Hy4 preview vs Macaron V1 Venti vs Sakana Namazu
Sakana Namazu comes out ahead, 50 to 44 and 44 on our weighted score, though Macaron V1 Venti is 28% cheaper per token.
TencentHy4 preview
44/100- ECI—
- Price$0.834 / $2.50
- Context1.02M
Mindlab
Macaron V1 Venti
44/100- ECI—
- Price$0.825 / $2.48
- Context1.05M
- Our pick
Sakana AISakana Namazu
50/100- ECI—
- Price$0.95 / $4.00
- Context262K
Sakana Namazu is our pick
Sakana Namazu is the better all-round choice, scoring 50/100 against Macaron V1 Venti (44) and Hy4 preview (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 priceMacaron V1 VentiMacaron V1 Venti $1.24 · Hy4 preview $1.25 · Sakana Namazu $1.71 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextMacaron V1 VentiMacaron V1 Venti 1,048,576 · Hy4 preview 1,024,000 · Sakana Namazu 262,144 tokens
- Widest inputsSakana NamazuHy4 preview: Text · Macaron V1 Venti: Text · Sakana Namazu: Text, Images, PDFs
- Self-hostingHy4 preview and Macaron V1 VentiPublishes downloadable weights (MIT)
| Measure | Weight | Hy4 preview | Macaron V1 Venti | Sakana Namazu |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 43 | 44 | 37 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 35 | 35 | 80 |
| Context window | 20% | 60 | 61 | 37 |
| Overall | 100% | 44/100 | 44/100 | 50/100 |
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 | Hy4 previewTencent | Macaron V1 VentiMindlab | Sakana NamazuSakana AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.834 | $0.825 (best) | $0.95 |
| Output | $2.50 | $2.48 (best) | $4.00 |
| Cached input | $0.042 (best) | — | $0.15 |
| Blended (3:1) | $1.25 | $1.24 (best) | $1.71 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Tencent TokenHub API | Median of 1 providers | Official Sakana AI API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 1,024,000 tokens | 1,048,576 tokens (best) | 262,144 tokens |
| Max output | 64,000 tokens | 131,072 tokens (best) | 65,536 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | No | Yes |
| PDFs | No | No | Yes |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yeshigh | Yes | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No | Yes |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Open | OpenMIT | Proprietary |
| API model ID | hy4-preview | — | sakana-namazu |
| API providers | 17 (best) | 1 | 5 |
| Released | Aug 28, 2026 | Jul 21, 2026 | Aug 3, 2026 |
| Knowledge cutoff | — | — | — |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Hy4 preview$13.34
- Macaron V1 Venti$13.20
- Sakana Namazu$17.50
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Hy4 preview, Macaron V1 Venti or Sakana Namazu?
Sakana Namazu is the better all-round choice, scoring 50/100 against Macaron V1 Venti (44) and Hy4 preview (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, Hy4 preview, Macaron V1 Venti or Sakana Namazu?
Macaron V1 Venti is cheaper at $0.825 input / $2.48 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider). Hy4 preview costs $0.834 input / $2.50 output per million tokens (official Tencent TokenHub API price); Sakana Namazu costs $0.95 input / $4.00 output per million tokens (official Sakana AI API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $1.24 per million tokens for Macaron V1 Venti versus $1.25 for Hy4 preview (1× as much) and $1.71 for Sakana Namazu (1.4× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Hy4 preview has not been scored yet, Macaron V1 Venti has not been scored yet and Sakana Namazu has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Hy4 preview, Macaron V1 Venti and Sakana Namazu 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?
Macaron V1 Venti has the largest context window at 1,048,576 tokens, against 1,024,000 for Hy4 preview and 262,144 for Sakana Namazu. Maximum output per response: Hy4 preview up to 64,000, Macaron V1 Venti up to 131,072, Sakana Namazu up to 65,536 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Hy4 preview accepts text; Macaron V1 Venti accepts text; Sakana Namazu accepts text, images and PDFs. Sakana Namazu handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Hy4 preview and Macaron V1 Venti publishes its weights (MIT) and can be self-hosted; Sakana Namazu is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Hy4 preview is the newest, released Aug 28, 2026. Sakana Namazu came out Aug 3, 2026; Macaron V1 Venti came out Jul 21, 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 Nov 2, 2026.
