GPT-5.6 Sol (Low) vs Qwen3.8 Max
Which is better for the money: GPT-5.6 Sol (Low) 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 6.7 points higher (40.2 vs 33.5) but costs 5.0× as much to run the benchmark ($3172 vs $637; flagship vs premium cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick Qwen3.8 Max when you need intelligence above 33.5, and GPT-5.6 Sol (Low) when 33.5 is enough.
| Metric | GPT-5.6 Sol (Low) | Qwen3.8 Max | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 33.5 | 40.2 | +20.0% Qwen3.8 Max is 20.0% more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $637.28 | $3,172.37 | +397.8% Qwen3.8 Max is 5.0× more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 8.26s | 64.42s | +679.9% Qwen3.8 Max is 679.9% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $4.00 / $20.0 | $2.00 / $6.00 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image, Video |
Qwen3.8 Max vs GPT-5.6 Sol (Low): 20.0% more intelligence, 397.8% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 679.9% slower end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- GPT-5.6 Sol (Low) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (High) scores 50.20 for $521.
- Qwen3.8 Max is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, Kimi K3.1 Pro scores 55.10 for $3117.
GPT-5.6 Sol (Low)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-5-6-sol-low/qwen3-8-max-0803 · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/gpt-5-6-sol-low/qwen3-8-max-0803?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill