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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

Qwen3.8 Flash vs Kolibri 1

Qwen3.8 Flash comes out ahead, 74 to 60 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Our pick

    Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3.8 Flash

    Released Aug 26, 2026

    74/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.15 / $0.47
    • Context1M
  2. Aleph Alpha

    Kolibri 1

    Released Oct 3, 2026New

    60/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.164 / $0.574
    • Context1.05M
  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Qwen3.8 Flash is our pick

Qwen3.8 Flash is the better all-round choice, scoring 74/100 against Kolibri 1 (60). It leads on price and inputs & features. 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 priceQwen3.8 FlashQwen3.8 Flash $0.23 · Kolibri 1 $0.266 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextKolibri 1Kolibri 1 1,048,576 · Qwen3.8 Flash 1,000,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsQwen3.8 FlashQwen3.8 Flash: Text, Images, Video · Kolibri 1: Text
  • Self-hostingKolibri 1Publishes downloadable weights (Apache-2.0)
How the score is built
MeasureWeightQwen3.8 FlashKolibri 1
Price50%7774
Inputs & features30%8035
Context window20%6061
Overall100%74/10060/100

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.

Qwen3.8 Flash vs Kolibri 1 specifications side by side
SpecificationQwen3.8 FlashAlibaba (Qwen)Kolibri 1Aleph Alpha
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
Price per million tokens
Input$0.15 (best)$0.164
Output$0.47 (best)$0.574
Cached input$0.016—
Blended (3:1)$0.23 (best)$0.266
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Alibaba APIMedian of 4 providers
Limits
Context window1,000,000 tokens1,048,576 tokens (best)
Max output131,072 tokens—
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesNo
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoYesNo
ReasoningYeslow · medium · xhighYes
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputYesNo
Availability
WeightsProprietaryOpenApache-2.0
API model IDqwen3.8-flash—
API providers28 (best)4
ReleasedAug 26, 2026Oct 3, 2026
Knowledge cutoff—Jun 18, 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.

  • Qwen3.8 Flash$2.44
  • Kolibri 1$2.78
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Qwen3.8 Flash or Kolibri 1?

Qwen3.8 Flash is the better all-round choice, scoring 74/100 against Kolibri 1 (60). It leads on price and inputs & features. 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, Qwen3.8 Flash or Kolibri 1?

Qwen3.8 Flash is cheaper at $0.15 input / $0.47 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). Kolibri 1 costs $0.164 input / $0.574 output per million tokens (median across 4 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.23 per million tokens for Qwen3.8 Flash versus $0.266 for Kolibri 1 (1.2× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Qwen3.8 Flash has not been scored yet and Kolibri 1 has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen3.8 Flash and Kolibri 1 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?

Kolibri 1 has the largest context window at 1,048,576 tokens, against 1,000,000 for Qwen3.8 Flash. Maximum output per response: Qwen3.8 Flash up to 131,072 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Qwen3.8 Flash accepts text, images and video; Kolibri 1 accepts text. Qwen3.8 Flash handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

Kolibri 1 publishes its weights (Apache-2.0) and can be self-hosted; Qwen3.8 Flash is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Kolibri 1 is the newest, released Oct 3, 2026. Qwen3.8 Flash came out Aug 26, 2026. Knowledge cutoff: Kolibri 1 Jun 18, 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 Nov 2, 2026.