaxAlibaba (Qwen) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 156.6 (best) | 155.2 | 156.6 |
| ECI rank | #19 of 148 (best) | #28 of 148 | #20 of 148 |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | 94.0% (best) | 92.3% | 92.7% |
| FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics | 66.0% | 65.6% | 74.7% (best) |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | 99.2% | 100% (best) | 99.4% |
| SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions | 49.3% (best) | 47.3% | 45.8% |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $2.00 | $2.00 | $2.00 |
| Output | $6.00 | $6.00 | $6.00 |
| Cached input | $0.50 | — | $0.25 (best) |
| Blended (3:1) | $3.00 | $3.00 | $3.00 |
| Long-context rate | Over 200K: $4.00 / $12.00 | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official xAI API | Median of 6 providers | Official Alibaba API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 500,000 tokens | 1,000,000 tokens (best) | 1,000,000 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 500,000 tokens (best) | 131,072 tokens | 131,072 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| PDFs | No | Yes | Yes |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | Yes | Yes |
| Reasoning | Yeslow · medium · high · xhigh | Yes | Yeslow · medium · xhigh |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | No | Yes |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | grok-4.6 | — | qwen3.8-max |
| API providers | 29 (best) | 6 | 25 |
| Released | Aug 12, 2026 | Sep 2, 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
- Qwen3.8 Max 0902$32.00
- Qwen3.8 Max$32.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Grok 4.6, Qwen3.8 Max 0902 or Qwen3.8 Max?
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 2 points (Qwen3.8 Max 69/100, Qwen3.8 Max 0902 67/100, Grok 4.6 65/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Grok 4.6 for raw capability. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
Which is cheaper, Grok 4.6, Qwen3.8 Max 0902 or Qwen3.8 Max?
Grok 4.6, Qwen3.8 Max 0902 and Qwen3.8 Max cost the same: $2.00 input / $6.00 output per million tokens.
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
Grok 4.6 scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): Grok 4.6 156.6 (#19 of 148), Qwen3.8 Max 156.6 (#20 of 148) and Qwen3.8 Max 0902 155.2 (#28 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (154.7–158.9 vs 154.5–158.8), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — Grok 4.6 94.0%, Qwen3.8 Max 92.7%, Qwen3.8 Max 0902 92.3%; FrontierMath Tiers 1–3 — Qwen3.8 Max 74.7%, Grok 4.6 66.0%, Qwen3.8 Max 0902 65.6%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — Qwen3.8 Max 0902 100%, Qwen3.8 Max 99.4%, Grok 4.6 99.2%; SimpleQA Verified — Grok 4.6 49.3%, Qwen3.8 Max 0902 47.3%, Qwen3.8 Max 45.8%.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Grok 4.6, Qwen3.8 Max 0902 and Qwen3.8 Max yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, Grok 4.6 leads, which tends to carry over to coding, but test on your own codebase. All three support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
Qwen3.8 Max 0902 and Qwen3.8 Max have the largest context windows (1,000,000 and 1,000,000 tokens), against 500,000 for Grok 4.6. Maximum output per response: Grok 4.6 up to 500,000, Qwen3.8 Max 0902 up to 131,072, Qwen3.8 Max up to 131,072 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Grok 4.6 accepts text and images; Qwen3.8 Max 0902 accepts text, images, PDFs and video; Qwen3.8 Max accepts text, images, PDFs and video. Qwen3.8 Max 0902 handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
No. Grok 4.6, Qwen3.8 Max 0902 and Qwen3.8 Max are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.
Which is newer?
Qwen3.8 Max 0902 is the newest, released Sep 2, 2026. Grok 4.6 came out Aug 12, 2026; Qwen3.8 Max came out Aug 3, 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.
