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Grok-3 Mini vs Qwen3.8-Flash-Next

Qwen3.8-Flash-Next significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

xAI · Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Updated for 2026

Which is better?

Grok-3 Mini outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Qwen3.8-Flash-Next is better at 1 benchmark (GPQA). Qwen3.8-Flash-Next significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Based on current benchmark, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.

Choose Grok-3 Mini

  • you want predictable pricing at $0.30/M input and $0.50/M output

Choose Qwen3.8-Flash-Next

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 1 of 1 shared benchmarks
  • 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.

Grok-3 Mini
xAI
Qwen3.8-Flash-Next
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Benchmark wins
0 of 1
1 of 1
Input price
$0.30 / M
— / M
Output price
$0.50 / M
— / M
Context window
128,000
—
Released
Feb 2025
Aug 2026
License
Proprietary
Qwen Community License 1.0

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

1 benchmarks

Grok-3 Mini outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Qwen3.8-Flash-Next is better at 1 benchmark (GPQA).

Qwen3.8-Flash-Next significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Wed Aug 26 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Playground indexes and blind preference scores

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only Grok-3 Mini specifies input context (128,000 tokens). Only Grok-3 Mini specifies output context (8,000 tokens).

xAI
Grok-3 Mini
Input128,000 tokens
Output8,000 tokens
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3.8-Flash-Next
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Wed Aug 26 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Both Grok-3 Mini and Qwen3.8-Flash-Next support multimodal inputs.

They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.

Grok-3 Mini

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Qwen3.8-Flash-Next

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Grok-3 Mini is licensed under a proprietary license, while Qwen3.8-Flash-Next uses Qwen Community License 1.0.

License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.

Grok-3 Mini

Proprietary

Closed source

Qwen3.8-Flash-Next

Qwen Community License 1.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Grok-3 Mini was released on 2025-02-17, while Qwen3.8-Flash-Next was released on 2026-08-26.

Qwen3.8-Flash-Next is 19 months newer than Grok-3 Mini.

Grok-3 Mini

Feb 17, 2025

1.5 years ago

Qwen3.8-Flash-Next

Aug 26, 2026

0 days ago

1.5yr newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Grok-3 Mini has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-11-17, while Qwen3.8-Flash-Next's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm Grok-3 Mini's training data extends to 2024-11-17, but cannot make a direct comparison without Qwen3.8-Flash-Next's cutoff date.

Grok-3 Mini

Nov 2024

Qwen3.8-Flash-Next

—

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Grok-3 Mini and Qwen3.8-Flash-Next side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Grok-3 Mini
✓ Preferred
Qwen3.8-Flash-Next
Open in Playground

FAQ

Common questions about Grok-3 Mini vs Qwen3.8-Flash-Next.

Which is better, Grok-3 Mini or Qwen3.8-Flash-Next?

Qwen3.8-Flash-Next significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Grok-3 Mini is made by xAI and Qwen3.8-Flash-Next is made by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does Grok-3 Mini compare to Qwen3.8-Flash-Next in benchmarks?

Grok-3 Mini scores AIME 2024: 95.8%, AIME 2025: 90.8%, GPQA: 84.0%, LiveCodeBench: 80.4%. Qwen3.8-Flash-Next scores MathVision: 95.7%, LiveCodeBench v6: 91.9%, GPQA: 91.7%, CharXiv-R: 90.6%, RealWorldQA: 88.5%.

What are the context window sizes for Grok-3 Mini and Qwen3.8-Flash-Next?

Grok-3 Mini supports 128K tokens and Qwen3.8-Flash-Next supports an unknown number of tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between Grok-3 Mini and Qwen3.8-Flash-Next?

Key differences include licensing (Proprietary vs Qwen Community License 1.0). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Grok-3 Mini and Qwen3.8-Flash-Next?

Grok-3 Mini is developed by xAI and Qwen3.8-Flash-Next is developed by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team.

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