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Qwen3.5 397B A17B vs Qwen3.8 Max Preview

Alibaba · released

Wins 0 of 8 areas

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Alibaba · released

Wins 8 of 8 areas

Coding · Agents · Reasoning · Facts · Images and charts · Math · Long documents · Following instructions

Qwen3.8 Max Preview is the stronger all-rounder.Qwen3.5 397B A17B is cheaper.

Both rank among the ten best models we track in following instructions.

Scores updated · 33 tests both models report · How we compare

Where each one wins

Tests won in each of the eight areas we test. Each piece is one test, so a longer bar means more evidence; grey means the two scored within a point of each other.

Math and following instructions rest on a single test each.

What it costs

Prices per million tokens, roughly 750,000 words. The bars show the cost of a million tokens read plus a million written.

Qwen3.5 397B A17B$0.60 to read · $3.60 to write$4.20Price from Artificial Analysis
Qwen3.8 Max Preview$2.00 to read · $6.00 to write$8.00Price from Artificial Analysis

Qwen3.5 397B A17B costs 48% less for the same work.

The biggest differences

The tests each model wins by the widest margin, up to three each. Scores are out of 100.

Where Qwen3.8 Max Preview pulls ahead

  • Avoids making up answers it doesn't knowAA-Omniscience · Non-hallucination+60.1points aheadQwen3.8 Max Preview71.2Qwen3.5 397B A17B11.1
  • Real work tasks from 44 professionsGDPVal+43.7points aheadQwen3.8 Max Preview58.3Qwen3.5 397B A17B14.6
  • Unpublished advanced math problemsFrontierMath Tiers 1-3 (v2)+43.5points aheadQwen3.8 Max Preview74.7Qwen3.5 397B A17B31.2

Where Qwen3.5 397B A17B pulls ahead

No clear win on a test scored out of 100.

Every test, side by side

All 33 tests both models report. The winning score is in its model's colour; marks a score checked independently.

CodingQwen3.8 Max Preview

Full coding ranking

AgentsQwen3.8 Max Preview

Full agents ranking

ReasoningQwen3.8 Max Preview

Full reasoning ranking

FactsQwen3.8 Max Preview

Full facts ranking

Images and chartsQwen3.8 Max Preview

Full images and charts ranking

MathQwen3.8 Max Preview

Full math ranking

Long documentsQwen3.8 Max Preview
  • LongBench v2Qwen3.8 Max Preview by 3.163.266.3+3.1
  • AA-LCRQwen3.8 Max Preview by 377.380.3+3

Full long documents ranking

Following instructionsQwen3.8 Max Preview
  • IFBenchQwen3.8 Max Preview by 478.882.8+4

Full following instructions ranking

Other results12 tests, not counted

Tests outside the eight areas. They are not counted above: several are summary scores built from other tests, or the same test under another name.

Questions people ask

Which is better, Qwen3.5 397B A17B or Qwen3.8 Max Preview?

Qwen3.8 Max Preview wins all eight areas we test: coding, agents, reasoning, facts, images and charts, math, long documents and following instructions. Qwen3.5 397B A17B wins none, but costs 48% less.

Which is better for coding?

Qwen3.8 Max Preview. It wins 4 of the 4 coding tests both models report; Qwen3.5 397B A17B wins none.

Which is cheaper?

Qwen3.5 397B A17B costs $0.60 per million input tokens and $3.60 per million output tokens; Qwen3.8 Max Preview costs $2.00 and $6.00. That makes Qwen3.5 397B A17B about 48% cheaper for the same work.

How do you compare the two?

We use the 33 benchmark tests both models have published scores on. The verdict counts the 21 tests in the eight capability areas, and a gap under one point (ten on rating-style scales) counts as a tie. The other 12 are listed but not counted, because several are summary scores or repeat a test. Each score is the one shown on the model's own page.

Compare Qwen3.5 397B A17B with

Alibaba

Across the field

Compare Qwen3.8 Max Preview with

Alibaba

Across the field

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