Qwen3.8 Max vs Gemini 4 Argon
Official Qwen and Google API prices and LMArena scores, checked 2026-11-14. Add up to 2 more models to compare 4.
Qwen3.8 Max costs less; Gemini 4 Argon wins more LMArena tasks.
Same input price ($2 per 1M); Qwen3.8 Max is 1.7x cheaper on output. Gemini 4 Argon scores 68 points higher for chat. Across 6 shared LMArena tasks, Gemini 4 Argon leads 6 to 0. A medium month (20M input + 5M output tokens) costs $70 on Qwen3.8 Max and $90 on Gemini 4 Argon.
- Pick Qwen3.8 Max if you want the lower bill ($70 vs $90 for a medium month).
- Pick Gemini 4 Argon if you care most about chat (+68), creative writing (+67) and roleplay (+56).
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 | Gemini 4 Argon |
|---|---|---|
| Price per 1M tokens | ||
| Input | $2 | $2 |
| Cached input | None | $0.10 |
| Output | $6 | $10 |
| Blend 3:1 | $3 | $4 |
| Sample month, medium | $70 | $90 |
| Context | ||
| Context window | 1M tokens | 1M tokens |
| Quality (LMArena, out of 100) | ||
| Coding | 43/100 #13 of 53 | 44/100 #11 of 53 |
| Chat | 24/100 #14 of 54 | 92/100 #2 of 54 |
| Creative writing | 33/100 #10 of 54 | 100/100 #1 of 54 |
| Roleplay and characters | 21/100 #8 of 54 | 77/100 #2 of 54 |
| Reasoning and math | 52/100 #7 of 52 | 100/100 #1 of 52 |
| Vision | 100/100 #1 of 33 | Not ranked |
| Long documents | Not ranked | Not ranked |
| Cheap bulk and agents | 21/100 #27 of 40 | 49/100 #9 of 40 |
| Details | ||
| Provider | Qwen | |
| API model id | qwen3.8-max | gemini-4-argon |
| Notes | International (Singapore). Alibaba lists the cache-hit price only in the Model Studio console. | Launch price through Nov 30, 2026. From Dec 1: $4 in, $20 out. |
| Sources | ||
| Last checked | 2026-11-14 | 2026-11-14 |
| Official pricing | Qwen pricing | Google 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 #13 of 53 (43/100), Gemini 4 Argon #11 of 53 (44/100)
- Chat (Text Arena): Qwen3.8 Max #14 of 54 (24/100), Gemini 4 Argon #2 of 54 (92/100)
- Creative writing (Text Arena creative writing): Qwen3.8 Max #10 of 54 (33/100), Gemini 4 Argon #1 of 54 (100/100)
- Roleplay and characters (Text Arena multi-turn): Qwen3.8 Max #8 of 54 (21/100), Gemini 4 Argon #2 of 54 (77/100)
- Reasoning and math (Text Arena math): Qwen3.8 Max #7 of 52 (52/100), Gemini 4 Argon #1 of 52 (100/100)
- Vision (Vision Arena): Qwen3.8 Max #1 of 33 (100/100), Gemini 4 Argon not ranked
- Long documents (Document Arena): Qwen3.8 Max not ranked, Gemini 4 Argon not ranked
- Cheap bulk and agents (Agent Arena): Qwen3.8 Max #27 of 40 (21/100), Gemini 4 Argon #9 of 40 (49/100)
Pricing details from the official pages
Qwen3.8 Max lists $2 input, $6 output per 1M tokens on Qwen pricing. Gemini 4 Argon lists $2 input, $10 output, $0.10 cached input per 1M tokens on Google pricing. Prices checked 2026-11-14.
- Qwen3.8 Max: International (Singapore). Alibaba lists the cache-hit price only in the Model Studio console.
- Gemini 4 Argon: Launch price through Nov 30, 2026. From Dec 1: $4 in, $20 out.
Sample monthly bill at list price, no caching: Light (2M input + 0.5M output tokens): $7 vs $9. Medium (20M input + 5M output tokens): $70 vs $90. Heavy (200M input + 50M output tokens): $700 vs $900.
FAQ
Is Qwen3.8 Max cheaper than Gemini 4 Argon?
Qwen3.8 Max costs $2 input and $6 output per 1M tokens; Gemini 4 Argon costs $2 and $10. For a medium month (20M input + 5M output tokens) Qwen3.8 Max is cheaper: $70 vs $90.
Which is better for coding, Qwen3.8 Max or Gemini 4 Argon?
On LMArena's Code Arena Qwen3.8 Max scores 43/100 (#13 of 53) and Gemini 4 Argon 44/100 (#11 of 53), so Gemini 4 Argon is ahead by 1 points.
Which has the bigger context window?
Qwen3.8 Max: 1M tokens. Gemini 4 Argon: 1M tokens. Both list the same window.
How much do Qwen3.8 Max and Gemini 4 Argon cost per month?
Light (2M input + 0.5M output tokens): $7 vs $9. Medium (20M input + 5M output tokens): $70 vs $90. Heavy (200M input + 50M output tokens): $700 vs $900. 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.
Sources
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