Pareto vs Qwen 3.8 Max Prime
Qwen 3.8 Max Prime comes out ahead, 42 to 34 on our weighted score, though Pareto is 38% cheaper per token.
Unbiased
Pareto
34/100- ECI—
- Price$2.50 / $7.50
- Context262K
- Our pick
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen 3.8 Max Prime
42/100- ECI—
- Price$4.00 / $12.00
- Context1M
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Make it a three-way comparison.
Qwen 3.8 Max Prime is our pick
Qwen 3.8 Max Prime is the better all-round choice, scoring 42/100 against Pareto (34). It leads on inputs & features and context window. Pareto wins on price. 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 priceParetoPareto $3.75 · Qwen 3.8 Max Prime $6.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextQwen 3.8 Max PrimeQwen 3.8 Max Prime 1,000,000 · Pareto 262,144 tokens
- Widest inputsQwen 3.8 Max PrimePareto: Text, Images · Qwen 3.8 Max Prime: Text, Images, Video
- Self-hostingNo open weightsBoth are available only through APIs
| Measure | Weight | Pareto | Qwen 3.8 Max Prime |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 23 | 13 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 50 | 80 |
| Context window | 20% | 37 | 60 |
| Overall | 100% | 34/100 | 42/100 |
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 | ParetoUnbiased | Qwen 3.8 Max PrimeAlibaba (Qwen) |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $2.50 (best) | $4.00 |
| Output | $7.50 (best) | $12.00 |
| Cached input | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $3.75 (best) | $6.00 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 4 providers | Median of 4 providers |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 262,144 tokens | 1,000,000 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 131,072 tokens | 131,072 tokens |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | Yes |
| PDFs | No | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | Yes |
| Reasoning | No | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | Yes |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | — | — |
| API providers | 4 | 4 |
| Released | Sep 17, 2026 | Sep 23, 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.
- Pareto$40.00
- Qwen 3.8 Max Prime$64.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Pareto or Qwen 3.8 Max Prime?
Qwen 3.8 Max Prime is the better all-round choice, scoring 42/100 against Pareto (34). It leads on inputs & features and context window. Pareto wins on price. 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, Pareto or Qwen 3.8 Max Prime?
Pareto is cheaper at $2.50 input / $7.50 output per million tokens (median across 4 API providers). Qwen 3.8 Max Prime costs $4.00 input / $12.00 output per million tokens (median across 4 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $3.75 per million tokens for Pareto versus $6.00 for Qwen 3.8 Max Prime (1.6× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Pareto has not been scored yet and Qwen 3.8 Max Prime has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Pareto and Qwen 3.8 Max Prime 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?
Qwen 3.8 Max Prime has the largest context window at 1,000,000 tokens, against 262,144 for Pareto. Maximum output per response: Pareto up to 131,072, Qwen 3.8 Max Prime up to 131,072 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Pareto accepts text and images; Qwen 3.8 Max Prime accepts text, images and video. Qwen 3.8 Max Prime handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
No. Pareto and Qwen 3.8 Max Prime are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.
Which is newer?
Qwen 3.8 Max Prime is the newest, released Sep 23, 2026. Pareto came out Sep 17, 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.
