Claude Opus 5 vs Qwen3.8 Max
Claude Opus 5 and Qwen3.8 Max are closely matched at 54.9 and 51.9 on the LLM Stats Score. Qwen3.8 Max is 4.0x cheaper per token.
Anthropic · Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Claude Opus 5 and Qwen3.8 Max are closely matched on the overall LLM Stats Score at 54.9 and 51.9.
In the 3 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Claude Opus 5 wins 2; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
On price, Qwen3.8 Max is roughly 4.0x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Claude Opus 5 also accepts a larger context window (1,000,000 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.
Based on current LLM Stats indexes, shared benchmarks, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.
Choose Claude Opus 5
- you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 2 of 3 exact shared results
- you process long inputs — it offers a 1,000,000 token context window
Choose Qwen3.8 Max
- cost matters — it's about 4.0x cheaper per token
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Aug 2026
- you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Capability indexes
Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks
Individual benchmarks
13 reported for Claude Opus 5 · 42 for Qwen3.8 Max
Claude Opus 5 outperforms in 2 benchmarks (DeepSWE 1.1, Humanity's Last Exam), while Qwen3.8 Max is better at 1 benchmark (AutomationBench).
Claude Opus 5 shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.
Human preference
Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Claude Opus 5 ($5.00/1M tokens) is 3.0x more expensive than Qwen3.8 Max ($1.65/1M tokens).
For output processing, Claude Opus 5 ($25.00/1M tokens) is 5.0x more expensive than Qwen3.8 Max ($4.95/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Claude Opus 5 is more expensive than Qwen3.8 Max.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Claude Opus 5 accepts 1,000,000 input tokens compared to Qwen3.8 Max's 256,000 tokens. Qwen3.8 Max can generate longer responses up to 256,000 tokens, while Claude Opus 5 is limited to 128,000 tokens.
Input capabilities
Documented input modalities across available providers
Both Claude Opus 5 and Qwen3.8 Max support multimodal inputs.
They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.
Claude Opus 5
Qwen3.8 Max
License
Usage and distribution terms
Claude Opus 5 is licensed under a proprietary license, while Qwen3.8 Max uses Qwen3.8-Max License.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
Proprietary
Closed source
Qwen3.8-Max License
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Claude Opus 5 was released on 2026-07-24, while Qwen3.8 Max was released on 2026-08-02.
Qwen3.8 Max is 0 month newer than Claude Opus 5.
Jul 24, 2026
1 months ago
Aug 2, 2026
1 months ago
1w newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.
Unable to compare the recency of their training data.
Provider Availability
Claude Opus 5 is available from Anthropic, DeepInfra. Qwen3.8 Max is available from DeepInfra, Fireworks, Novita, Together.
Claude Opus 5
Qwen3.8 Max
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Claude Opus 5 and Qwen3.8 Max side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Claude Opus 5 vs Qwen3.8 Max.