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Head-to-head comparison

Qwen3 235B A22B vs Qwen3.8 Max (0902)

Qwen3 235B A22B (Qwen) and Qwen3.8 Max (0902) (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 9 September 2026

As of 9 September 2026, Qwen3.8 Max (0902) holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#32 vs #74); Qwen3 235B A22B is 3.3× cheaper per output token ($1.82/1M vs $6.00/1M); Qwen3.8 Max (0902) offers the longer context window (1M vs 131K tokens); and Qwen3 235B A22B ships open weights.

Which should you choose?

Choose Qwen3 235B A22B if…

  • API cost matters — $1.82/1M output tokens against $6.00/1M, about 3.3× cheaper.
  • your workload is prompt-heavy — input tokens cost $0.455/1M against $2.00/1M.
  • you want to self-host: Qwen3 235B A22B ships open weights while Qwen3.8 Max (0902) is api only.

Choose Qwen3.8 Max (0902) if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #32 against #74 (66.6 vs 49.9 points).
  • you need the longer context window — 1M tokens against 131K.
  • you want the more recently listed model — Qwen3.8 Max (0902) was listed 3 September 2026, Qwen3 235B A22B 28 April 2025.

Qwen3 235B A22B vs Qwen3.8 Max (0902): specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of Qwen3 235B A22B and Qwen3.8 Max (0902)
FieldQwen3 235B A22BQwenQwen3.8 Max (0902)Qwen
ModelCap Index position#74#32
Index score49.966.6
EvidenceMeasuredEstimated
Input price / 1M tokens$0.455$2.00
Output price / 1M tokens$1.82$6.00
Context window131K tokens1M tokens
Max output tokens8K131K
API providers listed11
Weight accessOpen weightsAPI only
Input modalitiesTextText, Image, Video
First listed28 April 20253 September 2026
PublisherQwenQwen

Evidence: 2 public benchmark observations across 2 boards · publisher-corpus-prior over 182 held-out anchors (23%); opens from measured predecessor qwen/qwen3.7-max (78%); shrunk 4.9 toward the measured corpus. Prices are the lowest listed API offer per million tokens observed on the OpenRouter catalogue.

Benchmark scores: Qwen3 235B A22B vs Qwen3.8 Max (0902)

Public benchmark boards where Qwen3 235B A22B or Qwen3.8 Max (0902) has a published result
BoardQwen3 235B A22BQwen3.8 Max (0902)Leads
Arena codingArena (LMArena)14451438–1453No thinking—Only 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.

Qwen3 235B A22B vs Qwen3.8 Max (0902): common questions

Is Qwen3 235B A22B better than Qwen3.8 Max (0902)?

Qwen3.8 Max (0902) ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 9 September 2026: #32 against #74. 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. Their published uncertainty intervals overlap, so the rank difference alone does not establish a reliable capability advantage for your workload.

Is Qwen3 235B A22B cheaper than Qwen3.8 Max (0902)?

Qwen3 235B A22B is cheaper on output tokens: $1.82/1M against $6.00/1M. Input tokens are $0.455/1M for Qwen3 235B A22B and $2.00/1M for Qwen3.8 Max (0902). Prices are the lowest listed API offer ModelCap observed, in USD per million tokens. For 1,000 requests with 2,000 input and 500 output tokens each (2M input + 0.5M output), the listed-rate estimate is $1.82 for Qwen3 235B A22B versus $7.00 for Qwen3.8 Max (0902). Qwen3 235B A22B costs 74.0% less in this scenario. This excludes caching, batch discounts, prompt-length tiers, tool charges and retries; verify the selected endpoint before budgeting.

Which has the bigger context window, Qwen3 235B A22B or Qwen3.8 Max (0902)?

Qwen3.8 Max (0902) has the larger context window: 1M tokens against 131K.

Which is better for coding, Qwen3 235B A22B or Qwen3.8 Max (0902)?

The two models do not share a coding benchmark board on ModelCap yet, so no head-to-head coding score is published; the ModelCap Index position is the closest overall signal.

Are Qwen3 235B A22B and Qwen3.8 Max (0902) open-weight models?

Qwen3 235B A22B: Open weights. Qwen3.8 Max (0902): 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 Qwen3 235B A22B and Qwen3.8 Max (0902)?

ModelCap currently lists 1 API provider for Qwen3 235B A22B and 1 for Qwen3.8 Max (0902), from the OpenRouter catalogue snapshot the site serves; each model page lists the providers and their prices.

How current is this Qwen3 235B A22B vs Qwen3.8 Max (0902) comparison?

Every figure comes from the sealed ModelCap dataset published 9 September 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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