text model comparison
Claude Sonnet 5.5 vs Qwen3.8-Max
Claude Sonnet 5.5 and Qwen3.8-Max are both current text models, from Anthropic and Alibaba Qwen. Both cost $2 per 1M input tokens. On Arena Text, Claude Sonnet 5.5 scores 1476 Elo and Qwen3.8-Max 1483 Elo (Arena, measured October 8, 2026). Both accept 1,000,000 tokens of context.
Data verified October 12, 2026 · Dataset 2026-10-12
Side by side
Standard-tier prices in effect today. The better value in each row is highlighted.
| Fact | Claude Sonnet 5.5 | Qwen3.8-Max |
|---|---|---|
| Price per 1M input tokens | $2 | $2 |
| Price per 1M output tokens | $10 | $6 (better) |
| Cost of 10M input and 2M output tokens | $40 | $32 (better) |
| Arena Text | 1476 Elo (#17 of 39) | 1483 Elo (#12 of 39) (better) |
| GPQA Diamond | 95.6% (#2 of 37) (better) | 92.7% (#17 of 37) |
| FrontierMath Tiers 1-3 (v2) | 88.8% (#7 of 37) (better) | 74.7% (#17 of 37) |
| SimpleQA Verified | 46.5% (#21 of 34) (better) | 45.8% (#22 of 34) |
| Provider | Anthropic | Alibaba Qwen |
| Release date | September 28, 2026 | August 3, 2026 |
| Access | API only | API only |
| Context window | 1,000,000 tokens | 1,000,000 tokens |
| Max output | 128,000 tokens | 131,072 tokens |
| Input | text, image | text, image, video |
| Output | text | text |
When to choose each
Claude Sonnet 5.5
Best for
- Production workloads that need frontier-adjacent quality at a mid-tier rate
- Latency-sensitive agent steps inside a larger pipeline
Watch out for
- Same list price as Claude Sonnet 5, so the gain is capability and cache economics rather than a cheaper rate card
- Anthropic positions Opus 5.5 rather than this as the default, so reach for Sonnet 5.5 when latency matters more than peak capability
Qwen3.8-Max
Best for
- Output-heavy generation workloads where the $6 per million output rate is the deciding factor
- Agentic and coding evaluations that need a 1M-token window at mid-tier cost
Watch out for
- Two releases share the name: the original 3 August 2026 model and the 0902 refresh. The rates and limits here are read from the 0902 listing
- Reported benchmark placements come from Alibaba and from public arena boards rather than a common pinned snapshot, so they are not comparable with the LiveBench results in this dataset
Claude Sonnet 5.5 vs Qwen3.8-Max FAQ
Which is cheaper, Claude Sonnet 5.5 or Qwen3.8-Max?
Both cost $2 per 1M input tokens. For 10M input and 2M output tokens, Claude Sonnet 5.5 costs $40 and Qwen3.8-Max $32 at standard rates.
Which scores higher on independent benchmarks, Claude Sonnet 5.5 or Qwen3.8-Max?
Qwen3.8-Max leads on Arena Text, 1483 Elo to 1476 Elo; Claude Sonnet 5.5 leads on GPQA Diamond, 95.6% to 92.7%; Claude Sonnet 5.5 leads on FrontierMath Tiers 1-3 (v2), 88.8% to 74.7%. Scores are independent evaluations, not either vendor's launch figures.
Which has the larger context window, Claude Sonnet 5.5 or Qwen3.8-Max?
Both accept 1,000,000 tokens of context.
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- Claude Sonnet 5 vs Claude Sonnet 5.5
Production evaluation
Choosing between Claude Sonnet 5.5 and Qwen3.8-Max?
Public benchmarks narrow the shortlist. We run both on your own tasks, data and cost limits, then build the routing and review controls to run the winner in production.
- A head-to-head evaluation on your real workload
- Routing between models by cost and difficulty