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AI Choice Engine

Model comparison

Qwen 3.7 Max vs Qwen 3.8 Flash Next

Two Qwen tiers compared on the figures that decide which one a workload actually needs.

Catalog record checked September 26, 2026Individual provider fields may changeEvidence confidence: High — see receipts below

Qwen

Qwen 3.7 Max

Frontier

vs

Qwen

Qwen 3.8 Flash Next

Budget · Open weights

AI model capability comparison
SpecificationQwen 3.7 MaxQwen 3.8 Flash Next
ProviderQwenQwen
TierFrontierBudget
Context windowWinner: 1M262K
Max output128KNot verifiedUnverified
Input / 1M tokens$2.50Winner: $0.15
Output / 1M tokens$7.50Winner: $0.47
WeightsClosedOpen
Parametersproprietary MoE125B total / 6B active (MoE) + 51B n-gram embedding table
Reasoning levelslow, high, maxNot verifiedUnverified
Modalitiestext, image, videotext, image, video
LicenseNot disclosedUnverifiedqwen-community-1.0
API model idqwen3.7-maxqwen3.8-flash
ReleasedMay 20, 2026August 26, 2026
Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index (2026-09-26)29.5Winner: 39.8

Prices are USD per million tokens at standard rates, excluding batch and caching discounts. Bold indicates the better figure where one is objectively better. Values we could not confirm from the provider are shown as “Not verified” rather than estimated.

Benchmark receipts

Where each score comes from, and how far it can be compared across models.

  • 2026-09-26
    Artificial Analysis

    Composite index blending reasoning, knowledge, and coding evals into one 0–100 score.

    Comparable with caveatOnly same-version scores are comparable. v4.3.2 was rebaselined (the top score fell from 66 on v4.1.1 to ~58), so v4.1.1 figures must not be compared with v4.3.2 figures — check measuredAt.

Pricing tiers

Qwen 3.7 Max: Model Studio list $2.50/$7.50 per MTok; a 50%-off promo ($1.25/$3.75) ran at launch. Closed API.

Qwen 3.8 Flash Next: Hosted qwen3.8-flash lists $0.15/$0.47 per MTok on Alibaba Cloud Model Studio with a 1M context. The open checkpoint is 262,144 tokens native, extensible to 1M.

FrontierRecord checked September 26, 2026

Qwen 3.7 Max

Qwen 3.7 Max is Alibaba's previous-generation proprietary flagship with a 1M-token context.

Best for

  • API-only multimodal
  • Long-context
  • Enterprise

Watch out

Model Studio now lists it under legacy models ('no longer recommended'); succeeded by Qwen 3.8 Max. Closed weights.

BudgetOpen weightsRecord checked September 26, 2026

Qwen 3.8 Flash Next

Qwen 3.8 Flash Next is Alibaba's experimental preview of the Qwen 4 architecture — very low active parameters plus an unusual n-gram embedding component for cheap long-context.

Best for

  • Early testing of Qwen 4 architecture
  • Cheap high-throughput work
  • Multimodal input

Watch out

Experimental preview; qwen-community-1.0 license is more restrictive than MIT/Apache; benchmark claims are vendor-reported.

When the cheaper one wins

Qwen 3.8 Flash Next is cheaper on output at $0.47 per million tokens against $7.50 for Qwen 3.7 Max — about 16×. Use the cheaper tier for classification, extraction, summarisation, and any task where the expensive model’s extra score does not change the accepted output. The expensive one only pays if your hardest task actually fails on the cheap tier. These are standard-tier API rates, excluding batch and cache discounts.

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Evidence confidence: High

How strong and complete the evidence behind this comparison is — not a prediction of which model is better.

  • Pricing verified on both sides — Input and output rates are verified for both models.
  • 3/5 core specs verified on both sides — Not published for at least one side: max output, reasoning levels.
  • 1 shared named benchmark with differing scores — Measured on: Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index.
  • Verified within the last 90 days — Newest catalog check was 2 days ago.
  • Both models carry source citations — Each side has at least two catalog sources on record.

Source receipts

Each catalog figure was checked against the provider or an independent second source on the date shown.

Related comparisons

Diving deeper on one model? Qwen 3.7 Max · Qwen 3.8 Flash Next

Common questions

Qwen 3.7 Max vs Qwen 3.8 Flash Next

Answered from the verified figures on this page rather than general guidance.

Is Qwen 3.7 Max or Qwen 3.8 Flash Next cheaper for input?
Qwen 3.8 Flash Next is cheaper at $0.15 per million input tokens, against $2.50 for Qwen 3.7 Max — roughly 17× the price. Output tokens usually dominate a real bill, so weigh the output rate more heavily than the input rate. These are base rates; Qwen 3.7 Max has tiered pricing: Model Studio list $2.50/$7.50 per MTok; a 50%-off promo ($1.25/$3.75) ran at launch. Closed API. Qwen 3.8 Flash Next has tiered pricing: Hosted qwen3.8-flash lists $0.15/$0.47 per MTok on Alibaba Cloud Model Studio with a 1M context. The open checkpoint is 262,144 tokens native, extensible to 1M.
Is Qwen 3.7 Max or Qwen 3.8 Flash Next cheaper for output?
Qwen 3.8 Flash Next is cheaper at $0.47 per million output tokens, against $7.50 for Qwen 3.7 Max — roughly 16× the price. Output tokens usually dominate a real bill, so weigh the output rate more heavily than the input rate. These are base rates; Qwen 3.7 Max has tiered pricing: Model Studio list $2.50/$7.50 per MTok; a 50%-off promo ($1.25/$3.75) ran at launch. Closed API. Qwen 3.8 Flash Next has tiered pricing: Hosted qwen3.8-flash lists $0.15/$0.47 per MTok on Alibaba Cloud Model Studio with a 1M context. The open checkpoint is 262,144 tokens native, extensible to 1M.
Which has the larger context window, Qwen 3.7 Max or Qwen 3.8 Flash Next?
Qwen 3.7 Max accepts 1M tokens against 262K for Qwen 3.8 Flash Next. This only matters if you routinely send very long documents or large codebases.
Should I use Qwen 3.7 Max or Qwen 3.8 Flash Next?
Qwen 3.7 Max is the frontier tier and Qwen 3.8 Flash Next the budget tier. The useful question is whether your hardest task actually fails on the cheaper one — most production volume such as classification, extraction and summarisation does not.
Can I self-host Qwen 3.7 Max or Qwen 3.8 Flash Next?
Qwen 3.8 Flash Next publishes open weights, but self-hosting and third-party provider access depend on the licence, hardware, serving support, and availability. Qwen 3.7 Max is a closed model whose supported access paths are controlled by its provider.

Next step

Choosing between them

The verified figures that separate this pair, computed from the catalog rather than restated boilerplate.

  • Input price: Qwen 3.8 Flash Next costs $0.15 per 1M tokens versus $2.50 for Qwen 3.7 Max — a 16.7x difference at the headline tier.
  • Context: Qwen 3.7 Max takes 1M against 262K for Qwen 3.8 Flash Next — only decisive if your prompts approach the smaller window.
  • Measured capability: Qwen 3.8 Flash Next leads Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index 39.8 to 29.5 (measured 2026-09-26).
  • Deployment: Qwen 3.8 Flash Next publishes weights you can self-host; the other is API-only.
  • Positioning: Qwen 3.7 Max sits in the frontier tier, Qwen 3.8 Flash Next in the budget tier — most production volume (classification, extraction, summarisation) does not need the pricier tier.
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