GPT-5.6 Terra (Max) vs Qwen3.8-Flash-Next
Which is better for the money: GPT-5.6 Terra (Max) by OpenAI or Qwen3.8-Flash-Next 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
GPT-5.6 Terra (Max) scores 2.3 points higher (42.1 vs 39.8) but costs 6.9× as much to run the benchmark ($2501 vs $363; flagship vs mid-range cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick GPT-5.6 Terra (Max) when you need intelligence above 39.8, and Qwen3.8-Flash-Next when 39.8 is enough.
| Metric | GPT-5.6 Terra (Max) | Qwen3.8-Flash-Next | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 42.1 | 39.8 | −5.5% Qwen3.8-Flash-Next is 5.5% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $2,500.72 | $362.72 | −85.5% Qwen3.8-Flash-Next is 85.5% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 113.99s | 50.19s | −56.0% Qwen3.8-Flash-Next is 56.0% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $2.00 / $12.0 | $0.15 / $0.47 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image, Video |
Qwen3.8-Flash-Next vs GPT-5.6 Terra (Max): 5.5% less intelligence, 85.5% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 56.0% faster end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- GPT-5.6 Terra (Max) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, Claude Opus 5.5 (High, Default Fallback) scores 53.60 for $2172.
- Qwen3.8-Flash-Next is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Medium) scores 47.80 for $361.
GPT-5.6 Terra (Max)Qwen3.8-Flash-NextToday's Pareto frontierOpen-weights frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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