Qwen3.8-27B vs Qwen3.8 Max
Qwen3.8 Max leads the LLM Stats Score 52.0 to 45.1. Qwen3.8-27B is 2.4x cheaper per token.
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Qwen3.8 Max leads the overall LLM Stats Score 52.0 to 45.1, ranking #11 overall.
In the 16 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Qwen3.8 Max wins 16; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
On price, Qwen3.8-27B is roughly 2.4x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Qwen3.8-27B also accepts a larger context window (262,144 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 Qwen3.8-27B
- cost matters — it's about 2.4x cheaper per token
- you process long inputs — it offers a 262,144 token context window
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Aug 2026
Choose Qwen3.8 Max
- overall performance matters — it scores 52.0 and ranks #11 on LLM Stats
- your work emphasizes reasoning and coding — it leads those capability indexes
- you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 16 of 16 exact shared results
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Capability indexes
Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks
Individual benchmarks
26 reported for Qwen3.8-27B · 42 for Qwen3.8 Max
Qwen3.8-27B outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Qwen3.8 Max is better at 16 benchmarks (Agents' Last Exam, AndroidWorld, CoWorkBench, DeepSWE 1.1, ERQA, GPQA, Humanity's Last Exam, IFBench, Job Bench, NL2Repo, OSWorld-Verified, QwenSWEBench, RealWorldQA, SWE-Bench Pro, Terminal-Bench 2.1, Vision2Web).
Qwen3.8 Max significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Human preference
Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Qwen3.8-27B ($0.40/1M tokens) is 4.1x cheaper than Qwen3.8 Max ($1.65/1M tokens).
For output processing, Qwen3.8-27B ($3.00/1M tokens) is 1.7x cheaper than Qwen3.8 Max ($4.95/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Qwen3.8 Max is more expensive than Qwen3.8-27B.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
Qwen3.8 Max has 2372.2B more parameters than Qwen3.8-27B, making it 8538.9% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Qwen3.8-27B accepts 262,144 input tokens compared to Qwen3.8 Max's 256,000 tokens. Qwen3.8-27B can generate longer responses up to 262,144 tokens, while Qwen3.8 Max is limited to 256,000 tokens.
Input capabilities
Documented input modalities across available providers
Both Qwen3.8-27B and Qwen3.8 Max support multimodal inputs.
They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.
Qwen3.8-27B
Qwen3.8 Max
License
Usage and distribution terms
Qwen3.8-27B 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
Qwen3.8-27B was released on 2026-08-14, while Qwen3.8 Max was released on 2026-08-02.
Qwen3.8-27B is 0 month newer than Qwen3.8 Max.
Aug 14, 2026
1 months ago
1w newerAug 2, 2026
1 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
Qwen3.8-27B is available from DeepInfra, FriendliAI. Qwen3.8 Max is available from DeepInfra, Fireworks, Novita, Together.
Qwen3.8-27B
Qwen3.8 Max
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Qwen3.8-27B and Qwen3.8 Max side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Qwen3.8-27B vs Qwen3.8 Max.