Claude Sonnet 5 vs Qwen3.8 Max
Claude Sonnet 5 and Qwen3.8 Max are closely matched at 48.5 and 52.1 on the LLM Stats Score. Qwen3.8 Max is 1.6x cheaper per token.
Anthropic · Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Claude Sonnet 5 and Qwen3.8 Max are closely matched on the overall LLM Stats Score at 48.5 and 52.1.
In the 6 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Qwen3.8 Max wins 5; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
On price, Qwen3.8 Max is roughly 1.6x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Claude Sonnet 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 Sonnet 5
- you process long inputs — it offers a 1,000,000 token context window
Choose Qwen3.8 Max
- your work emphasizes agents — it leads those capability indexes
- you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 5 of 6 exact shared results
- cost matters — it's about 1.6x 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
23 reported for Claude Sonnet 5 · 42 for Qwen3.8 Max
Claude Sonnet 5 outperforms in 1 benchmarks (Humanity's Last Exam), while Qwen3.8 Max is better at 5 benchmarks (AutomationBench, DeepSWE 1.1, OSWorld-Verified, SWE-Bench Pro, Toolathlon).
Qwen3.8 Max significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Human preference
Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Claude Sonnet 5 ($2.00/1M tokens) is 1.2x more expensive than Qwen3.8 Max ($1.65/1M tokens).
For output processing, Claude Sonnet 5 ($10.00/1M tokens) is 2.0x more expensive than Qwen3.8 Max ($4.95/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Claude Sonnet 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 Sonnet 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 131,072 tokens, while Claude Sonnet 5 is limited to 64,000 tokens.
Input capabilities
Documented input modalities across available providers
Both Claude Sonnet 5 and Qwen3.8 Max support multimodal inputs.
They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.
Claude Sonnet 5
Qwen3.8 Max
License
Usage and distribution terms
Claude Sonnet 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 Sonnet 5 was released on 2026-06-30, while Qwen3.8 Max was released on 2026-08-02.
Qwen3.8 Max is 1 month newer than Claude Sonnet 5.
Jun 30, 2026
2 months ago
Aug 2, 2026
1 months ago
1mo 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 Sonnet 5 is available from Anthropic. Qwen3.8 Max is available from DeepInfra, Fireworks, Novita, Together.
Claude Sonnet 5
Qwen3.8 Max
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Claude Sonnet 5 and Qwen3.8 Max side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Claude Sonnet 5 vs Qwen3.8 Max.