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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Qwen3.8 Max Preview vs GPT-5.6 Cyber

Qwen3.8 Max Preview comes out ahead, 47 to 30 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Our pick

    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. OpenAI

    GPT-5.6 Cyber

    Released Aug 7, 2026

    30/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$12.50 / $75.00
    • Context400K
    Full specs Remove GPT-5.6 Cyber

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Qwen3.8 Max Preview is our pick

Qwen3.8 Max Preview is the better all-round choice, scoring 47/100 against GPT-5.6 Cyber (30). It leads on price and 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 priceQwen3.8 Max PreviewQwen3.8 Max Preview $3.00 · GPT-5.6 Cyber $28.13 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextQwen3.8 Max PreviewQwen3.8 Max Preview 1,000,000 · GPT-5.6 Cyber 400,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsQwen3.8 Max PreviewQwen3.8 Max Preview: Text, Images, Video · GPT-5.6 Cyber: Text, Images
  • Self-hostingNo open weightsBoth are available only through APIs
How the score is built
MeasureWeightQwen3.8 Max PreviewGPT-5.6 Cyber
Price50%270
Inputs & features30%7070
Context window20%6044
Overall100%47/10030/100

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 GPT-5.6 Cyber specifications side by side
SpecificationQwen3.8 Max PreviewAlibaba (Qwen)GPT-5.6 CyberOpenAI
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
Price per million tokens
Input$2.00 (best)$12.50
Output$6.00 (best)$75.00
Cached input—$1.25
Blended (3:1)$3.00 (best)$28.13
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 6 providersOfficial OpenAI API
Limits
Context window1,000,000 tokens (best)400,000 tokens
Max output131,072 tokens (best)128,000 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesYes
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoYesNo
ReasoningYesYeslow · medium · high · xhigh · max
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoYes
Availability
WeightsProprietaryProprietary
API model ID—gpt-daybreak-red-latest
API providers6 (best)1
ReleasedJul 19, 2026Aug 7, 2026
Knowledge cutoff—Feb 16, 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 Max Preview$32.00
  • GPT-5.6 Cyber$275.00
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Qwen3.8 Max Preview or GPT-5.6 Cyber?

Qwen3.8 Max Preview is the better all-round choice, scoring 47/100 against GPT-5.6 Cyber (30). It leads on price and 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 GPT-5.6 Cyber?

Qwen3.8 Max Preview is cheaper at $2.00 input / $6.00 output per million tokens (median across 6 API providers). GPT-5.6 Cyber costs $12.50 input / $75.00 output per million tokens (official OpenAI API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $3.00 per million tokens for Qwen3.8 Max Preview versus $28.13 for GPT-5.6 Cyber (9.4× 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 GPT-5.6 Cyber has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen3.8 Max Preview and GPT-5.6 Cyber 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 400,000 for GPT-5.6 Cyber. Maximum output per response: Qwen3.8 Max Preview up to 131,072, GPT-5.6 Cyber up to 128,000 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Qwen3.8 Max Preview accepts text, images and video; GPT-5.6 Cyber accepts text and images. Qwen3.8 Max Preview handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

No. Qwen3.8 Max Preview and GPT-5.6 Cyber are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.

Which is newer?

GPT-5.6 Cyber is the newest, released Aug 7, 2026. Qwen3.8 Max Preview came out Jul 19, 2026. Knowledge cutoff: GPT-5.6 Cyber Feb 16, 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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