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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

Qwen3.8 Flash vs Ling 3.0 Flash VL

Too close to call on our weighted score (Ling 3.0 Flash VL 76, Qwen3.8 Flash 74). The right pick depends on what you value most.

  1. Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3.8 Flash

    Released Aug 26, 2026

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

    Ling 3.0 Flash VL

    Released Sep 10, 2026New

    76/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.06 / $0.18
    • Context262K
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    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Too close to call

It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 2 points (Ling 3.0 Flash VL 76/100, Qwen3.8 Flash 74/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Ling 3.0 Flash VL on price and Qwen3.8 Flash for long inputs. 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 priceLing 3.0 Flash VLLing 3.0 Flash VL $0.09 · Qwen3.8 Flash $0.23 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextQwen3.8 FlashQwen3.8 Flash 1,000,000 · Ling 3.0 Flash VL 262,144 tokens
  • Widest inputsSame inputsQwen3.8 Flash: Text, Images, Video · Ling 3.0 Flash VL: Text, Images, Video
  • Self-hostingLing 3.0 Flash VLPublishes downloadable weights (MIT)
How the score is built
MeasureWeightQwen3.8 FlashLing 3.0 Flash VL
Price50%7795
Inputs & features30%8070
Context window20%6037
Overall100%74/10076/100

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 Ling 3.0 Flash VL specifications side by side
SpecificationQwen3.8 FlashAlibaba (Qwen)Ling 3.0 Flash VLinclusionAI
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
Price per million tokens
Input$0.15$0.06 (best)
Output$0.47$0.18 (best)
Cached input$0.016—
Blended (3:1)$0.23$0.09 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Alibaba APIMedian of 7 providers
Limits
Context window1,000,000 tokens (best)262,144 tokens
Max output131,072 tokens (best)32,768 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesYes
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoYesYes
ReasoningYeslow · medium · xhighYes
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputYesNo
Availability
WeightsProprietaryOpenMIT
API model IDqwen3.8-flash—
API providers28 (best)7
ReleasedAug 26, 2026Sep 10, 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.

  • Qwen3.8 Flash$2.44
  • Ling 3.0 Flash VL$0.96
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Qwen3.8 Flash or Ling 3.0 Flash VL?

It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 2 points (Ling 3.0 Flash VL 76/100, Qwen3.8 Flash 74/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Ling 3.0 Flash VL on price and Qwen3.8 Flash for long inputs. 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 Ling 3.0 Flash VL?

Ling 3.0 Flash VL is cheaper at $0.06 input / $0.18 output per million tokens (median across 7 API providers). Qwen3.8 Flash costs $0.15 input / $0.47 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.09 per million tokens for Ling 3.0 Flash VL versus $0.23 for Qwen3.8 Flash (2.6× 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 Ling 3.0 Flash VL has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen3.8 Flash and Ling 3.0 Flash VL 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?

Qwen3.8 Flash has the largest context window at 1,000,000 tokens, against 262,144 for Ling 3.0 Flash VL. Maximum output per response: Qwen3.8 Flash up to 131,072, Ling 3.0 Flash VL up to 32,768 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Qwen3.8 Flash accepts text, images and video; Ling 3.0 Flash VL accepts text, images and video. They handle the same number of input types.

Are any of these open source?

Ling 3.0 Flash VL publishes its weights (MIT) and can be self-hosted; Qwen3.8 Flash is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Ling 3.0 Flash VL is the newest, released Sep 10, 2026. Qwen3.8 Flash came out Aug 26, 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.