ZMIME
Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Qwen 3.8 Max Prime vs Claude Mythos 5

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
  2. Anthropic

    Claude Mythos 5

    Released Jun 9, 2026

    36/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$10.00 / $50.00
    • Context1M
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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 Claude Mythos 5 (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 · Claude Mythos 5 $20.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextAbout the sameQwen 3.8 Max Prime 1,000,000 · Claude Mythos 5 1,000,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsSame inputsQwen 3.8 Max Prime: Text, Images, Video · Claude Mythos 5: Text, Images, PDFs
  • Self-hostingNo open weightsBoth are available only through APIs
How the score is built
MeasureWeightQwen 3.8 Max PrimeClaude Mythos 5
Price50%130
Inputs & features30%8080
Context window20%6060
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 Claude Mythos 5 specifications side by side
SpecificationQwen 3.8 Max PrimeAlibaba (Qwen)Claude Mythos 5Anthropic
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
Price per million tokens
Input$4.00 (best)$10.00
Output$12.00 (best)$50.00
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$6.00 (best)$20.00
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 4 providersMedian of 2 providers
Limits
Context window1,000,000 tokens1,000,000 tokens
Max output131,072 tokens (best)128,000 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesYes
PDFsNoYes
AudioNoNo
VideoYesNo
ReasoningYesYes
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputYesYes
Availability
WeightsProprietaryProprietary
API model ID——
API providers4 (best)2
ReleasedSep 23, 2026Jun 9, 2026
Knowledge cutoff—Jan 31, 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
  • Claude Mythos 5$200.00
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Qwen 3.8 Max Prime or Claude Mythos 5?

Qwen 3.8 Max Prime is the better all-round choice, scoring 42/100 against Claude Mythos 5 (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 Claude Mythos 5?

Qwen 3.8 Max Prime is cheaper at $4.00 input / $12.00 output per million tokens (median across 4 API providers). Claude Mythos 5 costs $10.00 input / $50.00 output per million tokens (median across 2 API providers). 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 Claude Mythos 5 (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 Claude Mythos 5 has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen 3.8 Max Prime and Claude Mythos 5 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 and Claude Mythos 5 share the same 1,000,000-token context window. Maximum output per response: Qwen 3.8 Max Prime up to 131,072, Claude Mythos 5 up to 128,000 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Qwen 3.8 Max Prime accepts text, images and video; Claude Mythos 5 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 Claude Mythos 5 are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.

Which is newer?

Qwen 3.8 Max Prime is the newest, released Sep 23, 2026. Claude Mythos 5 came out Jun 9, 2026. Knowledge cutoff: Claude Mythos 5 Jan 31, 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.