Sakana Namazu is $1.05 cheaper per 1M input tokens (52.5% lower; 2.11x difference).
API cost decision in 10 seconds
Sakana Namazu vs Qwen3.8 Max
Pick Sakana Namazu for lower cost; pick Qwen3.8 Max only if the larger context window matters more.
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Data confirmed:
Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens
Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output
Budget verdict
Pick Sakana Namazu for lower cost; pick Qwen3.8 Max only if the larger context window matters more.
On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Sakana Namazu is estimated at $2.95 vs $5 for Qwen3.8 Max, saving $2.05 (41% lower).
Cost-first pickSakana Namazu
Context-first pickQwen3.8 Max
Sample savings$2.0541%
10x traffic gap$20.5
Qwen3.8 Max has more context, but Sakana Namazu saves $2.05 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $20.5. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.
Cost sensitivity
Workload Sensitivity
Sakana Namazu stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.
| Workload shape | Token mix | Better pick | Sakana Namazu | Qwen3.8 Max |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Input-heavy / RAG | 5M input + 500K output | Sakana Namazu | $6.75 | $13 |
| Balanced workload | 1M input + 1M output | Sakana Namazu | $4.95 | $8 |
| Output-heavy chatbot | 1M input + 5M output | Sakana Namazu | $20.95 | $32 |
Sakana Namazu is $2 cheaper per 1M output tokens (33.3% lower; 1.5x difference).
Qwen3.8 Max has 737.86K more context (3.81x larger).
Sakana Namazu is $2.05 cheaper on the standard workload (41% lower).
Estimate your workload cost
Your Workload Cost
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
Sakana Namazu has the lower input price; Sakana Namazu has the lower output price; Qwen3.8 Max offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Sakana Namazu is cheaper for the standard workload.
For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $2.95 for Sakana Namazu and $5 for Qwen3.8 Max.
Choose Sakana Namazu when you care most about lower input-token price, and lower output-token price.
Choose Qwen3.8 Max when you care most about larger context window.
- On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Sakana Namazu is estimated at $2.95 vs $5 for Qwen3.8 Max, saving $2.05 (41% lower).
- Sakana Namazu is $2.05 cheaper on the standard workload (41% lower).
- Sakana Namazu is $1.05 cheaper per 1M input tokens (52.5% lower; 2.11x difference).
- Sakana Namazu is $2 cheaper per 1M output tokens (33.3% lower; 1.5x difference).
- Qwen3.8 Max has 737.86K more context (3.81x larger).
| Feature | Sakana Namazu (Sakana) | Qwen3.8 Max (Qwen) |
|---|---|---|
| Input Price prompt tokens per 1M | $0.95 | $2 |
| Completion Price per 1M tokens | $4 | $6 |
| Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output | $2.95 | $5 |
| Context Window | 262.14K | 1M |
| Release Date |
Use-Case Decision Matrix
| Use case | Better pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Budget-constrained production | Sakana Namazu | On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Sakana Namazu is estimated at $2.95 vs $5 for Qwen3.8 Max, saving $2.05 (41% lower). |
| High-volume input processing | Sakana Namazu | Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill. |
| Long responses and chatbots | Sakana Namazu | Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens. |
| RAG or long-document work | Qwen3.8 Max | A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files. |
Related Alternatives
- Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct (free) can replace Qwen3.8 Max when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
- Qwen3 Coder 480B A35B (free) can replace Qwen3.8 Max when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
- Qwen3.7 Flash can replace Qwen3.8 Max when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.1.
- Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 can replace Qwen3.8 Max when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.14.
- Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent offers 2M context with $2.5 sample workload cost.
- Grok 4.20 offers 2M context with $2.5 sample workload cost.
- DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 offers 1.31M context with $0.17 sample workload cost.
- DeepSeek V4 Flash Latest offers 1.31M context with $0.11 sample workload cost.
- DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 · DeepSeek · #1
- MiMo-V2.5 · Xiaomi · #2
- Hy3 · Tencent · #3
- Ox Alpha · stealth · #4
Cheaper alternatives
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Open Qwen modelsSakana Namazu is a Japanese-specialized reasoning model from Sakana AI, based on Kimi K2.6 with additional training for Japanese language and business contexts. It is suited for Japanese instruction following,...
Qwen3.8 Max is the flagship model in Alibaba's Qwen3.8 series, the general-availability successor to the Qwen3.8 Max Preview. It is a multimodal reasoning model intended for complex reasoning, visual understanding,...