ZMIME
Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

MiniCPM5-2B vs Qwen3.8 Max 0902

MiniCPM5-2B comes out ahead, 53 to 50 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Our pick

    OpenBMB

    MiniCPM5-2B

    Released Sep 6, 2026

    53/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.124 / $0.743
    • Context131K
  2. Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3.8 Max 0902

    Released Sep 2, 2026

    50/100
    • ECI155.2
    • Price$2.00 / $6.00
    • Context1M
  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

MiniCPM5-2B is our pick

MiniCPM5-2B is the better all-round choice, scoring 53/100 against Qwen3.8 Max 0902 (50). It leads on price. Qwen3.8 Max 0902 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 priceMiniCPM5-2BMiniCPM5-2B $0.279 · Qwen3.8 Max 0902 $3.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextQwen3.8 Max 0902Qwen3.8 Max 0902 1,000,000 · MiniCPM5-2B 131,072 tokens
  • Widest inputsQwen3.8 Max 0902MiniCPM5-2B: Text · Qwen3.8 Max 0902: Text, Images, PDFs, Video
  • Self-hostingMiniCPM5-2BPublishes downloadable weights (apache-2.0)
How the score is built
MeasureWeightMiniCPM5-2BQwen3.8 Max 0902
Price50%7627
Inputs & features30%3580
Context window20%2460
Overall100%53/10050/100

Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.

02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.

MiniCPM5-2B vs Qwen3.8 Max 0902 specifications side by side
SpecificationMiniCPM5-2BOpenBMBQwen3.8 Max 0902Alibaba (Qwen)
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)—155.2
ECI rank—#28 of 148
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions—92.3%
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics—65.6%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics—100%
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions—47.3%
Price per million tokens
Input$0.124 (best)$2.00
Output$0.743 (best)$6.00
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$0.279 (best)$3.00
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 1 providersMedian of 6 providers
Limits
Context window131,072 tokens1,000,000 tokens (best)
Max output131,072 tokens131,072 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoYes
PDFsNoYes
AudioNoNo
VideoNoYes
ReasoningYesYes
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenapache-2.0Proprietary
API model ID——
API providers16 (best)
ReleasedSep 6, 2026Sep 2, 2026
Knowledge cutoff——
03 — Cost

What would a month cost?

Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.

  • MiniCPM5-2B$2.73
  • Qwen3.8 Max 0902$32.00
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: MiniCPM5-2B or Qwen3.8 Max 0902?

MiniCPM5-2B is the better all-round choice, scoring 53/100 against Qwen3.8 Max 0902 (50). It leads on price. Qwen3.8 Max 0902 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, MiniCPM5-2B or Qwen3.8 Max 0902?

MiniCPM5-2B is cheaper at $0.124 input / $0.743 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider). Qwen3.8 Max 0902 costs $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 $0.279 per million tokens for MiniCPM5-2B versus $3.00 for Qwen3.8 Max 0902 (11× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. MiniCPM5-2B has not been scored yet and Qwen3.8 Max 0902 has an ECI of 155.2.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for MiniCPM5-2B and Qwen3.8 Max 0902 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 0902 has the largest context window at 1,000,000 tokens, against 131,072 for MiniCPM5-2B. Maximum output per response: MiniCPM5-2B up to 131,072, Qwen3.8 Max 0902 up to 131,072 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

MiniCPM5-2B accepts text; Qwen3.8 Max 0902 accepts text, images, PDFs and video. Qwen3.8 Max 0902 handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

MiniCPM5-2B publishes its weights (apache-2.0) and can be self-hosted; Qwen3.8 Max 0902 is proprietary.

Which is newer?

MiniCPM5-2B is the newest, released Sep 6, 2026. Qwen3.8 Max 0902 came out Sep 2, 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.