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Grok 4.6 vs Qwen3.8 Max

Grok 4.6 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

xAI · Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Updated for 2026

Which is better?

Grok 4.6 outperforms in 1 benchmarks (DeepSWE 1.1), while Qwen3.8 Max is better at 0 benchmarks. Grok 4.6 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

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

Choose Grok 4.6

  • 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

Choose Qwen3.8 Max

  • you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune

At a glance

The differences that matter most.

Grok 4.6
xAI
Qwen3.8 Max
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Benchmark wins
1 of 1
0 of 1
Input price
$2.00 / M
— / M
Output price
$6.00 / M
— / M
Context window
500,000
—
Released
Aug 2026
Aug 2026
License
Proprietary
Qwen3.8-Max License

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

1 benchmarks

Grok 4.6 outperforms in 1 benchmarks (DeepSWE 1.1), while Qwen3.8 Max is better at 0 benchmarks.

Grok 4.6 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Mon Aug 24 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Playground indexes and blind preference scores

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only Grok 4.6 specifies input context (500,000 tokens).

xAI
Grok 4.6
Input500,000 tokens
Output- tokens
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3.8 Max
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Mon Aug 24 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Both Grok 4.6 and Qwen3.8 Max support multimodal inputs.

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

Grok 4.6

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Qwen3.8 Max

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Grok 4.6 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.

Grok 4.6

Proprietary

Closed source

Qwen3.8 Max

Qwen3.8-Max License

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Grok 4.6 was released on 2026-08-12, while Qwen3.8 Max was released on 2026-08-02.

Grok 4.6 is 0 month newer than Qwen3.8 Max.

Grok 4.6

Aug 12, 2026

1 weeks ago

1w newer
Qwen3.8 Max

Aug 2, 2026

3 weeks ago

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Grok 4.6 has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2026-02-01, while Qwen3.8 Max's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm Grok 4.6's training data extends to 2026-02-01, but cannot make a direct comparison without Qwen3.8 Max's cutoff date.

Grok 4.6

Feb 2026

Qwen3.8 Max

—

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Grok 4.6 and Qwen3.8 Max side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Grok 4.6
✓ Preferred
Qwen3.8 Max
Open in Playground

FAQ

Common questions about Grok 4.6 vs Qwen3.8 Max.

Which is better, Grok 4.6 or Qwen3.8 Max?

Grok 4.6 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Grok 4.6 is made by xAI and Qwen3.8 Max 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 4.6 compare to Qwen3.8 Max in benchmarks?

Grok 4.6 scores CursorBench v3.2: 69.9%, DeepSWE 1.1: 65.9%, FrontierCode: 61.3%, AA-Index: 61.0%, GDPval-AA: 58.4%. Qwen3.8 Max scores PaperBench: 93.0%, MRCR v2 (8-needle): 92.9%, GPQA: 92.6%, VideoMME w sub.: 90.4%, RealWorldQA: 88.0%.

What are the context window sizes for Grok 4.6 and Qwen3.8 Max?

Grok 4.6 supports 500K tokens and Qwen3.8 Max 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 4.6 and Qwen3.8 Max?

Key differences include licensing (Proprietary vs Qwen3.8-Max License). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Grok 4.6 and Qwen3.8 Max?

Grok 4.6 is developed by xAI and Qwen3.8 Max is developed by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team.

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