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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

North Small Translate vs Qwen3.8 Max Preview

North Small Translate comes out ahead, 50 to 47 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Our pick

    Cohere

    North Small Translate

    Released Sep 9, 2026

    50/100
    • ECI—
    • PriceFree / Free
    • Context16K
    Full specs Remove North Small Translate

  2. Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3.8 Max Preview

    Released Jul 19, 2026

    47/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$2.00 / $6.00
    • Context1M
    Full specs Remove Qwen3.8 Max Preview

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

North Small Translate is our pick

North Small Translate is the better all-round choice, scoring 50/100 against Qwen3.8 Max Preview (47). It leads on price. Qwen3.8 Max Preview 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 priceNorth Small TranslateNorth Small Translate Free · Qwen3.8 Max Preview $3.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextQwen3.8 Max PreviewQwen3.8 Max Preview 1,000,000 · North Small Translate 16,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsQwen3.8 Max PreviewNorth Small Translate: Text · Qwen3.8 Max Preview: Text, Images, Video
  • Self-hostingNorth Small TranslatePublishes downloadable weights (CC-BY-NC-4.0)
How the score is built
MeasureWeightNorth Small TranslateQwen3.8 Max Preview
Price50%10027
Inputs & features30%070
Context window20%060
Overall100%50/10047/100

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.

North Small Translate vs Qwen3.8 Max Preview specifications side by side
SpecificationNorth Small TranslateCohereQwen3.8 Max PreviewAlibaba (Qwen)
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
Price per million tokens
InputFree (best)$2.00
OutputFree (best)$6.00
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)Free (best)$3.00
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Cohere APIMedian of 6 providers
Limits
Context window16,000 tokens1,000,000 tokens (best)
Max output16,000 tokens131,072 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoYes
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoYes
ReasoningNoYes
Tool callingNoYes
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenCC-BY-NC-4.0Proprietary
API model IDnorth-small-translate-09-2026—
API providers16 (best)
ReleasedSep 9, 2026Jul 19, 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.

  • North Small TranslateFree
  • Qwen3.8 Max Preview$32.00
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: North Small Translate or Qwen3.8 Max Preview?

North Small Translate is the better all-round choice, scoring 50/100 against Qwen3.8 Max Preview (47). It leads on price. Qwen3.8 Max Preview 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, North Small Translate or Qwen3.8 Max Preview?

North Small Translate is cheaper at Free input / Free output per million tokens (official Cohere API price). Qwen3.8 Max Preview costs $2.00 input / $6.00 output per million tokens (median across 6 API providers). North Small Translate is listed as free.

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. North Small Translate 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 North Small Translate and Qwen3.8 Max Preview yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Note that North Small Translate does not support tool calling, which most coding agents need.

Which has the bigger context window?

Qwen3.8 Max Preview has the largest context window at 1,000,000 tokens, against 16,000 for North Small Translate. Maximum output per response: North Small Translate up to 16,000, Qwen3.8 Max Preview up to 131,072 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

North Small Translate 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?

North Small Translate publishes its weights (CC-BY-NC-4.0) and can be self-hosted; Qwen3.8 Max Preview is proprietary.

Which is newer?

North Small Translate is the newest, released Sep 9, 2026. Qwen3.8 Max Preview came out Jul 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.

05 — Keep comparing

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