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Qwen 3.8 Max vs Claude Opus 4.8
Of the 3 public leaderboards that rate both, Qwen 3.8 Max scores higher on 1 and Claude Opus 4.8 on 2. On the ArtificialWatch Index, which takes the median of each model's percentile across the boards that score it, Qwen 3.8 Max is at 50.5 and Claude Opus 4.8 at 30.6 (out of 100). On each maker's API, Qwen 3.8 Max costs $2 / $6 per 1M tokens (input / output) and Claude Opus 4.8 $5 / $25.
Scores as published by each board; table composed November 10, 2026.
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Leaderboard by leaderboard
| Board | Qwen 3.8 Max | Claude Opus 4.8 | Higher |
|---|---|---|---|
| LMArena Elo (community votes) | 1,676.7 | 1,555.4 | Qwen 3.8 Max |
| SimpleBench AVG@5 % (private set) | 62.5 | 64.8 | Claude Opus 4.8 |
| Epoch AI Epoch Capabilities Index (ECI) · many benchmarks on one scale | 157.5 | 159.9 | Claude Opus 4.8 |
Raw scores are each board's own scale, so compare within a row, not across rows. Full table: the bench index.
For coding
On the ArtificialWatch coding index, Qwen 3.8 Max is at 36.7 (#31 of 47) and Claude Opus 4.8 at 52.4 (#19). Qwen 3.8 Max scores higher on 1 of the 2 coding boards that rate both and Claude Opus 4.8 on 1.
| Coding board | Qwen 3.8 Max | Claude Opus 4.8 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena · Coding | 1,502.6 | 1,490.7 |
| Vals Vibe Code Bench | 77.1 | 82.7 |
Qwen 3.8 Max at a glance
- Developer
- Alibaba
- Status
- Live since August 1, 2026
- API price
- $2 input / $6 output per 1M tokens · Alibaba, qwen3.8-max
- Context window
- 1M tokens
Live - flagship since Aug 1 · 2.4T tier listed Aug 12.
Qwen3.8-Max quietly lost its preview label — Alibaba is now serving it as the flagship
2026-08-03 · Alibaba is serving Qwen3.8-Max on chat.qwen.ai under the plain id `qwen3.8-max`. The preview suffix is gone.
Claude Opus 4.8 at a glance
- Developer
- Anthropic
- Status
- Live since May 27, 2026
- API price
- $5 input / $25 output per 1M tokens · Anthropic, claude-opus-4-8
- Context window
- 1M tokens
Live.
Qwen 3.8 Max vs Claude Opus 4.8: quick answers
Which is better, Qwen 3.8 Max or Claude Opus 4.8?
It depends on what you measure. Of the 3 public leaderboards that rate both, Qwen 3.8 Max scores higher on 1 and Claude Opus 4.8 on 2. Qwen 3.8 Max's widest lead is on LMArena; Claude Opus 4.8's widest lead is on Epoch AI. On the ArtificialWatch Index, which takes the median of each model's percentile across the boards that score it, Qwen 3.8 Max is at 50.5 and Claude Opus 4.8 at 30.6 (out of 100).
Which is newer, Qwen 3.8 Max or Claude Opus 4.8?
Qwen 3.8 Max. It went live on August 1, 2026, 66 days after Claude Opus 4.8 (May 27, 2026).
Which is cheaper, Qwen 3.8 Max or Claude Opus 4.8?
Qwen 3.8 Max is cheaper on both input and output. On each vendor's own API, Qwen 3.8 Max is $2 input / $6 output per million tokens and Claude Opus 4.8 is $5 input / $25 output per million tokens. Prices as published in the models.dev catalog, as of 2026-11-10.
Which has the bigger context window, Qwen 3.8 Max or Claude Opus 4.8?
Neither. Both take 1M tokens.
How do Qwen 3.8 Max and Claude Opus 4.8 compare for coding?
On the ArtificialWatch coding index, Qwen 3.8 Max is at 36.7 (#31 of 47) and Claude Opus 4.8 at 52.4 (#19). Qwen 3.8 Max scores higher on 1 of the 2 coding boards that rate both and Claude Opus 4.8 on 1.
Who makes Qwen 3.8 Max and Claude Opus 4.8?
Qwen 3.8 Max is from Alibaba; Claude Opus 4.8 is from Anthropic.
Where do these numbers come from?
Each score is the leaderboard's own published figure, read by ArtificialWatch (table composed November 10, 2026). Boards measure different things, so raw scores are only comparable within a row.
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Also: the bench index · API pricing · what a workload costs on each · the wire