MiniCPM5-1B vs Qwen3.8 Max Preview
Qwen3.8 Max Preview comes out ahead, 66 to 31 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
OpenBMB
MiniCPM5-1B
31/100- ECI—
- Price—
- Context131K
- Our pick
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen3.8 Max Preview
66/100- ECI—
- Price$2.00 / $6.00
- Context1M
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Make it a three-way comparison.
Qwen3.8 Max Preview is our pick
Qwen3.8 Max Preview is the better all-round choice, scoring 66/100 against MiniCPM5-1B (31). It leads on inputs & features and context window. The score weighs inputs & features 60%, context window 40%. 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 priceQwen3.8 Max PreviewQwen3.8 Max Preview $3.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend) · MiniCPM5-1B unpriced
- Longest contextQwen3.8 Max PreviewQwen3.8 Max Preview 1,000,000 · MiniCPM5-1B 131,072 tokens
- Widest inputsQwen3.8 Max PreviewMiniCPM5-1B: Text · Qwen3.8 Max Preview: Text, Images, Video
- Self-hostingMiniCPM5-1BPublishes downloadable weights (apache-2.0)
| Measure | Weight | MiniCPM5-1B | Qwen3.8 Max Preview |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inputs & features | 60% | 35 | 70 |
| Context window | 40% | 24 | 60 |
| Overall | 100% | 31/100 | 66/100 |
Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability and price. The remaining weights were rescaled.
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | MiniCPM5-1BOpenBMB | Qwen3.8 Max PreviewAlibaba (Qwen) |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | — | $2.00 |
| Output | — | $6.00 |
| Cached input | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | — | $3.00 |
| Long-context rate | — | Same rate |
| Price source | — | Median of 6 providers |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 131,072 tokens | 1,000,000 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 131,072 tokens | 131,072 tokens |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | Yes |
| PDFs | No | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | Yes |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Openapache-2.0 | Proprietary |
| API model ID | — | — |
| API providers | — | 6 |
| Released | May 19, 2026 | Jul 19, 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.
- MiniCPM5-1B—
- Qwen3.8 Max Preview$32.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: MiniCPM5-1B or Qwen3.8 Max Preview?
Qwen3.8 Max Preview is the better all-round choice, scoring 66/100 against MiniCPM5-1B (31). It leads on inputs & features and context window. The score weighs inputs & features 60%, context window 40%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
Which is cheaper, MiniCPM5-1B or Qwen3.8 Max Preview?
Qwen3.8 Max Preview is cheaper at $2.00 input / $6.00 output per million tokens (median across 6 API providers). . At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $3.00 per million tokens for Qwen3.8 Max Preview versus . MiniCPM5-1B has no published per-token price.
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. MiniCPM5-1B has not been scored yet and Qwen3.8 Max Preview has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for MiniCPM5-1B and Qwen3.8 Max Preview yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
Qwen3.8 Max Preview has the largest context window at 1,000,000 tokens, against 131,072 for MiniCPM5-1B. Maximum output per response: MiniCPM5-1B up to 131,072, Qwen3.8 Max Preview up to 131,072 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
MiniCPM5-1B accepts text; Qwen3.8 Max Preview accepts text, images and video. Qwen3.8 Max Preview handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
MiniCPM5-1B publishes its weights (apache-2.0) and can be self-hosted; Qwen3.8 Max Preview is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Qwen3.8 Max Preview is the newest, released Jul 19, 2026. MiniCPM5-1B came out May 19, 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.
