Qwen3.8 Max vs DeepSeek V4 Pro
Official Qwen and DeepSeek API prices and LMArena scores, checked 2026-10-21. Add up to 2 more models to compare 4.
DeepSeek V4 Pro costs less; Qwen3.8 Max wins more LMArena tasks.
DeepSeek V4 Pro is 1.5x cheaper on input and output. Qwen3.8 Max scores 51 points higher for coding. Across 5 shared LMArena tasks, Qwen3.8 Max leads 5 to 0. A medium month (20M input + 5M output tokens) costs $70 on Qwen3.8 Max and $46.20 on DeepSeek V4 Pro.
- Pick Qwen3.8 Max if you care most about coding (+51), reasoning and math (+47) and creative writing (+28).
- Pick DeepSeek V4 Pro if you want the lower bill ($46.20 vs $70 for a medium month) or you reuse long prompts (cached input $0.044 vs $0.20).
Medium: 20M input + 5M output tokens a month at list price (short-context rate, no caching or batch discounts).
Marked side is better: lower for prices, higher for context and scores. Bars are scaled to the larger of the two.
| Spec | Qwen3.8 Max | DeepSeek V4 Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Price per 1M tokens | ||
| Input | $2 | $1.32 |
| Cached input | $0.20 | $0.044 |
| Output | $6 | $3.96 |
| Blend 3:1 | $3 | $1.98 |
| Sample month, medium | $70 | $46.20 |
| Context | ||
| Context window | 1M tokens | 1M tokens |
| Quality (LMArena, out of 100) | ||
| Coding | 51/100 #9 of 23 | 0/100 #19 of 23 |
| Chat | 27/100 #10 of 25 | 0/100 #18 of 25 |
| Creative writing | 29/100 #9 of 25 | 1/100 #15 of 25 |
| Roleplay and characters | 23/100 #6 of 25 | 1/100 #14 of 25 |
| Reasoning and math | 47/100 #10 of 25 | 0/100 #21 of 25 |
| Vision | 100/100 #1 of 22 | Not ranked |
| Long documents | Not ranked | Not ranked |
| Cheap bulk and agents | 42/100 #17 of 23 | Not ranked |
| Details | ||
| Provider | Qwen | DeepSeek |
| API model id | qwen3.8-max | deepseek-v4-pro |
| Notes | International (Singapore). Cache hits billed at 10% of input. | Peak rate. Off-peak is half price. |
| Sources | ||
| Last checked | 2026-10-21 | 2026-10-21 |
| Official pricing | Qwen pricing | DeepSeek pricing |
Plans from data checked hourly against each vendor's official pricing page. Vendors state limits in different units, so we quote them as published. Team and enterprise plans are per seat.
API prices in USD per 1M tokens from each provider's official pricing page. Blend 3:1 = (3 x input + output) / 4. Sample month = stated input and output tokens at the list price, no caching. Quality: relative score out of 100 on each LMArena leaderboard (100 = top model we price on that board, n/a = not ranked there), data licensed CC BY 4.0. See how we pick.
Where each one ranks on LMArena
Relative score out of 100 on each leaderboard (100 = the top model we price there), with the rank among the models from our API price table that appear on that board.
- Coding (Code Arena): Qwen3.8 Max #9 of 23 (51/100), DeepSeek V4 Pro #19 of 23 (0/100)
- Chat (Text Arena): Qwen3.8 Max #10 of 25 (27/100), DeepSeek V4 Pro #18 of 25 (0/100)
- Creative writing (Text Arena creative writing): Qwen3.8 Max #9 of 25 (29/100), DeepSeek V4 Pro #15 of 25 (1/100)
- Roleplay and characters (Text Arena multi-turn): Qwen3.8 Max #6 of 25 (23/100), DeepSeek V4 Pro #14 of 25 (1/100)
- Reasoning and math (Text Arena math): Qwen3.8 Max #10 of 25 (47/100), DeepSeek V4 Pro #21 of 25 (0/100)
- Vision (Vision Arena): Qwen3.8 Max #1 of 22 (100/100), DeepSeek V4 Pro not ranked
- Long documents (Document Arena): Qwen3.8 Max not ranked, DeepSeek V4 Pro not ranked
- Cheap bulk and agents (Agent Arena): Qwen3.8 Max #17 of 23 (42/100), DeepSeek V4 Pro not ranked
Pricing details from the official pages
Qwen3.8 Max lists $2 input, $6 output, $0.20 cached input per 1M tokens on Qwen pricing. DeepSeek V4 Pro lists $1.32 input, $3.96 output, $0.044 cached input per 1M tokens on DeepSeek pricing. Prices checked 2026-10-21.
- Qwen3.8 Max: International (Singapore). Cache hits billed at 10% of input.
- DeepSeek V4 Pro: Peak rate. Off-peak is half price.
Sample monthly bill at list price, no caching: Light (2M input + 0.5M output tokens): $7 vs $4.62. Medium (20M input + 5M output tokens): $70 vs $46.20. Heavy (200M input + 50M output tokens): $700 vs $462.
FAQ
Is Qwen3.8 Max cheaper than DeepSeek V4 Pro?
Qwen3.8 Max costs $2 input and $6 output per 1M tokens; DeepSeek V4 Pro costs $1.32 and $3.96. For a medium month (20M input + 5M output tokens) DeepSeek V4 Pro is cheaper: $46.20 vs $70.
Which is better for coding, Qwen3.8 Max or DeepSeek V4 Pro?
On LMArena's Code Arena Qwen3.8 Max scores 51/100 (#9 of 23) and DeepSeek V4 Pro 0/100 (#19 of 23), so Qwen3.8 Max is ahead by 51 points.
Which has the bigger context window?
Qwen3.8 Max: 1M tokens. DeepSeek V4 Pro: 1M tokens. Both list the same window.
How much do Qwen3.8 Max and DeepSeek V4 Pro cost per month?
Light (2M input + 0.5M output tokens): $7 vs $4.62. Medium (20M input + 5M output tokens): $70 vs $46.20. Heavy (200M input + 50M output tokens): $700 vs $462. Pick your own token counts in the plan vs API calculator.
Where do these numbers come from?
Prices come from each provider's official pricing page, checked daily. Quality is the relative score on the LMArena leaderboard dataset, licensed CC BY 4.0. Where a model is not ranked we show n/a.