Claude Opus 5.5 vs Qwen3.8 Max Prime: cost per task
Claude Opus 5.5 is cheaper on 9 of 14 tasks and about 1.3x cheaper on average (geometric mean).
| Task | Claude Opus 5.5 | Qwen3.8 Max Prime | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Answer a chat question | 2.5¢ | 2.0¢ | 1.3x |
| Reply to a customer email | 0.79¢ | 0.95¢ | 1.2x |
| Write a 1,500-word blog post | 7.3¢ | 19¢ | 2.6x |
| Write 10 product descriptions | 8.8¢ | 19¢ | 2.2x |
| Translate 1,000 words | 5.1¢ | 2.1¢ | 2.4x |
| Proofread one page (500 words) | 2.2¢ | 2.5¢ | 1.1x |
| Summarize a 20-page PDF | 8.9¢ | 8.4¢ | 1.1x |
| Extract data from an invoice | 2.1¢ | 2.8¢ | 1.4x |
| Analyze a 200-row spreadsheet | 34¢ | 22¢ | 1.6x |
| Answer from 5 retrieved documents (RAG) | 5.5¢ | 5.0¢ | 1.1x |
| Classify 100 support tickets | 1.8¢ | 11¢ | 6.0x |
| Review 500 lines of code | 16¢ | 21¢ | 1.3x |
| Write a SQL query | 2.2¢ | 3.2¢ | 1.5x |
| Run a 50-step coding agent | $1.68 | $2.57 | 1.5x |
Specs and list prices
| Claude Opus 5.5 | Qwen3.8 Max Prime | |
|---|---|---|
| Input per 1M | $4.00 | $4.00 |
| Output per 1M | $20.00 | $12.00 |
| Cached input per 1M | $0.20 | $0.50 |
| Context | 1M | 1M |
| Providers | 11 | 1 |
| Reasoning | always | always |
| LMArena Text | 1508 | - |
| Released | Sep 22, 2026 | Sep 23, 2026 |
FAQ
Is Claude Opus 5.5 or Qwen3.8 Max Prime cheaper?
Claude Opus 5.5 is cheaper on 9 of 14 tasks and about 1.3x cheaper on average (geometric mean).
How much does Claude Opus 5.5 cost compared to Qwen3.8 Max Prime per token?
Claude Opus 5.5: $4.00 input and $20.00 output per 1M tokens. Qwen3.8 Max Prime: $4.00 input and $12.00 output. Token prices alone mislead - models use different numbers of tokens for the same task, which is what the task table shows.