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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Qwen3.8 Flash vs Qwen3.8 Max 0902

Qwen3.8 Flash comes out ahead, 76 to 50 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Our pick

    Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3.8 Flash

    Released Aug 26, 2026

    76/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.15 / $0.47
    • Context1M
  2. Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3.8 Max 0902

    Released Sep 2, 2026

    50/100
    • ECI155.2
    • Price$2.00 / $6.00
    • Context1M
  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 76/100 against Qwen3.8 Max 0902 (50). 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 priceQwen3.8 FlashQwen3.8 Flash $0.23 · Qwen3.8 Max 0902 $3.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextAbout the sameQwen3.8 Flash 1,000,000 · Qwen3.8 Max 0902 1,000,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsQwen3.8 Max 0902Qwen3.8 Flash: Text, Images, Video · Qwen3.8 Max 0902: Text, Images, PDFs, Video
  • Self-hostingNo open weightsBoth are available only through APIs
How the score is built
MeasureWeightQwen3.8 FlashQwen3.8 Max 0902
Price50%8027
Inputs & features30%8080
Context window20%6060
Overall100%76/10050/100

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 Qwen3.8 Max 0902 specifications side by side
SpecificationQwen3.8 FlashAlibaba (Qwen)Qwen3.8 Max 0902Alibaba (Qwen)
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)—155.2
ECI rank—#28 of 148
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions—92.3%
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics—65.6%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics—100%
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions—47.3%
Price per million tokens
Input$0.15 (best)$2.00
Output$0.47 (best)$6.00
Cached input$0.016—
Blended (3:1)$0.23 (best)$3.00
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Alibaba APIMedian of 6 providers
Limits
Context window1,000,000 tokens1,000,000 tokens
Max output131,072 tokens131,072 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesYes
PDFsNoYes
AudioNoNo
VideoYesYes
ReasoningYeslow · medium · xhighYes
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputYesNo
Availability
WeightsProprietaryProprietary
API model IDqwen3.8-flash—
API providers23 (best)6
ReleasedAug 26, 2026Sep 2, 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
  • Qwen3.8 Max 0902$32.00
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Qwen3.8 Flash or Qwen3.8 Max 0902?

Qwen3.8 Flash is the better all-round choice, scoring 76/100 against Qwen3.8 Max 0902 (50). 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, Qwen3.8 Flash or Qwen3.8 Max 0902?

Qwen3.8 Flash is cheaper at $0.15 input / $0.47 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). Qwen3.8 Max 0902 costs $2.00 input / $6.00 output per million tokens (median across 6 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 $3.00 for Qwen3.8 Max 0902 (13× 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 Qwen3.8 Max 0902 has an ECI of 155.2.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen3.8 Flash and Qwen3.8 Max 0902 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 and Qwen3.8 Max 0902 share the same 1,000,000-token context window. Maximum output per response: Qwen3.8 Flash up to 131,072, Qwen3.8 Max 0902 up to 131,072 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Qwen3.8 Flash accepts text, images and video; Qwen3.8 Max 0902 accepts text, images, PDFs and video. Qwen3.8 Max 0902 handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

No. Qwen3.8 Flash and Qwen3.8 Max 0902 are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.

Which is newer?

Qwen3.8 Max 0902 is the newest, released Sep 2, 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 Oct 4, 2026.