Qwen3.8 Max (0902) vs Inkling
Qwen3.8 Max (0902) took 77 min 11 s and $1.20 at list price, Inkling took 8 min 30 s and $0.21 at list price. Qwen3.8 Max (0902) took 9.1× as long and cost 5.8× as much.
Qwen3.8 Max (0902)
Alibaba · $6.00/M out · 3 HN pts
Inkling
Thinking Machines · $4.05/M out · free route · 4 HN pts
Pelican
Generate an SVG of a pelican riding a bicycle
Watch
Draw a mechanical wristwatch that shows the current local time, with a sweeping seconds hand and a date window. Make it look expensive.
Landing
Build the landing page for Lumen Cycles, a Copenhagen workshop that builds custom cargo bikes to order. Make it look like a real brand you would trust with 4,000 euros.
Breakout
Make a Breakout game I can play right now with the keyboard or the mouse. Give it several levels, a score and some juice.
Logo
Design a logo for Night Heron, an independent bookshop that only opens after dark.
About
Write the opening of the About us page for Patchbay, a three-person studio in Rotterdam that repairs vintage synthesizers. About 150 words.
Patchbay is a small repair studio in Rotterdam dedicated to vintage synthesizers. We are three people who care about old instruments, their history, and the players who keep them alive. From classic analog polys to rare drum machines, we take the time to understand each machine before we touch it. Our work is practical and respectful: careful diagnosis, honest advice, and repairs that preserve the character of the instrument. We know these synths are more than circuits and knobs. They carry stories from studios, stages, and secondhand shops, and they deserve to be treated with patience. Whether a machine needs a simple clean, a full restoration, or help finding a hard-to-source part, we aim to make the process clear and personal from start to finish. Based in Rotterdam, we help musicians, collectors, and studios keep old synthesizers making sound for years to come. We do it with patience and respect.
Patchbay is a three-person repair studio in Rotterdam dedicated to vintage synthesizers. We work on analog circuits, replace failing capacitors and resistors, calibrate unstable oscillators, and restore instruments that have been silent for years. Our bench sees early Japanese mono synths, European string machines, American polys, and large modular systems. We treat each repair as a specific problem rather than a routine job, because these machines were built differently and fail differently. The studio grew out of our own need for careful, local repairs. Over time, musicians, collectors, and producers across the Netherlands started bringing us gear they could not trust elsewhere. We open every case with the same approach: diagnose the fault properly, use appropriate parts, and test the result thoroughly. We do not apply quick fixes or ignore underlying issues. Whether your synthesizer suffers from tuning drift, dead voices, noisy outputs, or an unknown electrical fault, we are in Rotterdam to find the cause and return it to reliable working condition.
Specs and numbers
| Qwen3.8 Max (0902) | Inkling | |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Alibaba | Thinking Machines |
| Made in | China | US |
| Released | 3 Sep 2026 | 17 Jul 2026 |
| Price in, per M tokens | $2.00 | free route (list $1.00/M) |
| Price out, per M tokens | $6.00 | free route (list $4.05/M) |
| Context | 1,000,000 tokens | 524,288 tokens |
| Weights | closed | open |
| Hacker News points | 3 | 4 |
| Time for the six prompts | 77 min 11 s | 8 min 30 s |
| List price of the six prompts | $1.20 | $0.21 |
Inkling was cheaper: $1.00 less at list price, and less on each of the 6 prompts. Inkling was faster: 68 min 40 s less in total, and faster on each of the 6 prompts.
In the recording, both Breakout games play.
Rebuild this screen experiment: Qwen3.8 Max (0902)'s rebuild matched the screenshot at 81%, Inkling's 51%. Tea Garden experiment: Qwen3.8 Max (0902)'s game passed 5 of 5 checks, Inkling's 5 of 5.





