Qwen3.8 27B vs Qwen3.8 Max

API pricing, context window and capabilities for Qwen3.8 27B and Qwen3.8 Max, side by side. Prices are the cheapest listed serving route per 1M tokens, from LiteLLM and OpenRouter.

Verdict

computed from the published numbers

Qwen3.8 27B wins on price. Qwen3.8 Max wins on Terminal-Bench, on intelligence and on context window.

Price
Qwen3.8 27B
Terminal-Bench
Qwen3.8 Max
Intelligence
Qwen3.8 Max
Context window
Qwen3.8 Max

Key takeaways

who wins on what, from the published numbers

Qwen3.8 27B wins

  • Cheaper input ($0.04 vs $1.65 /1M)
  • Cheaper output ($1.49 vs $4.95 /1M)

Qwen3.8 Max wins

  • Larger context window (262K vs 1M)
  • Higher max output (33K vs 131K)
  • More serving providers (7 vs 10)
  • Has web search
Cheaper overall
Qwen3.8 27B
$0.04 + $1.49 /1M
Larger context
Qwen3.8 Max
1M
More providers
Qwen3.8 Max
10 providers

Pricing & specs

cheapest listed route · per 1M tokens
On-demand listed rates, OpenRouter routed quotes and Vercel reseller quotes. Enterprise commitments can be materially lower. An OpenRouter routed quote is the price of whichever upstream provider OpenRouter prefers today, so it moves day to day.
Qwen3.8 27BQwen3.8 Max
Input $/1M$0.04OpenRouter routed quote best$1.65via DeepInfra
Output $/1M$1.49via Cerebras best$4.95via DeepInfra
Context window262K 1M best
Max output33K 131K best
Serving providers7 10 best
DateReleased Aug 14, 2026 Released Aug 3, 2026

Benchmarks

Benchmark scores, side by side
Qwen3.8 27BQwen3.8 Max
Intelligence33.7 40.1 best
Terminal-Bench80% 81% best
GPQA Diamond91% 93% best
Output speed45 t/s best41 t/s
Latency (TTFT)3.83s 2.57s best

Cost calculator

choose a serving route for each side
Input tokens / month
Output tokens / month
Qwen3.8 27B
via OpenRouter
$2.50
Qwen3.8 Max
via Scx AI
$13

Capabilities

feature support, side by side
FeatureQwen3.8 27BQwen3.8 Max
Vision✓✓
Tool use✓✓
Reasoning✓✓
Audio——
Prompt caching✓✓
Structured output✓✓
Web search—✓

Related comparisons

Frequently asked questions

Which is cheaper, Qwen3.8 27B or Qwen3.8 Max?
Qwen3.8 27B is cheaper for input ($0.04 vs $1.65 per 1M tokens) as an OpenRouter routed quote. Qwen3.8 27B is cheaper for output ($1.49 vs $4.95 per 1M tokens) from Cerebras.
What is the context window difference between Qwen3.8 27B and Qwen3.8 Max?
Qwen3.8 27B has a 262K-token context window and Qwen3.8 Max has 1M tokens, so Qwen3.8 Max can take a larger prompt.
How do Qwen3.8 27B and Qwen3.8 Max compare on benchmarks?
On the tracked benchmarks, Qwen3.8 Max leads on Terminal-Bench, and Qwen3.8 Max leads on intelligence.
Listed prices from LiteLLM, OpenRouter and Vercel · last checked Oct 14, 2026

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