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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Qwen3.8 Max vs GPT-5.3 Codex

Qwen3.8 Max comes out ahead, 69 to 64 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Our pick

    Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3.8 Max

    Released Aug 3, 2026

    69/100
    • ECI156.6
    • Price$2.00 / $6.00
    • Context1M
    Full specs Remove Qwen3.8 Max

  2. OpenAI

    GPT-5.3 Codex

    Released Feb 5, 2026

    64/100
    • ECI156.8
    • Price$1.75 / $14.00
    • Context400K
    Full specs Remove GPT-5.3 Codex

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Qwen3.8 Max is our pick

Qwen3.8 Max is the better all-round choice, scoring 69/100 against GPT-5.3 Codex (64). It leads on price, inputs & features and context window. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityGPT-5.3 CodexCapabilities Index (ECI): GPT-5.3 Codex 156.8 · Qwen3.8 Max 156.6
  • Lowest priceQwen3.8 MaxQwen3.8 Max $3.00 · GPT-5.3 Codex $4.81 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextQwen3.8 MaxQwen3.8 Max 1,000,000 · GPT-5.3 Codex 400,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsQwen3.8 MaxQwen3.8 Max: Text, Images, PDFs, Video · GPT-5.3 Codex: Text, Images, PDFs
  • Self-hostingNo open weightsBoth are available only through APIs
How the score is built
MeasureWeightQwen3.8 MaxGPT-5.3 Codex
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%8687
Price25%2718
Inputs & features15%9080
Context window10%6044
Overall100%69/10064/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.

Qwen3.8 Max vs GPT-5.3 Codex specifications side by side
SpecificationQwen3.8 MaxAlibaba (Qwen)GPT-5.3 CodexOpenAI
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)156.6156.8 (best)
ECI rank#20 of 148#18 of 148 (best)
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions92.7%—
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics74.7%—
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics99.4%—
SWE-bench VerifiedFixing real GitHub issues—74.8%
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions45.8%—
Price per million tokens
Input$2.00$1.75 (best)
Output$6.00 (best)$14.00
Cached input$0.25$0.175 (best)
Blended (3:1)$3.00 (best)$4.81
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Alibaba APIOfficial 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
PDFsYesYes
AudioNoNo
VideoYesNo
ReasoningYeslow · medium · xhighYeslow · medium · high · xhigh
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputYesYes
Availability
WeightsProprietaryProprietary
API model IDqwen3.8-maxgpt-5.3-codex
API providers25 (best)19
ReleasedAug 3, 2026Feb 5, 2026
Knowledge cutoff—Aug 31, 2025
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$32.00
  • GPT-5.3 Codex$45.50
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Qwen3.8 Max or GPT-5.3 Codex?

Qwen3.8 Max is the better all-round choice, scoring 69/100 against GPT-5.3 Codex (64). It leads on price, inputs & features and context window. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, Qwen3.8 Max or GPT-5.3 Codex?

Qwen3.8 Max is cheaper at $2.00 input / $6.00 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). GPT-5.3 Codex costs $1.75 input / $14.00 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 versus $4.81 for GPT-5.3 Codex (1.6× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

GPT-5.3 Codex scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): GPT-5.3 Codex 156.8 (#18 of 148) and Qwen3.8 Max 156.6 (#20 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (153.5–160.8 vs 154.5–158.8), so treat the gap as small.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen3.8 Max yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, GPT-5.3 Codex leads, which tends to carry over to coding, but test on your own codebase. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.

Which has the bigger context window?

Qwen3.8 Max has the largest context window at 1,000,000 tokens, against 400,000 for GPT-5.3 Codex. Maximum output per response: Qwen3.8 Max up to 131,072, GPT-5.3 Codex up to 128,000 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Qwen3.8 Max accepts text, images, PDFs and video; GPT-5.3 Codex accepts text, images and PDFs. Qwen3.8 Max handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

No. Qwen3.8 Max and GPT-5.3 Codex are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.

Which is newer?

Qwen3.8 Max is the newest, released Aug 3, 2026. GPT-5.3 Codex came out Feb 5, 2026. Knowledge cutoff: GPT-5.3 Codex Aug 31, 2025.

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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