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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Qwen3.8 Max Preview vs Gemma 4 31B IT

Gemma 4 31B IT comes out ahead, 70 to 47 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3.8 Max Preview

    Released Jul 19, 2026

    47/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$2.00 / $6.00
    • Context1M
    Full specs Remove Qwen3.8 Max Preview
  2. Our pick

    Google

    Gemma 4 31B IT

    Released Apr 2, 2026

    70/100
    • ECI142.8
    • Price$0.14 / $0.40
    • Context262K
    Full specs Remove Gemma 4 31B IT

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Gemma 4 31B IT is our pick

Gemma 4 31B IT is the better all-round choice, scoring 70/100 against Qwen3.8 Max Preview (47). It leads on price. Qwen3.8 Max Preview wins on context window. 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 priceGemma 4 31B ITGemma 4 31B IT $0.205 · Qwen3.8 Max Preview $3.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextQwen3.8 Max PreviewQwen3.8 Max Preview 1,000,000 · Gemma 4 31B IT 262,144 tokens
  • Widest inputsQwen3.8 Max PreviewQwen3.8 Max Preview: Text, Images, Video · Gemma 4 31B IT: Text, Images
  • Self-hostingGemma 4 31B ITPublishes downloadable weights
How the score is built
MeasureWeightQwen3.8 Max PreviewGemma 4 31B IT
Price50%2783
Inputs & features30%7070
Context window20%6037
Overall100%47/10070/100

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 Max Preview vs Gemma 4 31B IT specifications side by side
SpecificationQwen3.8 Max PreviewAlibaba (Qwen)Gemma 4 31B ITGoogle
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)—142.8
ECI rank—#86 of 148
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions—75.8%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics—73.3%
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions—10.4%
Price per million tokens
Input$2.00$0.14 (best)
Output$6.00$0.40 (best)
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$3.00$0.205 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 6 providersMedian of 30 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
VideoYesNo
ReasoningYesYes
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoYes
Availability
WeightsProprietaryOpen
API model ID—gemma-4-31b-it
API providers638 (best)
ReleasedJul 19, 2026Apr 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 Max Preview$32.00
  • Gemma 4 31B IT$2.20
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Qwen3.8 Max Preview or Gemma 4 31B IT?

Gemma 4 31B IT is the better all-round choice, scoring 70/100 against Qwen3.8 Max Preview (47). It leads on price. Qwen3.8 Max Preview wins on context window. 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 Max Preview or Gemma 4 31B IT?

Gemma 4 31B IT is cheaper at $0.14 input / $0.40 output per million tokens (median across 30 API providers). Qwen3.8 Max Preview 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 $0.205 per million tokens for Gemma 4 31B IT versus $3.00 for Qwen3.8 Max Preview (15× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Qwen3.8 Max Preview has not been scored yet and Gemma 4 31B IT has an ECI of 142.8.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen3.8 Max Preview and Gemma 4 31B IT 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 Max Preview has the largest context window at 1,000,000 tokens, against 262,144 for Gemma 4 31B IT. Maximum output per response: Qwen3.8 Max Preview up to 131,072, Gemma 4 31B IT up to 32,768 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Qwen3.8 Max Preview accepts text, images and video; Gemma 4 31B IT accepts text and images. Qwen3.8 Max Preview handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

Gemma 4 31B IT publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Qwen3.8 Max Preview is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Qwen3.8 Max Preview is the newest, released Jul 19, 2026. Gemma 4 31B IT came out Apr 2, 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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