GPT-5.5 Instant (June 2026) vs Qwen3.8 Max
Which is better for the money: GPT-5.5 Instant (June 2026) by OpenAI or Qwen3.8 Max by Alibaba? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-10-27.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
Qwen3.8 Max scores 14.2 points higher (40.2 vs 26.0) but costs 3.2× as much to run the benchmark ($3172 vs $987; flagship vs premium cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick Qwen3.8 Max when you need intelligence above 26.0, and GPT-5.5 Instant (June 2026) when 26.0 is enough.
| Metric | GPT-5.5 Instant (June 2026) | Qwen3.8 Max | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 26.0 | 40.2 | +54.6% Qwen3.8 Max is 54.6% more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $986.85 | $3,172.37 | +221.5% Qwen3.8 Max is 3.2× more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 16.18s | 62.08s | +283.7% Qwen3.8 Max is 283.7% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $5.00 / $30.0 | $2.00 / $6.00 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image, Video |
Qwen3.8 Max vs GPT-5.5 Instant (June 2026): 54.6% more intelligence, 221.5% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 283.7% slower end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- GPT-5.5 Instant (June 2026) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Xhigh) scores 51.00 for $662.
- Qwen3.8 Max is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, Kimi K3.1 Pro scores 55.10 for $3117.
GPT-5.5 Instant (June 2026)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-5-5-instant-06-26/qwen3-8-max-0803 · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/gpt-5-5-instant-06-26/qwen3-8-max-0803?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill