GPT-6 Luna (Medium) vs Qwen3.8 Max
Which is better for the money: GPT-6 Luna (Medium) by OpenAI or Qwen3.8 Max by Alibaba? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-10-24.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
Qwen3.8 Max scores 10.3 points higher (40.2 vs 29.9) but costs 102× as much to run the benchmark ($3172 vs $31.2; flagship vs budget cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick Qwen3.8 Max when you need intelligence above 29.9, and GPT-6 Luna (Medium) when 29.9 is enough.
| Metric | GPT-6 Luna (Medium) | Qwen3.8 Max | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 29.9 | 40.2 | +34.4% Qwen3.8 Max is 34.4% more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $31.17 | $3,172.37 | +10077.6% Qwen3.8 Max is 102× more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 8.25s | 62.83s | +661.6% Qwen3.8 Max is 661.6% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.10 / $0.50 | $2.00 / $6.00 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image, Video |
Qwen3.8 Max vs GPT-6 Luna (Medium): 34.4% more intelligence, 10077.6% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 661.6% slower end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- GPT-6 Luna (Medium) is on today's frontier: nothing is both smarter and cheaper.
- Qwen3.8 Max is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, Kimi K3.1 Pro scores 55.10 for $3117.
GPT-6 Luna (Medium)Qwen3.8 MaxToday's Pareto frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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