High-volume, cost-sensitive work
Choose Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B
Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B costs 25% less on a typical mix of three input tokens for every output token ($3.00 against $4.00 per million tokens).
Claude Sonnet 5.5 vs Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B: price, context and capabilities
Choose Claude Sonnet 5.5 for reused prompts and documents (RAG, agents), images as input and the latest release. Choose Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B for high-volume, cost-sensitive work and writing and code generation.
In short
- Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B is 25% cheaper than Claude Sonnet 5.5 at the headline price ($3.00 / 1M tokens vs $4.00 / 1M tokens).
- Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B reads more per request: 1.05M tokens against 1M.
- Claude Sonnet 5.5 is the newer model (September 2026, against Aug 12, 2026).
- Only Claude Sonnet 5.5 offers vision, batch api.
Which should you choose?
Each answer below comes straight from the published prices, specifications and independent benchmark results.
Writing and code generation
Choose Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B
Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B charges $6.00 per million output tokens, against $10.00 for Claude Sonnet 5.5. Output dominates the bill when answers are long.
Reused prompts and documents (RAG, agents)
Choose Claude Sonnet 5.5
Claude Sonnet 5.5 charges $0.10 per million cached input tokens, against $0.25 for Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B.
Images as input
Choose Claude Sonnet 5.5
Claude Sonnet 5.5 accepts images as input; Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B does not.
Latest release
Choose Claude Sonnet 5.5
Claude Sonnet 5.5 is the newer release (September 2026, against Aug 12, 2026 for Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B).
Monthly cost at three volumes
| Volume | Claude Sonnet 5.5 | Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prototype: 1M input, 250K output tokens | $4.50 | $3.50 | Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B, $1.00 less |
| Production: 20M input, 5M output tokens | $90.00 | $70.00 | Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B, $20.00 less |
| Scale: 500M input, 100M output tokens | $2,000 | $1,600 | Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B, $400.00 less |
Standard rates, without caching or batch discounts. Volumes are per month.
Specifications side by side
| Claude Sonnet 5.5 | Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B | |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Anthropic | Alibaba Cloud (Qwen) |
| Category | Language models | Language models |
| Status | Generally available | Generally available |
| Headline price | $4.00 / 1M tokens | $3.00 / 1M tokens |
| Input | $2.00 / 1M tokens | $2.00 / 1M tokens |
| Output | $10.00 / 1M tokens | $6.00 / 1M tokens |
| Cached input | $0.10 / 1M tokens | $0.25 / 1M tokens |
| Context window | 1M | 1.05M |
| Max output | 128k | 909k |
| Released | September 2026 | Aug 12, 2026 |
| Knowledge cutoff | June 2026 | No data |
| Licence | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Capabilities | Vision, Reasoning, Tool calling, Structured output, Prompt caching, Batch API | Reasoning, Tool calling, Structured output, Prompt caching |
| API model id | claude-sonnet-5-5 | qwen3.8-2.4t-a95b |
Benchmarks side by side
Leader in bold.
| Benchmark | Claude Sonnet 5.5 | Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B |
|---|---|---|
| Intelligence Index | 56 | No data |
| SciCode | 61% | No data |
| Humanity's Last Exam | 55% | No data |
| Long-context reasoning (AA-LCR) | 82.7% | No data |
Independent evaluations by Artificial Analysis, run the same way for every model, at the reasoning setting shown. Percentages unless marked as an index.
Frequently asked questions
Should I choose Claude Sonnet 5.5 or Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B?
Choose Claude Sonnet 5.5 for reused prompts and documents (RAG, agents), images as input and the latest release. Choose Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B for high-volume, cost-sensitive work and writing and code generation.
Which is cheaper, Claude Sonnet 5.5 or Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B?
Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B is 25% cheaper than Claude Sonnet 5.5 at the headline price ($3.00 / 1M tokens vs $4.00 / 1M tokens).
Which has the larger context window, Claude Sonnet 5.5 or Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B?
Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B reads more per request: 1.05M tokens against 1M.
What is the difference between Claude Sonnet 5.5 and Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B?
Claude Sonnet 5.5 is made by Anthropic and Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B by Alibaba Cloud (Qwen). Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B is 25% cheaper than Claude Sonnet 5.5 at the headline price ($3.00 / 1M tokens vs $4.00 / 1M tokens). Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B reads more per request: 1.05M tokens against 1M. Claude Sonnet 5.5 is the newer model (September 2026, against Aug 12, 2026). Only Claude Sonnet 5.5 offers vision, batch api.
How much do Claude Sonnet 5.5 and Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B cost per month?
At 20 million input and 5 million output tokens a month, Claude Sonnet 5.5 costs $90.00 and Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B costs $70.00, at standard rates.
Which is newer, Claude Sonnet 5.5 or Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B?
Claude Sonnet 5.5 was released on September 2026 and Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B on Aug 12, 2026.