GPT-5.4 nano (Xhigh) vs Qwen3.8 Max
Which is better for the money: GPT-5.4 nano (Xhigh) by OpenAI or Qwen3.8 Max by Alibaba? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-10-26.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
Qwen3.8 Max scores 19.5 points higher (40.2 vs 20.7) but costs 9.6× as much to run the benchmark ($3172 vs $331; flagship vs mid-range cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick Qwen3.8 Max when you need intelligence above 20.7, and GPT-5.4 nano (Xhigh) when 20.7 is enough.
| Metric | GPT-5.4 nano (Xhigh) | Qwen3.8 Max | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 20.7 | 40.2 | +94.2% Qwen3.8 Max is 94.2% more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $331.24 | $3,172.37 | +857.7% Qwen3.8 Max is 9.6× more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 93.46s | 64.37s | −31.1% Qwen3.8 Max is 31.1% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.20 / $1.25 | $2.00 / $6.00 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image, Video |
Qwen3.8 Max vs GPT-5.4 nano (Xhigh): 94.2% more intelligence, 857.7% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 31.1% faster end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- GPT-5.4 nano (Xhigh) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, MiMo-V2.6-Pro scores 46.30 for $207.
- Qwen3.8 Max is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, Kimi K3.1 Pro scores 55.10 for $3117.
GPT-5.4 nano (Xhigh)Qwen3.8 MaxToday's Pareto frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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Accept: text/markdown or ?format=md returns this page as Markdown. JSON: /api/v1/compare/gpt-5-4-nano/qwen3-8-max-0803 · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/gpt-5-4-nano/qwen3-8-max-0803?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill