Model comparison
Claude Opus 4.8 vs Qwen3 Max
Compare Claude Opus 4.8 vs Qwen3 Max API pricing: input/output token costs, cache pricing, context windows, workload estimates, and routing fit.
Claude Opus 4.8
anthropic · claude-opus-4-8
- Input
- $5
- Output
- $25
- Context
- 1M
Qwen3 Max
novita · novita/qwen/qwen3-max
- Input
- $2.11
- Output
- $8.45
- Context
- 262.1K
Quick take
Qwen3 Max has the lower input price at $2.11 per 1M input tokens. Qwen3 Max is cheaper for the example blended workload below. Claude Opus 4.8 has the larger context window at 1M tokens.
Choose Claude Opus 4.8 if...
- Claude Opus 4.8 is safer for long documents, repository analysis, and RAG prompts because it has the larger context window.
- Claude Opus 4.8 gives more room for long generated answers, reports, or code output.
- Claude Opus 4.8 is stronger when the same large prompt or document is reused because it supports prompt caching.
Choose Qwen3 Max if...
- Qwen3 Max is the better default for cost-sensitive traffic and repeated high-volume calls.
Example workload cost
Estimates use input tokens plus 20% output tokens. They exclude provider discounts, cache hits, and tool/search surcharges.
| Workload | Claude Opus 4.8 | Qwen3 Max | Cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1M input + 200K output | $10.00 | $3.80 | Qwen3 Max |
| 10M input + 2M output | $100.00 | $38.00 | Qwen3 Max |
| 100M input + 20M output | $1,000.00 | $380.00 | Qwen3 Max |
Context, output, and capability fit
Claude Opus 4.8 provides the larger context window. Check max output separately when the task needs long reports, code generation, or full-document rewrites.
- Claude Opus 4.8 max output
- 128K
- Qwen3 Max max output
- 65.5K
- Claude Opus 4.8 features
- prompt caching, function calling, vision
- Qwen3 Max features
- function calling
Risk notes for Claude Opus 4.8
- High output price: cap max tokens for verbose generation workloads.
Risk notes for Qwen3 Max
- No prompt caching in this snapshot: repeated long-context calls may be more expensive.
Routing tags
frontierpremiumreasoningcodingagentslong-contextmultimodalcache-friendlyragopen-weightlocal-open