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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Qwen3.8 Max Preview vs Qwen3.8 27B

Qwen3.8 27B comes out ahead, 57 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

    Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3.8 27B

    Released Aug 14, 2026

    57/100
    • ECI149.4
    • Price$0.40 / $2.50
    • Context262K
    Full specs Remove Qwen3.8 27B

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Qwen3.8 27B is our pick

Qwen3.8 27B is the better all-round choice, scoring 57/100 against Qwen3.8 Max Preview (47). It leads on price and inputs & features. 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 priceQwen3.8 27BQwen3.8 27B $0.925 · Qwen3.8 Max Preview $3.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextQwen3.8 Max PreviewQwen3.8 Max Preview 1,000,000 · Qwen3.8 27B 262,144 tokens
  • Widest inputsSame inputsQwen3.8 Max Preview: Text, Images, Video · Qwen3.8 27B: Text, Images, Video
  • Self-hostingQwen3.8 27BPublishes downloadable weights
How the score is built
MeasureWeightQwen3.8 Max PreviewQwen3.8 27B
Price50%2751
Inputs & features30%7080
Context window20%6037
Overall100%47/10057/100

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 Qwen3.8 27B specifications side by side
SpecificationQwen3.8 Max PreviewAlibaba (Qwen)Qwen3.8 27BAlibaba (Qwen)
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)—149.4
ECI rank—#53 of 148
Price per million tokens
Input$2.00$0.40 (best)
Output$6.00$2.50 (best)
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$3.00$0.925 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 6 providersMedian of 39 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
ReasoningYesYes
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoYes
Availability
WeightsProprietaryOpen
API model ID——
API providers641 (best)
ReleasedJul 19, 2026Aug 14, 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
  • Qwen3.8 27B$9.00
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Qwen3.8 Max Preview or Qwen3.8 27B?

Qwen3.8 27B is the better all-round choice, scoring 57/100 against Qwen3.8 Max Preview (47). It leads on price and inputs & features. 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 Qwen3.8 27B?

Qwen3.8 27B is cheaper at $0.40 input / $2.50 output per million tokens (median across 39 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 $0.925 per million tokens for Qwen3.8 27B versus $3.00 for Qwen3.8 Max Preview (3.2× 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 Qwen3.8 27B has an ECI of 149.4.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen3.8 Max Preview and Qwen3.8 27B 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 Qwen3.8 27B. Maximum output per response: Qwen3.8 Max Preview up to 131,072, Qwen3.8 27B up to 32,768 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Qwen3.8 Max Preview accepts text, images and video; Qwen3.8 27B accepts text, images and video. They handle the same number of input types.

Are any of these open source?

Qwen3.8 27B publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Qwen3.8 Max Preview is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Qwen3.8 27B is the newest, released Aug 14, 2026. Qwen3.8 Max Preview came out Jul 19, 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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