Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct vs Qwen3.8 Max
Qwen3.8 Max significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct is 11.0x cheaper per token.
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Qwen3.8 Max is better at 5 benchmarks (ERQA, LVBench, MMMU-Pro, RealWorldQA, ScreenSpot Pro). Qwen3.8 Max significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
On price, Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct is roughly 11.0x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct also accepts a larger context window (262,144 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.
Based on current benchmark, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.
Choose Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct
- cost matters — it's about 11.0x cheaper per token
- you process long inputs — it offers a 262,144 token context window
Choose Qwen3.8 Max
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 5 of 5 shared benchmarks
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Aug 2026
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Qwen3.8 Max is better at 5 benchmarks (ERQA, LVBench, MMMU-Pro, RealWorldQA, ScreenSpot Pro).
Qwen3.8 Max significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Playground indexes and blind preference scores
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct ($0.10/1M tokens) is 16.5x cheaper than Qwen3.8 Max ($1.65/1M tokens).
For output processing, Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct ($0.60/1M tokens) is 8.3x cheaper than Qwen3.8 Max ($4.95/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Qwen3.8 Max is more expensive than Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
Qwen3.8 Max has 2396.0B more parameters than Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct, making it 59900.0% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct accepts 262,144 input tokens compared to Qwen3.8 Max's 256,000 tokens. Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct can generate longer responses up to 262,144 tokens, while Qwen3.8 Max is limited to 131,072 tokens.
Input Capabilities
Supported data types and modalities
Both Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct and Qwen3.8 Max support multimodal inputs.
They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.
Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct
Qwen3.8 Max
License
Usage and distribution terms
Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct is licensed under Apache 2.0, 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.
Apache 2.0
Open weights
Qwen3.8-Max License
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct was released on 2025-09-22, while Qwen3.8 Max was released on 2026-08-02.
Qwen3.8 Max is 10 months newer than Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct.
Sep 22, 2025
11 months ago
Aug 2, 2026
3 weeks ago
10mo newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.
Unable to compare the recency of their training data.
Provider Availability
Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct is available from DeepInfra. Qwen3.8 Max is available from DeepInfra, Fireworks, Novita, Together.
Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct
Qwen3.8 Max
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct and Qwen3.8 Max side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Qwen3 VL 4B Instruct vs Qwen3.8 Max.