Pairwise benchmark snapshot · Aug 17, 2026noindex (thin pair)

Qwen3.8 27B vs Qwen: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking benchmark

Name: Qwen3.8 27B vs Qwen: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking AI benchmark comparison
Creator: CompareLLM
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

This page compares Qwen3.8 27B (Alibaba) and Qwen: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking (Alibaba) using the latest snapshots we have as of Aug 17, 2026. Qwen: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking wins on output price at $2.1/1M. Qwen3.8 27B has the larger context window (262k tokens). Every cell below is a dated snapshot from a named public source — we do not invent missing scores, and we do not run SWE-bench ourselves.

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Alibaba

Qwen3.8 27B

Alibaba open-weight 27B drop dated Aug 14 2026. Dense enough to self-host; not a frontier MoE.

Elo 1,398$3.1999999999999997/1M out

Alibaba

Qwen: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking

Auto-discovered from OpenRouter (qwen/qwen3-vl-8b-thinking). Preview until a second source matches.

$2.0999999999999996/1M out

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Model A

Model B

Quick vs:vs Claude Opus 4.5 vs Claude Opus 4.6 vs Claude Sonnet 4.5 vs Claude 3.7 Sonnet

Interactive Comparison Diagram

Matchup Breakdown

Tug-of-War Matchup Matrix

Category wins across intelligence, speed, and pricing efficiency.

Qwen3.8 27B (8)vsQwen: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking (2)

Qwen3.8 27B: 8W (80%)Overall: Qwen3.8 27BQwen: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking: 2W (20%)

← Qwen3.8 27BQwen: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking →

Qwen3.8 27B (5/5)

Intelligence & Reasoning

Preference Elo, Coding proficiency, SWE-bench & LiveBench accuracy

Preference Elo

1,398vs—

Coding Elo

1,422vs—

SWE-bench

58.8%vs—

LiveBench

60.6%vs—

GPQA Diamond

73.4%vs—

Qwen3.8 27B: 5WQwen: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking: 0W

Qwen3.8 27B (2/2)

Speed & Latency

Generation throughput and time to first token responsiveness

Output speed

152 tok/svs—

Time to first token

140 msvs—

Qwen3.8 27B: 2WQwen: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking: 0W

Qwen: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking (2/3)

Pricing & Capacity

Cost per million tokens and max context window length

Output price

$3.2/1Mvs$2.1/1M

Input price

$0.45/1Mvs$0.18/1M

Context window

262kvs131k

Qwen3.8 27B: 1WQwen: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking: 2W

Capability Matchup Radar

Multi-Dimensional Capability Radar

Each spoke is a skill. Farther from the center is better (0–100th percentile). Tap any dot to inspect details.

Tap any node to inspect

Percentile 0–100

Dimensional AdvantageQwen3.8 27B 5/6

Preference Elo

No shared data

Throughput Speed

No shared data

Price Efficiency

Qwen: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking

$1.10/1M cheaper

Full Benchmark Score Matrix

—

Elo

High is better

1,398

EloHigh is better

—

Code Elo

High is better

1,422

Code EloHigh is better

—

LiveBench

High is better

60.6%

LiveBenchHigh is better

—

SWE-bench

High is better

58.8%

SWE-benchHigh is better

—

GPQA

High is better

73.4%

GPQAHigh is better

—

TTFT

Low is better

140 ms

TTFTLow is better

—

Speed

High is better

152 tok/s

SpeedHigh is better

—

In $

Low is better

$0.45/1M

In $Low is better

$0.18/1M+150%

Out $

Low is better

$3.2/1M

Out $Low is better

$2.1/1M+52%

Context

High is better

+100%262k

ContextHigh is better

131k

Interactive Simulator

Workload Cost & Savings Calculator

Simulate monthly production API costs based on published $/1M tokens.

Save up to 41% with Qwen: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking

Monthly Volume50M tokens/mo

Quick Presets:

Token Ratio (In vs Out)70% In / 30% Out

RAG / Search (10% out)Coding / Chat (50% out)

Qwen3.8 27B$63.75 / mo

In: $15.75Out: $48.00

Qwen: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking$37.80 / mo

In: $6.30Out: $31.50

Estimated Cost Delta

Qwen: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking is estimated to save $25.95/month ($311/year).

Based on 50M tokens (30% gen)

Key Selection Recommendations

1
Qwen: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking:Pick Qwen: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking when you are optimizing output cost.

Recommended Workload Routing

Repo / coding agentsinsufficient data

Need SWE-bench on both sides.

High-volume chatQwen: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking

Lower output list price ($2.1/1M).

Voice / low-latency UIinsufficient data

Need TTFT on both sides.

Long-document RAGQwen3.8 27B

Larger window (262k).

Screenshots / visionQwen: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking

Qwen: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking is the side marked multimodal in the catalog.

Target Workload	Recommended Pick	Evaluation Rationale
Repo / coding agents	insufficient data	Need SWE-bench on both sides.
High-volume chat	Qwen: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking	Lower output list price ($2.1/1M).
Voice / low-latency UI	insufficient data	Need TTFT on both sides.
Long-document RAG	Qwen3.8 27B	Larger window (262k).
Screenshots / vision	Qwen: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking	Qwen: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking is the side marked multimodal in the catalog.

Related Editorial Dispatches & Benchmark Notes

View all news

launchAug 14, 2026

Qwen3.8 27B (Aug 14): dense enough to self-host, not a frontier MoE

Alibaba open-weight 27B drop. Local/open-weight lists should see it. It will not win frontier-agents.

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LIVE

Alibaba

Qwen3.8 27B

Elo 1,398

LiveBench60.6%

SWE-bench58.8%

Speed152 tok/s

Output cost$3.2/1M

Alibaba

Qwen: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking

Elo n/a

LiveBench—

SWE-bench—

Speed—

Output cost$2.1/1M

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better overall, Qwen3.8 27B or Qwen: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking?: We do not have preference Elo for both models, so we do not declare an overall winner. Compare the metrics that exist.
Which is better at coding, Qwen3.8 27B or Qwen: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking?: SWE-bench is missing for at least one model, so we do not rank coding from a single number.
Which is cheaper to run in production?: Qwen: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking output tokens are $2.1/1M versus $3.2/1M. Input prices and retry rates still move the real bill.
Which is faster, Qwen3.8 27B or Qwen: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking?: We do not have TTFT for both models.
Which has the larger context window?: Qwen3.8 27B accepts 262k tokens versus 131k.
Can I self-host either model?: Qwen3.8 27B is marked open-weights in our catalog. The other side is a closed API. Check the provider license before you ship weights.
Are these scores from CompareLLM’s own evals?: No. V1 aggregates public leaderboards (and optional first-party latency pings). Each cell names its source and date. Read /methodology.
What does preference Elo mean on this page?: Preference Elo is a crowd vote from LMArena / Arena. People see two hidden answers and pick the one they like more. The model that wins more often gets a higher Elo. That means people preferred it — not that it passed a school test. It is not SWE-bench, not accuracy, and not a number we invent. Qwen3.8 27B and Qwen: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking Elo cells are dated snapshots from the named source — we do not compute Arena ourselves.

Similar Head-to-Head Comparisons

All Qwen3.8 27B matchups →|All Qwen: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking matchups →

Qwen QwQ 32B vs Qwen3.8 27B Qwen 3 Max vs Qwen3.8 27B Qwen 2.5 Coder 32B vs Qwen3.8 27B Qwen2.5 Coder 32B Instruct vs Qwen3.8 27B Qwen3 235B vs Qwen3.8 27B Qwen 2.5 Plus vs Qwen3.8 27B

Qwen3.8 27B vs Qwen: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking benchmark

Interactive Comparison Diagram

Matchup Breakdown

Tug-of-War Matchup Matrix

Category wins across intelligence, speed, and pricing efficiency.

Qwen3.8 27B (8)vsQwen: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking (2)

Qwen3.8 27B: 8W (80%)Overall: Qwen3.8 27BQwen: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking: 2W (20%)

← Qwen3.8 27BQwen: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking →

Qwen3.8 27B (5/5)

Intelligence & Reasoning

Preference Elo, Coding proficiency, SWE-bench & LiveBench accuracy

Preference Elo

1,398vs—

Coding Elo

1,422vs—

SWE-bench

58.8%vs—

LiveBench

60.6%vs—

GPQA Diamond

73.4%vs—

Qwen3.8 27B: 5WQwen: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking: 0W

Qwen3.8 27B (2/2)

Speed & Latency

Generation throughput and time to first token responsiveness

Output speed

152 tok/svs—

Time to first token

140 msvs—

Qwen3.8 27B: 2WQwen: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking: 0W

Qwen: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking (2/3)

Pricing & Capacity

Cost per million tokens and max context window length

Output price

$3.2/1Mvs$2.1/1M

Input price

$0.45/1Mvs$0.18/1M

Context window

262kvs131k

Qwen3.8 27B: 1WQwen: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking: 2W

Recommended Workload Routing

Repo / coding agentsinsufficient data

Need SWE-bench on both sides.

High-volume chatQwen: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking

Lower output list price ($2.1/1M).

Voice / low-latency UIinsufficient data

Need TTFT on both sides.

Long-document RAGQwen3.8 27B

Larger window (262k).

Screenshots / visionQwen: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking

Qwen: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking is the side marked multimodal in the catalog.

Target Workload	Recommended Pick	Evaluation Rationale
Repo / coding agents	insufficient data	Need SWE-bench on both sides.
High-volume chat	Qwen: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking	Lower output list price ($2.1/1M).
Voice / low-latency UI	insufficient data	Need TTFT on both sides.
Long-document RAG	Qwen3.8 27B	Larger window (262k).
Screenshots / vision	Qwen: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking	Qwen: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking is the side marked multimodal in the catalog.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better overall, Qwen3.8 27B or Qwen: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking?

We do not have preference Elo for both models, so we do not declare an overall winner. Compare the metrics that exist.

Which is better at coding, Qwen3.8 27B or Qwen: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking?

SWE-bench is missing for at least one model, so we do not rank coding from a single number.

Which is cheaper to run in production?

Qwen: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking output tokens are $2.1/1M versus $3.2/1M. Input prices and retry rates still move the real bill.

Which is faster, Qwen3.8 27B or Qwen: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking?

We do not have TTFT for both models.

Which has the larger context window?

Qwen3.8 27B accepts 262k tokens versus 131k.

Can I self-host either model?

Qwen3.8 27B is marked open-weights in our catalog. The other side is a closed API. Check the provider license before you ship weights.

Are these scores from CompareLLM’s own evals?

No. V1 aggregates public leaderboards (and optional first-party latency pings). Each cell names its source and date. Read /methodology.

What does preference Elo mean on this page?

Preference Elo is a crowd vote from LMArena / Arena. People see two hidden answers and pick the one they like more. The model that wins more often gets a higher Elo. That means people preferred it — not that it passed a school test. It is not SWE-bench, not accuracy, and not a number we invent. Qwen3.8 27B and Qwen: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking Elo cells are dated snapshots from the named source — we do not compute Arena ourselves.

Swap or Add Any Model to this Matchup

Interactive Comparison Diagram

Tug-of-War Matchup Matrix

Intelligence & Reasoning

Speed & Latency

Pricing & Capacity

Multi-Dimensional Capability Radar

No shared data

No shared data

Qwen: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking

Full Benchmark Score Matrix

Workload Cost & Savings Calculator

Key Selection Recommendations

Recommended Workload Routing

Related Editorial Dispatches & Benchmark Notes

Qwen3.8 27B (Aug 14): dense enough to self-host, not a frontier MoE

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Community Discussions (0)

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CompareLLM Matrix

Qwen3.8 27B

Qwen: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking

Frequently Asked Questions

Related news

Similar Head-to-Head Comparisons

Swap or Add Any Model to this Matchup

Interactive Comparison Diagram

Tug-of-War Matchup Matrix

Intelligence & Reasoning

Speed & Latency

Pricing & Capacity

Multi-Dimensional Capability Radar

No shared data

No shared data

Qwen: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking

Full Benchmark Score Matrix

Workload Cost & Savings Calculator

Key Selection Recommendations

Recommended Workload Routing

Related Editorial Dispatches & Benchmark Notes

Qwen3.8 27B (Aug 14): dense enough to self-host, not a frontier MoE

Cast Your Matchup Vote

Community Discussions (0)

Share card

CompareLLM Matrix

Qwen3.8 27B

Qwen: Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking

Frequently Asked Questions

Related news

Similar Head-to-Head Comparisons