Qwen3.6 Plus vs Qwen3.8 Max (0902)
Qwen3.8 Max (0902) leads Qwen3.6 Plus on coding, 62.4 to 44.1 on the Vibe Coding Index, and Qwen3.6 Plus costs 3.1x less per output token ($1.95 vs $6.00 per million). Updated October 22, 2026; 74 benchmarks have a result for both.
Qwen3.6 Plus or Qwen3.8 Max (0902): which to pick
Pick Qwen3.8 Max (0902) for coding: it scores 62.4 on the Vibe Coding Index against 44.1 for Qwen3.6 Plus.
Pick Qwen3.6 Plus for output tokens 3.1x cheaper ($1.95 vs $6.00 per million) and a lower cost per solved task ($1.19 against $1.32).
- Shared results
- 74
- Qwen3.6 Plus only
- 9
- Qwen3.8 Max (0902) only
- 39
- Like-for-like categories
- 8 of 9
Only benchmarks that tested both models count toward a pick; a result only one model has is shown but not compared.
Which one for your work
Each card is decided by one number both models carry. Where only one has it, the card says so and makes no call.
Coding
Vibe Coding Index, six public coding benchmarks
Qwen3.8 Max (0902)
Qwen3.8 Max (0902) scores 62.4 against 44.1.
3 and 5 benchmarks behind the scores
Intelligence
AA Intelligence Index
Qwen3.8 Max (0902)
Qwen3.8 Max (0902) leads, 45.4 against 27.0.
Same board, both measured
Agentic work
AA Agentic Index
No call
Only Qwen3.8 Max (0902) has a AA Agentic Index result, 56.0.
Directional only
Reasoning
GPQA Diamond
Qwen3.8 Max (0902)
Qwen3.8 Max (0902) leads, 93.7% against 87.4%.
Same board, both measured
Math
AIME
No call
Only Qwen3.6 Plus has a AIME result, 94.6%.
Directional only
Knowledge
MMLU Pro
Qwen3.8 Max (0902)
Qwen3.8 Max (0902) leads, 88.6% against 87.7%.
Same board, both measured
Web design
Design Arena: websites
Qwen3.8 Max (0902)
Qwen3.8 Max (0902) leads, 1275 against 1243.
Same board, both measured
Long documents
Listed context window
No call
Both take 1M tokens.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
Qwen3.6 Plus
Qwen3.6 Plus $0.0013, Qwen3.8 Max (0902) $0.0050 per turn.
List prices
Cost per solved task
One SWE-bench Verified task, solved
Qwen3.6 Plus
Qwen3.6 Plus $1.19, Qwen3.8 Max (0902) $1.32.
Published attempt cost and pass rate
At a glance
- Coding index
- Qwen3.6 Plus 44.1 from 3 benchmarks, Qwen3.8 Max (0902) 62.4 from 5 benchmarks.
- Widest category
- Agentic work, 23.5 points apart on average over 4 shared benchmarks.
- Widest single gap
- Vibe Code Bench (Vals AI): Qwen3.6 Plus 25.6% against Qwen3.8 Max (0902) 64.7%, 39.1 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
- Output price
- Qwen3.6 Plus $1.95 against Qwen3.8 Max (0902) $6.00 per million output tokens, 3.1x apart.
- Context window
- Both take 1M tokens.
Benchmark by benchmark
First the score: boards each model leads, per category, where both have a result. Then every board, a category to a fold; bars are each result on a 0 to 100 scale, so compare the two in a row, not one row with another.
| Category | Qwen3.6 Plus | Bars | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coding | 0 | 12 | 1 tie | |
| Intelligence | 0 | 2 | ||
| Agentic work | 0 | 4 | ||
| Reasoning | 0 | 10 | ||
| Math | 0 | 4 | ||
| Knowledge | 2 | 9 | ||
| Web design | 0 | 7 | ||
| General | 0 | 23 | ||
| All shared boards | 2 | 71 | 1 tie |
CodingLike-for-likeSix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index012
| Benchmark | Qwen3.6 Plus | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LiveBench coding | Not measured | 60.3% | Only Qwen3.8 Max (0902) measured |
| LMArena WebDev | 1461 | 1674 | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| AA Coding Index | 54.5 | 76.2 | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| LiveCodeBench (Vals AI) | 86.0% | 87.8% | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| SWE-bench Verified (Vals AI) | 73.4% | 85.6% | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| Terminal-Bench 4 (Vals AI) | Not measured | 34.3% | Only Qwen3.8 Max (0902) measured |
| Vibe Code Bench (Vals AI) | 25.6% | 64.7% | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| Code migration (Vals AI) | 11.1% | 24.0% | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| ProgramBench (Vals AI) | 0.0% | 0.0% | Tie |
| IOI (Vals AI) | Not measured | 68.9% | Only Qwen3.8 Max (0902) measured |
| Terminal-Bench 2.1 (Vals AI) | 53.2% | 67.4% | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| SWE-bench Multimodal (Vals AI) | Not measured | 42.5% | Only Qwen3.8 Max (0902) measured |
| Vibe Code Bench 1-100 (Vals AI) | Not measured | 12.8% | Only Qwen3.8 Max (0902) measured |
| SkillsBench (Vals AI) | Not measured | 42.0% | Only Qwen3.8 Max (0902) measured |
| CyberBench (Vals AI) | Not measured | 28.6% | Only Qwen3.8 Max (0902) measured |
| SciCode | Not measured | 53.2% | Only Qwen3.8 Max (0902) measured |
| Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run) | 43.9% | Not measured | Only Qwen3.6 Plus measured |
| FrontierSWE | Not measured | 17.8% | Only Qwen3.8 Max (0902) measured |
| ALE-Bench | 670.1 | Not measured | Only Qwen3.6 Plus measured |
| LMArena Text: coding | 1467 | 1502 | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| LMArena Text: software and IT | 1462 | 1498 | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| LMArena WebDev: React | 1454 | 1692 | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| LMArena WebDev: HTML | 1463 | 1649 | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| LMArena WebDev: from an image | 1472 | 1637 | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| Neither model has a result on the other 15 boards here | |||
IntelligenceLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index02
| Benchmark | Qwen3.6 Plus | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | 27.0 | 45.4 | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 147.3 | 157.4 | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
Agentic workLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index04
| Benchmark | Qwen3.6 Plus | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Agentic Index | Not measured | 56.0 | Only Qwen3.8 Max (0902) measured |
| Design Arena: agents building web apps | Not measured | 1300 | Only Qwen3.8 Max (0902) measured |
| Design Arena: agents building full-stack apps | Not measured | 1305 | Only Qwen3.8 Max (0902) measured |
| Design Arena: agents building mobile apps | Not measured | 1224 | Only Qwen3.8 Max (0902) measured |
| Design Arena: agents building Android apps | Not measured | 1196 | Only Qwen3.8 Max (0902) measured |
| Design Arena: agents building Godot games | Not measured | 1234 | Only Qwen3.8 Max (0902) measured |
| Design Arena: PowerPoint slides | Not measured | 1233 | Only Qwen3.8 Max (0902) measured |
| Design Arena: spreadsheets | Not measured | 967 | Only Qwen3.8 Max (0902) measured |
| LiveBench research | Not measured | 69.9% | Only Qwen3.8 Max (0902) measured |
| LiveBench browser | Not measured | 32.0% | Only Qwen3.8 Max (0902) measured |
| LiveBench long agentic | Not measured | 42.3% | Only Qwen3.8 Max (0902) measured |
| Finance Agent (Vals AI) | 40.9% | 50.6% | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| Tax Agent Bench (Vals AI) | 7.7% | 32.1% | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| Legal Research Bench (Vals AI) | 14.9% | 47.6% | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| Excel Modeling Benchmark (Vals AI) | 32.9% | 60.1% | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| Terminal-Bench-Science (Vals AI) | Not measured | 12.9% | Only Qwen3.8 Max (0902) measured |
| τ²-Bench Telecom | 97.7% | Not measured | Only Qwen3.6 Plus measured |
| APEX-Agents | Not measured | 63.3% | Only Qwen3.8 Max (0902) measured |
| Vending-Bench 2 | $5,115 | Not measured | Only Qwen3.6 Plus measured |
| LMArena Search | Not measured | 1261 | Only Qwen3.8 Max (0902) measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 21 boards here | |||
ReasoningLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index010
| Benchmark | Qwen3.6 Plus | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond | 87.4% | 93.7% | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| LiveBench reasoning | Not measured | 88.2% | Only Qwen3.8 Max (0902) measured |
| MysteryMechanism (Vals AI) | Not measured | 23.9% | Only Qwen3.8 Max (0902) measured |
| MMMU Pro (Vals AI) | 84.2% | 88.0% | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | 88.2% | 92.8% | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | 27.8% | 43.1% | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| GPQA Diamond (Epoch AI run) | 88.4% | 92.7% | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| Chess puzzles | 14.0% | 46.0% | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| Mystery game puzzles | 12.0% | 38.0% | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts | 1448 | 1496 | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| LMArena Text: expert | 1454 | 1507 | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts in English | 1455 | 1503 | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| LMArena Vision: diagrams | Not measured | 1323 | Only Qwen3.8 Max (0902) measured |
| LMArena Vision: homework | Not measured | 1336 | Only Qwen3.8 Max (0902) measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 8 boards here | |||
MathLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index04
| Benchmark | Qwen3.6 Plus | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AIME | 94.6% | Not measured | Only Qwen3.6 Plus measured |
| OTIS Mock AIME | 93.3% | 100.0% | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| FrontierMath, tiers 1 to 3 | 38.2% | 74.7% | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| FrontierMath, tier 4 | Not measured | 46.3% | Only Qwen3.8 Max (0902) measured |
| ProofBench | Not measured | 58.0% | Only Qwen3.8 Max (0902) measured |
| LMArena Text: math | 1449 | 1501 | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| LMArena Text: mathematical work | 1448 | 1491 | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| Neither model has a result on the other 6 boards here | |||
KnowledgeLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index29
| Benchmark | Qwen3.6 Plus | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| MMLU Pro | 87.7% | 88.6% | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| LegalBench (Vals AI) | 84.2% | 83.6% | Qwen3.6 Plus |
| CaseLaw (Vals AI) | 51.5% | Not measured | Only Qwen3.6 Plus measured |
| CorpFin (Vals AI) | 61.9% | 65.8% | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| TaxEval (Vals AI) | 74.7% | 75.5% | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| MortgageTax (Vals AI) | 68.0% | 64.0% | Qwen3.6 Plus |
| MedCode (Vals AI) | 36.9% | 40.7% | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| SimpleQA Verified | 44.1% | 47.3% | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| LMArena Text: science | 1439 | 1512 | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| LMArena Text: medicine and healthcare | 1442 | 1503 | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| LMArena Text: legal and government | 1437 | 1492 | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| LMArena Text: business and finance | 1430 | 1480 | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| Neither model has a result on the other 6 boards here | |||
Web designLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index07
| Benchmark | Qwen3.6 Plus | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design Arena: websites | 1243 | 1275 | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| Design Arena: UI components | 1230 | 1338 | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| Design Arena: game dev | 1211 | 1312 | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| Design Arena: data viz | 1228 | 1281 | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| Design Arena: 3D | 1202 | 1336 | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| Design Arena: all code categories | 1236 | 1293 | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| Design Arena: SVG | 1161 | Not measured | Only Qwen3.6 Plus measured |
| Design Arena: ASCII art | 1113 | 1200 | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| LiveBench design | Not measured | 78.6% | Only Qwen3.8 Max (0902) measured |
GeneralLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index023
| Benchmark | Qwen3.6 Plus | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LiveBench data analysis | Not measured | 78.4% | Only Qwen3.8 Max (0902) measured |
| Public Benefits Bench (Vals AI) | Not measured | 67.1% | Only Qwen3.8 Max (0902) measured |
| SAGE (Vals AI) | 44.9% | 51.2% | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| MedScribe (Vals AI) | 77.0% | 85.0% | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| Vals Multimodal Index | 51.5% | 65.4% | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| IFBench | 75.2% | Not measured | Only Qwen3.6 Plus measured |
| Long context reasoning (AA-LCR) | 78.3% | 80.3% | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| DTBench | 81.9% | 92.0% | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| LMCA | 33.1% | 46.2% | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| CL-bench | 20.3% | Not measured | Only Qwen3.6 Plus measured |
| Furniture assembly | Not measured | 20.0% | Only Qwen3.8 Max (0902) measured |
| LMArena Text | 1436 | 1483 | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| LMArena Text: instruction following | 1424 | 1481 | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| LMArena Text: creative writing | 1404 | 1477 | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| LMArena Vision | Not measured | 1313 | Only Qwen3.8 Max (0902) measured |
| LMArena Text: English | 1445 | 1491 | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| LMArena Text: non-English | 1424 | 1473 | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| LMArena Text: Chinese | 1477 | 1539 | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| LMArena Text: German | 1451 | 1478 | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| LMArena Text: Japanese | 1390 | 1473 | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| LMArena Text: Korean | 1379 | 1460 | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| LMArena Text: French | 1455 | 1498 | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| LMArena Text: Spanish | 1432 | 1489 | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| LMArena Text: Russian | 1434 | 1482 | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| LMArena Text: Polish | 1433 | 1471 | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| LMArena Text: multi-turn | 1438 | 1489 | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| LMArena Text: longer queries | 1439 | 1488 | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| LMArena Text: writing and language | 1418 | 1477 | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| LMArena Text: entertainment and media | 1402 | 1464 | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
| LMArena Vision: English | Not measured | 1311 | Only Qwen3.8 Max (0902) measured |
| LMArena Vision: Chinese | Not measured | 1358 | Only Qwen3.8 Max (0902) measured |
| LMArena Vision: reading text | Not measured | 1322 | Only Qwen3.8 Max (0902) measured |
| LMArena Vision: humor | Not measured | 1304 | Only Qwen3.8 Max (0902) measured |
| LMArena Vision: creative writing | Not measured | 1312 | Only Qwen3.8 Max (0902) measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 12 boards here | |||
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Qwen3.6 Plus | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neither model has a result on 5 boards here | |||
What each workload costs
Three fixed token mixes at each model's listed price, so per-token rates become a bill.
Chat turn
1K input + 500 output tokens
Qwen3.6 Plus costs less
Repository review
50K input + 3K output tokens
Qwen3.6 Plus costs less
Agent loop
200K input + 10K output tokens
Qwen3.6 Plus costs less
Listed OpenRouter rates, without cache or batch discounts. A workload that does not fit a model's context window would need splitting.
Specification differences
The leading value in a row is marked; a row with a missing value names no leader. Our two rows are marked in red.
| Specification | Qwen3.6 Plus | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Qwen | Qwen |
| Weights | No public weights listed | No public weights listed |
| Released | April 2, 2026 | September 3, 2026 |
| Context window | 1M | 1M |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.325 | $2.00 |
| Output $/Mtok | $1.95 | $6.00 |
| Coding index | 44.1 | 62.4 |
| Independent measurements behind it | 3 | 5 |
| Cost per solved task | $1.19 | $1.32 |
| Source | OpenRouter listing | OpenRouter listing |
Questions
Is Qwen3.6 Plus better than Qwen3.8 Max (0902) for coding?
Pick Qwen3.8 Max (0902) for coding: it scores 62.4 on the Vibe Coding Index against 44.1 for Qwen3.6 Plus. Pick Qwen3.6 Plus for output tokens 3.1x cheaper ($1.95 vs $6.00 per million) and a lower cost per solved task ($1.19 against $1.32).
Which is cheaper, Qwen3.6 Plus or Qwen3.8 Max (0902)?
Qwen3.6 Plus costs $0.325 per million input tokens and $1.95 per million output tokens; Qwen3.8 Max (0902) costs $2.00 and $6.00. Per solved SWE-bench Verified task, Qwen3.6 Plus costs $1.19 and Qwen3.8 Max (0902) $1.32.
Which has the bigger context window, Qwen3.6 Plus or Qwen3.8 Max (0902)?
Neither: both take 1M tokens.
How many benchmarks is the Qwen3.6 Plus vs Qwen3.8 Max (0902) comparison based on?
74 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 22, 2026. Qwen3.6 Plus's coding index rests on 3 independent benchmarks and Qwen3.8 Max (0902)'s on 5. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.