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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Qwen3.8 Max Preview vs Grok 4.3

Grok 4.3 comes out ahead, 56 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

    xAI

    Grok 4.3

    Released Apr 17, 2026

    56/100
    • ECI149.2
    • Price$1.25 / $2.50
    • Context1M
    Full specs Remove Grok 4.3

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Grok 4.3 is our pick

Grok 4.3 is the better all-round choice, scoring 56/100 against Qwen3.8 Max Preview (47). 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 priceGrok 4.3Grok 4.3 $1.56 · Qwen3.8 Max Preview $3.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextAbout the sameQwen3.8 Max Preview 1,000,000 · Grok 4.3 1,000,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsSame inputsQwen3.8 Max Preview: Text, Images, Video · Grok 4.3: Text, Images, PDFs
  • Self-hostingNo open weightsBoth are available only through APIs
How the score is built
MeasureWeightQwen3.8 Max PreviewGrok 4.3
Price50%2741
Inputs & features30%7080
Context window20%6060
Overall100%47/10056/100

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 Grok 4.3 specifications side by side
SpecificationQwen3.8 Max PreviewAlibaba (Qwen)Grok 4.3xAI
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)—149.2
ECI rank—#55 of 148
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions—88.8%
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics—42.8%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics—93.3%
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions—33.2%
Price per million tokens
Input$2.00$1.25 (best)
Output$6.00$2.50 (best)
Cached input—$0.20
Blended (3:1)$3.00$1.56 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateOver 200K: $2.50 / $5.00
Price sourceMedian of 6 providersOfficial xAI API
Limits
Context window1,000,000 tokens1,000,000 tokens
Max output131,072 tokens (best)30,000 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesYes
PDFsNoYes
AudioNoNo
VideoYesNo
ReasoningYesYeslow · medium · high
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoYes
Availability
WeightsProprietaryProprietary
API model ID—grok-4.3
API providers627 (best)
ReleasedJul 19, 2026Apr 17, 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
  • Grok 4.3$17.50
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Qwen3.8 Max Preview or Grok 4.3?

Grok 4.3 is the better all-round choice, scoring 56/100 against Qwen3.8 Max Preview (47). 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 Max Preview or Grok 4.3?

Grok 4.3 is cheaper at $1.25 input / $2.50 output per million tokens (official xAI API price). 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 $1.56 per million tokens for Grok 4.3 versus $3.00 for Qwen3.8 Max Preview (1.9× 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 Grok 4.3 has an ECI of 149.2.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen3.8 Max Preview and Grok 4.3 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 and Grok 4.3 share the same 1,000,000-token context window. Maximum output per response: Qwen3.8 Max Preview up to 131,072, Grok 4.3 up to 30,000 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Qwen3.8 Max Preview accepts text, images and video; Grok 4.3 accepts text, images and PDFs. They handle the same number of input types.

Are any of these open source?

No. Qwen3.8 Max Preview and Grok 4.3 are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.

Which is newer?

Qwen3.8 Max Preview is the newest, released Jul 19, 2026. Grok 4.3 came out Apr 17, 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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