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Head-to-head comparison

o3 vs Qwen3.8 Max

o3 (OpenAI) and Qwen3.8 Max (Qwen) compared on the ModelCap Index, API price, context window, provider availability, weight access and every public benchmark board they share. Figures are the same ones shown on the live rankings; nothing here is a hidden score.

Snapshot as of 18 August 2026

As of 18 August 2026, Qwen3.8 Max holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#6 vs #37); Qwen3.8 Max is 1.3× cheaper per output token ($6.00/1M vs $8.00/1M); and Qwen3.8 Max offers the longer context window (1M vs 200K tokens).

Which should you choose?

Choose o3 if…

  • ModelCap publishes no field on which o3 leads Qwen3.8 Max for this pair.

Choose Qwen3.8 Max if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #6 against #37 (80.4 vs 55.1 points).
  • API cost matters — $6.00/1M output tokens against $8.00/1M, about 1.3× cheaper.
  • you need the longer context window — 1M tokens against 200K.
  • Arena coding is your yardstick — 1529 against 1460.
  • Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index is your yardstick — 58.1 against 31.1.
  • you want the more recently listed model — Qwen3.8 Max was listed 3 August 2026, o3 16 April 2025.

o3 vs Qwen3.8 Max: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of o3 and Qwen3.8 Max
Fieldo3OpenAIQwen3.8 MaxQwen
ModelCap Index position#37#6
Index score55.180.4
EvidenceMeasuredMeasured
Input price / 1M tokens$2.00$2.00
Output price / 1M tokens$8.00$6.00
Context window200K tokens1M tokens
Max output tokens100K131K
API providers listed11
Weight accessAPI onlyAPI only
Input modalitiesImage, Text, FileText, Image, Video
First listed16 April 20253 August 2026
PublisherOpenAIQwen

Evidence: 4 public benchmark observations across 4 boards · 5 public benchmark observations across 5 boards. Prices are the lowest listed API offer per million tokens observed on the OpenRouter catalogue.

Benchmark scores: o3 vs Qwen3.8 Max

Public benchmark boards where o3 or Qwen3.8 Max has a published result
Boardo3Qwen3.8 MaxLeads
Arena codingArena (LMArena)14601453–146615291516–1542Qwen3.8 Max
LMArena AgentLMArena—7.6%6.0%–9.2%Only one result
ARC-AGI-2ARC Prize Foundation6.5%High—Only one result
SWE-benchSWE-bench (Princeton / SWE-agent team)58.4%—Only one result
BFCL V4UC Berkeley (Gorilla)63.1Prompt—Only one result
Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexArtificial Analysis31.1intelligence-index58.1intelligence-indexQwen3.8 Max
WildClawBench OpenClawWildClawBench—56.2Only one result

Scores are the sources' own published figures for each model's best evaluated configuration; ModelCap never re-runs a benchmark.

Want a different pairing? Open the interactive comparison tool to swap either model for any current ranked language model.

o3 vs Qwen3.8 Max: common questions

Is o3 better than Qwen3.8 Max?

Qwen3.8 Max ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 18 August 2026: #6 against #37. That is a capability ranking built from public benchmark evidence with published uncertainty; whether it is "better" for you also depends on price, context and where you can run it.

Is o3 cheaper than Qwen3.8 Max?

Qwen3.8 Max is cheaper on output tokens: $6.00/1M against $8.00/1M. Input tokens are $2.00/1M for o3 and $2.00/1M for Qwen3.8 Max. Prices are the lowest listed API offer ModelCap observed, in USD per million tokens.

Which has the bigger context window, o3 or Qwen3.8 Max?

Qwen3.8 Max has the larger context window: 1M tokens against 200K.

Which is better for coding, o3 or Qwen3.8 Max?

Arena coding: o3 1460, Qwen3.8 Max 1529 — Qwen3.8 Max leads.

Are o3 and Qwen3.8 Max open-weight models?

o3: API only. Qwen3.8 Max: API only. Open weights mean the checkpoint can be downloaded and self-hosted under its licence; API-only models are available solely through hosted endpoints.

Where can I run o3 and Qwen3.8 Max?

ModelCap currently lists 1 API provider for o3 and 1 for Qwen3.8 Max, from the OpenRouter catalogue snapshot the site serves; each model page lists the providers and their prices.

How current is this o3 vs Qwen3.8 Max comparison?

Every figure comes from the sealed ModelCap dataset published 18 August 2026; the page re-renders within a minute of each data refresh, and the ModelCap Index positions are the same ones shown on the live rankings.

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