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Head-to-head comparison

Qwen3.6 35B A3B vs Qwen3.8 Max

Qwen3.6 35B A3B (Qwen) 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 17 August 2026

As of 17 August 2026, Qwen3.8 Max holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#5 vs #59); Qwen3.6 35B A3B is 6× cheaper per output token ($1.00/1M vs $6.00/1M); Qwen3.8 Max offers the longer context window (1M vs 262K tokens); and Qwen3.6 35B A3B ships open weights.

Which should you choose?

Choose Qwen3.6 35B A3B if…

  • API cost matters — $1.00/1M output tokens against $6.00/1M, about 6× cheaper.
  • your workload is prompt-heavy — input tokens cost $0.14/1M against $2.00/1M.
  • you want to self-host: Qwen3.6 35B A3B ships open weights while Qwen3.8 Max is api only.
  • you want provider choice — 9 listed API providers against 1.

Choose Qwen3.8 Max if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #5 against #59 (80.5 vs 43.5 points).
  • you need the longer context window — 1M tokens against 262K.
  • Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index is your yardstick — 58.1 against 32.1.
  • you want the more recently listed model — Qwen3.8 Max was listed 3 August 2026, Qwen3.6 35B A3B 27 April 2026.

Qwen3.6 35B A3B vs Qwen3.8 Max: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of Qwen3.6 35B A3B and Qwen3.8 Max
FieldQwen3.6 35B A3BQwenQwen3.8 MaxQwen
ModelCap Index position#59#5
Index score43.580.5
EvidenceMeasuredMeasured
Input price / 1M tokens$0.14$2.00
Output price / 1M tokens$1.00$6.00
Context window262K tokens1M tokens
Max output tokens262K131K
API providers listed91
Weight accessOpen weightsAPI only
Input modalitiesText, Image, VideoText, Image, Video
First listed27 April 20263 August 2026
PublisherQwenQwen

Evidence: 1 public benchmark observation across 1 board · 4 public benchmark observations across 4 boards. Prices are the lowest listed API offer per million tokens observed on the OpenRouter catalogue.

Benchmark scores: Qwen3.6 35B A3B vs Qwen3.8 Max

Public benchmark boards where Qwen3.6 35B A3B or Qwen3.8 Max has a published result
BoardQwen3.6 35B A3BQwen3.8 MaxLeads
Arena codingArena (LMArena)—15291516–1542Only one result
LMArena AgentLMArena—7.6%6.0%–9.2%Only one result
Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexArtificial Analysis32.1intelligence-index58.1intelligence-indexQwen3.8 Max

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.

Qwen3.6 35B A3B vs Qwen3.8 Max: common questions

Is Qwen3.6 35B A3B better than Qwen3.8 Max?

Qwen3.8 Max ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 17 August 2026: #5 against #59. 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 Qwen3.6 35B A3B cheaper than Qwen3.8 Max?

Qwen3.6 35B A3B is cheaper on output tokens: $1.00/1M against $6.00/1M. Input tokens are $0.14/1M for Qwen3.6 35B A3B 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, Qwen3.6 35B A3B or Qwen3.8 Max?

Qwen3.8 Max has the larger context window: 1M tokens against 262K.

Which is better for coding, Qwen3.6 35B A3B or Qwen3.8 Max?

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 Qwen3.6 35B A3B and Qwen3.8 Max open-weight models?

Qwen3.6 35B A3B: Open weights. 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 Qwen3.6 35B A3B and Qwen3.8 Max?

ModelCap currently lists 9 API providers for Qwen3.6 35B A3B 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 Qwen3.6 35B A3B vs Qwen3.8 Max comparison?

Every figure comes from the sealed ModelCap dataset published 17 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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