ZMIME
Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Qwen 3.8 Max Prime vs GPT-6 Astra

Qwen 3.8 Max Prime comes out ahead, 42 to 36 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Our pick

    Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen 3.8 Max Prime

    Released Sep 23, 2026

    42/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$4.00 / $12.00
    • Context1M
    Full specs Remove Qwen 3.8 Max Prime

  2. OpenAI

    GPT-6 Astra

    Released Sep 4, 2026

    36/100
    • ECI166.5
    • Price$10.00 / $50.00
    • Context1.05M
    Full specs Remove GPT-6 Astra

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Qwen 3.8 Max Prime is our pick

Qwen 3.8 Max Prime is the better all-round choice, scoring 42/100 against GPT-6 Astra (36). It leads 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 priceQwen 3.8 Max PrimeQwen 3.8 Max Prime $6.00 · GPT-6 Astra $20.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextGPT-6 AstraGPT-6 Astra 1,050,000 · Qwen 3.8 Max Prime 1,000,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsSame inputsQwen 3.8 Max Prime: Text, Images, Video · GPT-6 Astra: Text, Images, PDFs
  • Self-hostingNo open weightsBoth are available only through APIs
How the score is built
MeasureWeightQwen 3.8 Max PrimeGPT-6 Astra
Price50%130
Inputs & features30%8080
Context window20%6061
Overall100%42/10036/100

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.

Qwen 3.8 Max Prime vs GPT-6 Astra specifications side by side
SpecificationQwen 3.8 Max PrimeAlibaba (Qwen)GPT-6 AstraOpenAI
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)—166.5
ECI rank—#2 of 148
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions—95.8%
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics—93.7%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics—100%
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions—75.6%
Price per million tokens
Input$4.00 (best)$10.00
Output$12.00 (best)$50.00
Cached input—$1.00
Blended (3:1)$6.00 (best)$20.00
Long-context rateSame rateOver 272K: $20.00 / $75.00
Price sourceMedian of 4 providersOfficial OpenAI API
Limits
Context window1,000,000 tokens1,050,000 tokens (best)
Max output131,072 tokens (best)128,000 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesYes
PDFsNoYes
AudioNoNo
VideoYesNo
ReasoningYesYeslow · medium · high · xhigh · max
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputYesYes
Availability
WeightsProprietaryProprietary
API model ID—gpt-6-astra
API providers426 (best)
ReleasedSep 23, 2026Sep 4, 2026
Knowledge cutoff—Apr 30, 2026
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.

  • Qwen 3.8 Max Prime$64.00
  • GPT-6 Astra$200.00
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Qwen 3.8 Max Prime or GPT-6 Astra?

Qwen 3.8 Max Prime is the better all-round choice, scoring 42/100 against GPT-6 Astra (36). It leads 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, Qwen 3.8 Max Prime or GPT-6 Astra?

Qwen 3.8 Max Prime is cheaper at $4.00 input / $12.00 output per million tokens (median across 4 API providers). GPT-6 Astra costs $10.00 input / $50.00 output per million tokens (official OpenAI API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $6.00 per million tokens for Qwen 3.8 Max Prime versus $20.00 for GPT-6 Astra (3.3× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Qwen 3.8 Max Prime has not been scored yet and GPT-6 Astra has an ECI of 166.5.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen 3.8 Max Prime and GPT-6 Astra 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?

GPT-6 Astra has the largest context window at 1,050,000 tokens, against 1,000,000 for Qwen 3.8 Max Prime. Maximum output per response: Qwen 3.8 Max Prime up to 131,072, GPT-6 Astra up to 128,000 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Qwen 3.8 Max Prime accepts text, images and video; GPT-6 Astra accepts text, images and PDFs. They handle the same number of input types.

Are any of these open source?

No. Qwen 3.8 Max Prime and GPT-6 Astra are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.

Which is newer?

Qwen 3.8 Max Prime is the newest, released Sep 23, 2026. GPT-6 Astra came out Sep 4, 2026. Knowledge cutoff: GPT-6 Astra Apr 30, 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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