o4-mini vs Qwen3.8-Flash-Next
Qwen3.8-Flash-Next significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
OpenAI · Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
o4-mini outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Qwen3.8-Flash-Next is better at 3 benchmarks (CharXiv-R, GPQA, Humanity's Last Exam). Qwen3.8-Flash-Next significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Based on current benchmark, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.
Choose o4-mini
- you want predictable pricing at $1.10/M input and $4.40/M output
Choose Qwen3.8-Flash-Next
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 3 of 3 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.
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
o4-mini outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Qwen3.8-Flash-Next is better at 3 benchmarks (CharXiv-R, GPQA, Humanity's Last Exam).
Qwen3.8-Flash-Next significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Playground indexes and blind preference scores
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Only o4-mini specifies input context (200,000 tokens). Only o4-mini specifies output context (100,000 tokens).
Input Capabilities
Supported data types and modalities
Both o4-mini and Qwen3.8-Flash-Next support multimodal inputs.
They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.
o4-mini
Qwen3.8-Flash-Next
License
Usage and distribution terms
o4-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.
Proprietary
Closed source
Qwen Community License 1.0
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
o4-mini was released on 2025-04-16, while Qwen3.8-Flash-Next was released on 2026-08-26.
Qwen3.8-Flash-Next is 17 months newer than o4-mini.
Apr 16, 2025
1.4 years ago
Aug 26, 2026
0 days ago
1.4yr newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
o4-mini has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-05-31, while Qwen3.8-Flash-Next's cutoff date is not specified.
We can confirm o4-mini's training data extends to 2024-05-31, but cannot make a direct comparison without Qwen3.8-Flash-Next's cutoff date.
May 2024
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Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against o4-mini and Qwen3.8-Flash-Next side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about o4-mini vs Qwen3.8-Flash-Next.