LongCat-2.5 vs Qwen3.8 Max
LongCat-2.5 and Qwen3.8 Max are closely matched at 49.9 and 50.3 on the LLM Stats Score. LongCat-2.5 is 4.7x cheaper per token.
Meituan · Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
LongCat-2.5 and Qwen3.8 Max are closely matched on the overall LLM Stats Score at 49.9 and 50.3.
In the 7 individual benchmarks reported for both models, LongCat-2.5 wins 5; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
On price, LongCat-2.5 is roughly 4.7x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
LongCat-2.5 also accepts a larger context window (1,048,576 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 LongCat-2.5
- you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 5 of 7 exact shared results
- cost matters — it's about 4.7x cheaper per token
- you process long inputs — it offers a 1,048,576 token context window
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Nov 2026
Choose Qwen3.8 Max
- 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 LongCat-2.5 · 42 for Qwen3.8 Max
LongCat-2.5 outperforms in 5 benchmarks (DeepSWE 1.1, Humanity's Last Exam (with tools, text-only), NL2Repo, Terminal-Bench 2.1, Vision2Web), while Qwen3.8 Max is better at 2 benchmarks (PaperBench, SkillsBench).
LongCat-2.5 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, LongCat-2.5 ($0.30/1M tokens) is 5.5x cheaper than Qwen3.8 Max ($1.65/1M tokens).
For output processing, LongCat-2.5 ($1.20/1M tokens) is 4.1x cheaper than Qwen3.8 Max ($4.95/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Qwen3.8 Max is more expensive than LongCat-2.5.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
Qwen3.8 Max has 800.0B more parameters than LongCat-2.5, making it 50.0% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
LongCat-2.5 accepts 1,048,576 input tokens compared to Qwen3.8 Max's 256,000 tokens. Qwen3.8 Max can generate longer responses up to 256,000 tokens, while LongCat-2.5 is limited to 131,072 tokens.
Input capabilities
Documented input modalities across available providers
Both LongCat-2.5 and Qwen3.8 Max support multimodal inputs.
They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.
LongCat-2.5
Qwen3.8 Max
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
LongCat-2.5 was released on 2026-11-01, while Qwen3.8 Max was released on 2026-08-02.
LongCat-2.5 is 3 months newer than Qwen3.8 Max.
Nov 1, 2026
1 weeks ago
3mo newerAug 2, 2026
3 months ago
Knowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.
Unable to compare the recency of their training data.
Provider Availability
LongCat-2.5 is available from Meituan. Qwen3.8 Max is available from DeepInfra, Fireworks, Novita, Together.
LongCat-2.5
Qwen3.8 Max
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against LongCat-2.5 and Qwen3.8 Max side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about LongCat-2.5 vs Qwen3.8 Max.