API cost decision in 10 seconds

NewParticle-1 vs Qwen3.8 Max (0902)

Pick Particle-1 when budget and context both matter.

Page updated:  Data confirmed:  Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick Particle-1 when budget and context both matter.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Particle-1 is estimated at $0.75 vs $5 for Qwen3.8 Max (0902), saving $4.25 (85% lower).

Cost-first pickParticle-1
Context-first pickParticle-1
Sample savings$4.2585%
10x traffic gap$42.5

Particle-1 is cheaper on the standard workload and also has the larger context window. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $42.5. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

Particle-1 stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shapeToken mixBetter pickParticle-1Qwen3.8 Max (0902)
Input-heavy / RAG5M input + 500K outputParticle-1$1.75$13
Balanced workload1M input + 1M outputParticle-1$1.25$8
Output-heavy chatbot1M input + 5M outputParticle-1$5.25$32
Cheaper input Particle-1 $0.25 vs $2 / 1M

Particle-1 is $1.75 cheaper per 1M input tokens (87.5% lower; 8x difference).

Cheaper output Particle-1 $1 vs $6 / 1M

Particle-1 is $5 cheaper per 1M output tokens (83.3% lower; 6x difference).

Larger context Particle-1 1.05M vs 1M

Particle-1 has 48.58K more context (1.05x larger).

Sample workload Particle-1 $0.75 vs $5

Particle-1 is $4.25 cheaper on the standard workload (85% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.
Particle-1 Calculating… Estimated API cost
Qwen3.8 Max (0902) Calculating… Estimated API cost
Cheaper for this workload Calculating… Difference: calculating…

This estimate uses normalized public API pricing per 1M tokens. It is a planning aid, not a billing quote. Verify provider pricing, limits, and terms before production use.

Quick Decision

Verdict

Particle-1 has the lower input price; Particle-1 has the lower output price; Particle-1 offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Particle-1 is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $0.75 for Particle-1 and $5 for Qwen3.8 Max (0902).

Best Fit

Choose Particle-1 when you care most about lower input-token price, lower output-token price, and larger context window.

Choose Qwen3.8 Max (0902) when its provider, model quality, latency, or availability is more important than the numeric price/context winner.

Decision Notes
  • On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Particle-1 is estimated at $0.75 vs $5 for Qwen3.8 Max (0902), saving $4.25 (85% lower).
  • Particle-1 is $4.25 cheaper on the standard workload (85% lower).
  • Particle-1 is $1.75 cheaper per 1M input tokens (87.5% lower; 8x difference).
  • Particle-1 is $5 cheaper per 1M output tokens (83.3% lower; 6x difference).
  • Particle-1 has 48.58K more context (1.05x larger).
Head-to-Head Specs
FeatureNewParticle-1
(Particle AI)
Qwen3.8 Max (0902)
(Qwen)
Input Price
prompt tokens per 1M
$0.25$2
Completion Price
per 1M tokens
$1$6
Sample Workload Cost
1M input + 500K output
$0.75$5
Context Window1.05M1M
Release Date

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use caseBetter pickWhy
Budget-constrained productionParticle-1On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Particle-1 is estimated at $0.75 vs $5 for Qwen3.8 Max (0902), saving $4.25 (85% lower).
High-volume input processingParticle-1Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbotsParticle-1Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document workParticle-1A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

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Provider catalogs

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Particle AI catalog

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Qwen catalog

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Particle-1

Particle-1 is a token-efficient agentic coding model from Particle AI, post-trained on DeepSeek V4.1 Flash. It is suited for software engineering work such as terminal workflows, codebase changes, and data...

Qwen3.8 Max (0902)

Qwen3.8 Max 0902 is an updated snapshot of Qwen3.8 Max from Alibaba's Qwen team. It is a 2.4-trillion-parameter mixture-of-experts model that accepts text, image, and video input and returns text,...