GPT-5.4 mini (Xhigh) vs Qwen3.8 Max (0902)
Which is better for the money: GPT-5.4 mini (Xhigh) by OpenAI or Qwen3.8 Max (0902) by Alibaba? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-10-25.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
Qwen3.8 Max (0902) scores 21.3 points higher (45.4 vs 24.1) but costs 3.2× as much to run the benchmark ($4935 vs $1524; flagship vs premium cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick Qwen3.8 Max (0902) when you need intelligence above 24.1, and GPT-5.4 mini (Xhigh) when 24.1 is enough.
| Metric | GPT-5.4 mini (Xhigh) | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 24.1 | 45.4 | +88.4% Qwen3.8 Max (0902) is 88.4% more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $1,524.02 | $4,934.79 | +223.8% Qwen3.8 Max (0902) is 3.2× more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 109.06s | 64.02s | −41.3% Qwen3.8 Max (0902) is 41.3% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.75 / $4.50 | $2.00 / $6.00 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
Qwen3.8 Max (0902) vs GPT-5.4 mini (Xhigh): 88.4% more intelligence, 223.8% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 41.3% faster end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- GPT-5.4 mini (Xhigh) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) scores 51.80 for $1082.
- Qwen3.8 Max (0902) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, Claude Opus 5.5 (Xhigh, Default Fallback) scores 56.00 for $4057.
GPT-5.4 mini (Xhigh)Qwen3.8 Max (0902)Today's Pareto frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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