GPT-5.5 (Medium) vs Qwen3.8 Max
Which is better for the money: GPT-5.5 (Medium) by OpenAI or Qwen3.8 Max by Alibaba? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-10-25.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
Qwen3.8 Max scores 6.4 points higher (40.2 vs 33.8) but costs 1.5× as much to run the benchmark ($3172 vs $2095; both flagship class). Pick Qwen3.8 Max when the extra intelligence is worth the premium, otherwise GPT-5.5 (Medium).
| Metric | GPT-5.5 (Medium) | Qwen3.8 Max | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 33.8 | 40.2 | +18.9% Qwen3.8 Max is 18.9% more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $2,095.12 | $3,172.37 | +51.4% Qwen3.8 Max is 51.4% more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 12.63s | 64.17s | +408.1% Qwen3.8 Max is 408.1% 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 (Medium): 18.9% more intelligence, 51.4% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 408.1% slower end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- GPT-5.5 (Medium) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) scores 51.80 for $1082.
- 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 (Medium)Qwen3.8 MaxToday's Pareto frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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