Side-by-side comparison of pricing, 12 benchmarks, and generation speed.
| Metric | Qwen3.8-Flash-Next | Grok 3 mini Reasoning (high) |
|---|---|---|
| Input ($/M tokens) | $0.15 | $0.3 |
| Output ($/M tokens) | $0.47 | $0.5 |
Verdict. Qwen3.8-Flash-Next wins the overall benchmark matchup 2–0 across 2 overlapping categories, but raw benchmark score is only one input to the decision.
Pricing. Both models sit in the budget bracket for output-token pricing. At 0.9× the per-million-token cost, Qwen3.8-Flash-Next is meaningfully cheaper if your traffic is output-heavy (long completions, document generation, agent loops). Qwen3.8-Flash-Next makes more sense when output volume is low and absolute reasoning quality justifies the premium.
Strengths. Qwen3.8-Flash-Next is strongest on Coding Index (73.1), Intelligence Index (55.8). Grok 3 mini Reasoning (high) leads on Intelligence Index (22.9).
Speed. Throughput is comparable — 85 tok/s vs 78 tok/s — so generation speed shouldn't drive your choice here. Look at the per-benchmark wins instead.
Provider. Alibaba and SpaceXAI sell to overlapping but distinct developer audiences: Alibaba tends to ship frontier reasoning models with premium positioning, while SpaceXAI often prices more aggressively. Your existing vendor relationships, billing, and SLA preferences may matter as much as the raw numbers above.
Workload cost. Workload scenarios (per million requests at 30M input + 15M output tokens): Qwen3.8-Flash-Next costs $11.55 ($139/year); Grok 3 mini Reasoning (high) costs $16.50 ($198/year). At a smaller 5M-input/2M-output scale (single-developer tool or prototype): Qwen3.8-Flash-Next ≈ $1.69/run, Grok 3 mini Reasoning (high) ≈ $2.50/run. At agent/realtime scale (200M input / 100M output per million requests): Qwen3.8-Flash-Next ≈ $77/run, Grok 3 mini Reasoning (high) ≈ $110/run. Qwen3.8-Flash-Next becomes more attractive at higher volume — the absolute per-token pricing difference compounds when you ship at scale.
Recommendation. Both models have legitimate use cases — the right answer depends on whether you are optimizing for benchmark ceiling, latency, or unit cost. Start with the cheaper / faster model, evaluate against your specific task, and only switch if the upgrade shows a meaningful lift.
Data from Artificial Analysis API — 12 benchmarks
Qwen3.8-Flash-Next is cheaper overall. Its blended price (3:1 input/output ratio) is $0.23/M tokens vs $0.35/M for Grok 3 mini Reasoning (high).
Qwen3.8-Flash-Next wins 2 out of 12 benchmarks compared to 0 for Grok 3 mini Reasoning (high). See the detailed benchmark chart above for per-category results.
Qwen3.8-Flash-Next generates tokens faster at 85 tok/s vs 78 tok/s. However, Grok 3 mini Reasoning (high) has lower time-to-first-token (0.68s vs 2.78s).
Choose based on your priorities: Qwen3.8-Flash-Next for lower cost, Qwen3.8-Flash-Next for stronger benchmark performance, and Qwen3.8-Flash-Next for faster generation. For latency-sensitive apps, check the TTFT comparison above.