Alibaba (Qwen) · Flagship · 1M context window
$0.0220 per call at 5,000 input / 2,000 output tokens.
Per call
$0.0220
10K calls/mo
$220
Cache savings
88% off input
Batch savings
50% off all
Adjust token counts, volume, and discount toggles to model your code review spend. Prices verified daily against provider pricing pages.
Call Qwen 3.8 Max with the OpenAI Python SDK pointed at DashScope:
import os
from openai import OpenAI
client = OpenAI(
base_url="https://dashscope.aliyuncs.com/compatible-mode/v1",
api_key=os.environ["DASHSCOPE_API_KEY"],
)
response = client.chat.completions.create(
model="qwen3.8-max",
max_tokens=2000,
messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Your prompt here"}]
)
# Cost: ~$0.0220 per call at standard rates
# Input: $2.00/MTok
# Output: $6.00/MTokPer-call cost for all models scoring 50+ on code review benchmarks. Hover for details.
Highest-quality affordable option: Claude Sonnet 5 at $0.0300/call (1.4x the cost, 96/100 quality). Qwen 3.8 Max is already the cheapest choice for code review.
Review is input-heavy in a way generation is not: the diff or file goes in whole, and structured feedback comes back short. That flips the usual optimization: input rate and cache discounts matter more than output rate. Reviewing the same repository repeatedly means the surrounding context is identical call over call, which is exactly the shape prompt caching is designed for.
For Qwen 3.8 Max specifically, that means output tokens cost 3.0x more than input, at $6.00 vs $2.00 per MTok. At this use case’s 5,000/2,000 token split, output accounts for 55% of the $0.0220 per-call cost.
| Direction | $/MTok | Tokens per call |
|---|---|---|
| Input | $2.00 | 5,000 |
| Output | $6.00 | 2,000 |
Caching drops input cost from $2.00 to $0.25/MTok. For repeated system prompts, that saves $0.008750 per call.
Submit requests asynchronously and receive 50% off all token costs. This works best for offline pipelines where latency requirements are flexible.
| Monthly volume | Cost per call | Standard monthly | Cached monthly | You save with caching |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10,000 calls | $0.0220 | $220 | $132.5 | $87.5 |
| 50,000 calls | $0.0220 | $1,100 | $662.5 | $437.5 |
| 100,000 calls | $0.0220 | $2,200 | $1,325 | $875 |
| 500,000 calls | $0.0220 | $11,000 | $6,625 | $4,375 |
| 1,000,000 calls | $0.0220 | $22,000 | $13,250 | $8,750 |
Benchmark data for code review is pending for Qwen 3.8 Max. Test against your own evaluation suite before moving to production.
Benchmark data is not yet available for Qwen 3.8 Max. We recommend testing against your own evaluation criteria.
6 models score 80+ on code review benchmarks, sorted by input rate. Cheapest: Claude Sonnet 5 (36% more, 96/100 quality).
| Model | Provider | Input $/MTok | Output $/MTok | Quality | Per call | vs Qwen |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Sonnet 5 | Claude | $2.00 | $10.00 | 96/100 | $0.0300 | 36% more |
| Claude Sonnet 4.6 | Claude | $3.00 | $15.00 | 95/100 | $0.0450 | 105% more |
| GPT 5.6 Sol | GPT | $4.00 | $20.00 | 92/100 | $0.0600 | 173% more |
| Claude Opus 4.8 | Claude | $5.00 | $25.00 | 94/100 | $0.0750 | 241% more |
| GPT 5.5 | GPT | $5.00 | $30.00 | 90/100 | $0.0850 | 286% more |
| Claude Fable 5 | Claude | $10.00 | $50.00 | 95/100 | $0.1500 | 582% more |
Provider
Alibaba (Qwen)
Tier
Flagship
Context
1M tokens
Released
Aug 2026
Prices from help.aliyun.com/en/model-studio (qwen3.8-max, read 2026-10-11). Cache hit: $0.25/MTok input. Not yet benchmarked, so never recommended.
| Model | Tier | Input $/MTok | Output $/MTok | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qwen 3.8 Flash | Fast / Budget | $0.15 | $0.47 | 1M |
You can compare Qwen 3.8 Max head-to-head against any other model on our model comparison pages, or track how pricing has changed over time on the pricing history tracker.
See how Qwen 3.8 Max costs change across different workload types.
Code Generation
$0.0280/call
Unit Test Generation
$0.0360/call
SQL Generation
$0.009000/call
API Generation
$0.0420/call
Code Refactoring
$0.0320/call
PR Review
$0.0340/call
Security Review
$0.0270/call
Bug Detection
$0.0220/call
Document Summarization
$0.0260/call
PDF Summarization
$0.0390/call
Meeting Notes
$0.0280/call
Email Summarization
$0.009000/call
Chatbot
$0.0100/call
RAG Pipeline
$0.0210/call
Customer Support Bot
$0.0120/call
FAQ Bot
$0.007800/call
Data Extraction
$0.0140/call
JSON Extraction
$0.0108/call
Invoice Parsing
$0.007600/call
Resume Parsing
$0.009800/call
Chain of Thought
$0.0360/call
Legal Analysis
$0.0440/call
Math Reasoning
$0.0210/call
Financial Analysis
$0.0400/call
Content Moderation
$0.001600/call
Sentiment Analysis
$0.001600/call
Categorization
$0.002500/call
Intent Detection
$0.001200/call
Copywriting
$0.0130/call
Blog Writing
$0.0500/call
Marketing Copy
$0.0196/call
Product Descriptions
$0.0100/call
A typical code review call using Qwen 3.8 Max costs about $0.0220 per call. This estimate uses 5,000 input tokens and 2,000 output tokens at standard rates. Standard rates are $2.00 per million input tokens and $6.00 per million output tokens.
Our benchmark data does not yet include a code review ranking for Qwen 3.8 Max. We recommend testing it against your own evaluation criteria before production usage.
The most affordable model for code review above 80/100 quality is Claude Sonnet 5. It comes from Claude at $2.00 per million input tokens. Output costs $10.00 per million tokens with a quality score of 96/100. Claude Sonnet 5 costs more per call than Qwen 3.8 Max but scores higher on quality benchmarks for this task type.
Three strategies lower Qwen 3.8 Max costs for this task type effectively. Prompt caching gives a 88% discount on input tokens when reusing system prompts. The batch API gives 50% off all tokens for asynchronous processing workloads. Prompt optimization reduces token counts through more concise instructions and context windows. Combining caching with batching brings your cost from $0.0220 to about $0.001375 per call.
Alibaba (Qwen) has 1 other models alongside Qwen 3.8 Max today: Qwen 3.8 Flash at $0.15/$0.47 per million tokens (fast / budget). The right choice depends on whether your code review workload prioritizes quality, cost, or speed.
Qwen 3.8 Max supports a context window of 1M tokens per API call. This sets the maximum combined length of your input prompt and generated response. For code review, typical calls use 5,000 input and 2,000 output tokens. That is well within this limit, leaving room for longer prompts or multi-turn conversations.
This calculator estimates costs based on published rates only. Connect your API usage to see where your money goes and which models drive your spend.