Monday, October 26, 2026 · Edition updated 6:00 AM ETMON, OCT 26 editionNext edition in Next in --:--:--
Intelligence Verdict
Compare AI models

GPT-6.1 Sol vs Qwen3.8-Max

OpenAI's GPT-6.1 Sol and Alibaba (Qwen)'s Qwen3.8-Max, side by side: what each costs, how much it can read at once, whether you can run it yourself, and where independent tests place it.

  • Qwen3.8-Maxcheaper per output token
  • 1Mcontext window, GPT-6.1 Sol
  • 3–1higher placings on boards ranking both
In short

How they differ.

Worked out from the figures below. Prices and specs are the makers' own, read Oct 20, 2026.

  • Qwen3.8-Max is cheaper per output token: $6 against $10 per million tokens, so GPT-6.1 Sol costs 1.7 times as much.
  • GPT-6.1 Sol reads more at once: a context window of 1M tokens against 1M.
  • On the 4 independent boards that rank both, GPT-6.1 Sol places higher on 3 and Qwen3.8-Max on 1.
Side by side

The specs.

GPT-6.1 SolQwen3.8-Max
Made byOpenAI · USAlibaba (Qwen) · China
ReleasedSep 29, 2026Sep 2, 2026
Price per 1M tokens$2 in / $10 out$2 in / $6 out
Context window1M1M
Takes intext, imagetext, image, video
Download and run it yourselfNoNo
SizeNot published2.4T (MoE) parameters, 95B active
Maker says“Near-Astra performance for complex work at a lower cost.”“A 2.4-trillion-parameter MoE flagship with a major leap in coding and office productivity”
SourcesPrices, Oct 20, 2026 · DescriptionPrices, Oct 11, 2026 · Description
Independent tests

Where they place.

Position on each board we follow (1 is best). Epoch AI's and Vectara's scores are shown; the other boards are linked for their own figures.

BoardGPT-6.1 SolQwen3.8-Max
Epoch Capabilities IndexEpoch AI, Oct 20, 2026#3166.32#20156.88
LMArena creative writingLMArena, Oct 15, 2026Not listed#19
LMArena coding chatsLMArena, Oct 15, 2026#10Not listed
LMArena WebDevLMArena, Oct 19, 2026#4#11
LMArena mathLMArena, Oct 15, 2026Not listed#18
LMArena visionLMArena, Oct 19, 2026#9#2
LMArena Agent ArenaLMArena, Oct 19, 2026#4Not listed
SWE-Bench ProScale AI, Sep 22, 2026#7Not listed
MultiChallengeScale AI, Feb 3, 2026#1Not listed
Vals IndexVals AI, Oct 19, 2026#7Not listed
Terminal-Bench 4.0Vals AI, Oct 19, 2026#7#16
Vibe Code BenchVals AI, Oct 18, 2026#8Not listed
ProofBenchVals AI, Oct 12, 2026#5Not listed
GPQA Diamond (run by Vals AI, archived)Vals AI, Sep 1, 2026Not listed#6
MMMU Pro (run by Vals AI, archived)Vals AI, Sep 1, 2026Not listed#12