Grok 4.3 vs Qwen 3.8 Max — Price, Context, and Capability Compared
Verdict
Qwen 3.8 Max costs 1.8× more per blended million tokens than Grok 4.3. Grok 4.3 has the larger context window (1,000,000 tokens). Default to Grok 4.3 unless you specifically need Qwen 3.8 Max's edge.
Spec comparison
| Grok 4.3 | Qwen 3.8 Max | |
|---|---|---|
| Price (input) | $1.25/M ✓ | $1.60/M |
| Price (output) | $2.50/M ✓ | $6.40/M |
| Blended price | $1.56/M ✓ | $2.80/M |
| Context window | 1,000,000 tokens ✓ | 256,000 tokens |
| Max output | 64,000 tokens ✓ | 32,768 tokens |
| Modalities | text, vision | text, vision |
| Reasoning mode | Yes | Yes |
| Released | 2026-06 | 2026-06 |
| Speed | 98 t/s ✓ | 47 t/s |
Cost at scale (3:1 blended)
| Tokens / month | Grok 4.3 | Qwen 3.8 Max | Delta |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,000,000 | $1.56 | $2.80 | $1.24 (1.8×) |
| 10,000,000 | $15.63 | $28.00 | $12.38 (1.8×) |
| 100,000,000 | $156.25 | $280.00 | $123.75 (1.8×) |
Choose Grok 4.3 if…
- ✓xAI’s general-purpose flagship
- ✓Extremely fast for its size
- ✓1M-token context
- ✓General-purpose work where speed and a huge context window both matter.
Choose Qwen 3.8 Max if…
- ✓Alibaba’s flagship proprietary model
- ✓Frontier-class reasoning and long-context understanding
- ✓Served directly from Alibaba Cloud
- ✓Frontier-class reasoning outside the US big-lab ecosystem.
Run this exact matchup right now
Send the same prompt to Grok 4.3 and Qwen 3.8 Max side by side and see the outputs yourself.
Try Grok 4.3 vs Qwen 3.8 Max FreeFAQ
Is Grok 4.3 cheaper than Qwen 3.8 Max?
Grok 4.3 is cheaper, at $1.56 per million blended tokens vs $2.80 for Qwen 3.8 Max.
Which has the bigger context window, Grok 4.3 or Qwen 3.8 Max?
Grok 4.3 has the larger context window: 1,000,000 tokens vs 256,000.
Can Grok 4.3 replace Qwen 3.8 Max for coding?
Both are viable for coding. xAI’s general-purpose flagship (Grok 4.3) vs Alibaba’s flagship proprietary model (Qwen 3.8 Max) — pick based on which strength matters more for your workload.
Which is faster, Grok 4.3 or Qwen 3.8 Max?
Grok 4.3 is faster: 98 t/s vs 47 t/s, measured on our speed benchmarks.
Related
Pricing verified 2026-05-19. Specs verified 2026-08-08.
