Grok 4.6 vs Qwen3.8 Max vs Qwen3.8 Max Preview
Qwen3.8 Max comes out ahead, 53 to 47 and 44 on our weighted score.
xAIGrok 4.6
44/100- ECI156.6
- Price$2.00 / $6.00
- Context500K
- Our pick
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen3.8 Max
53/100- ECI156.6
- Price$2.00 / $6.00
- Context1M
- Alibaba (Qwen)
Qwen3.8 Max Preview
47/100- ECI—
- Price$2.00 / $6.00
- Context1M
Qwen3.8 Max is our pick
Qwen3.8 Max is the better all-round choice, scoring 53/100 against Qwen3.8 Max Preview (47) and Grok 4.6 (44). It leads on inputs & features. 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 priceSame priceGrok 4.6 $3.00 · Qwen3.8 Max $3.00 · Qwen3.8 Max Preview $3.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextQwen3.8 Max and Qwen3.8 Max PreviewQwen3.8 Max 1,000,000 · Qwen3.8 Max Preview 1,000,000 · Grok 4.6 500,000 tokens
- Widest inputsQwen3.8 MaxGrok 4.6: Text, Images · Qwen3.8 Max: Text, Images, PDFs, Video · Qwen3.8 Max Preview: Text, Images, Video
- Self-hostingNo open weightsAll three are available only through APIs
| Measure | Weight | Grok 4.6 | Qwen3.8 Max | Qwen3.8 Max Preview |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 27 | 27 | 27 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 70 | 90 | 70 |
| Context window | 20% | 48 | 60 | 60 |
| Overall | 100% | 44/100 | 53/100 | 47/100 |
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 | Qwen3.8 MaxAlibaba (Qwen) | Qwen3.8 Max PreviewAlibaba (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 | $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 | Official Alibaba API | Median of 6 providers |
| 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 | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | Yes | Yes |
| Reasoning | Yeslow · medium · high · xhigh | Yeslow · medium · xhigh | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | Yes | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | grok-4.6 | qwen3.8-max | — |
| API providers | 29 (best) | 25 | 6 |
| Released | Aug 12, 2026 | Aug 3, 2026 | Jul 19, 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$32.00
- Qwen3.8 Max Preview$32.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Grok 4.6, Qwen3.8 Max or Qwen3.8 Max Preview?
Qwen3.8 Max is the better all-round choice, scoring 53/100 against Qwen3.8 Max Preview (47) and Grok 4.6 (44). It leads on inputs & features. 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, Qwen3.8 Max or Qwen3.8 Max Preview?
Grok 4.6, Qwen3.8 Max and Qwen3.8 Max Preview cost the same: $2.00 input / $6.00 output per million tokens.
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, Qwen3.8 Max has an ECI of 156.6 and Qwen3.8 Max Preview has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Grok 4.6, Qwen3.8 Max and Qwen3.8 Max Preview 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 and Qwen3.8 Max Preview 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 up to 131,072, Qwen3.8 Max Preview up to 131,072 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Grok 4.6 accepts text and images; Qwen3.8 Max accepts text, images, PDFs and video; Qwen3.8 Max Preview accepts text, images and video. Qwen3.8 Max handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
No. Grok 4.6, Qwen3.8 Max and Qwen3.8 Max Preview are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.
Which is newer?
Grok 4.6 is the newest, released Aug 12, 2026. Qwen3.8 Max came out Aug 3, 2026; Qwen3.8 Max Preview came out Jul 19, 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.
