Claude Sonnet 5.5 vs Qwen3.8 Max (0902)
Claude Sonnet 5.5 took 3 min 49 s and $0.34 at list price, Qwen3.8 Max (0902) took 77 min 11 s and $1.20 at list price. Qwen3.8 Max (0902) took 20× as long and cost 3.5× as much.
Claude Sonnet 5.5
Anthropic · $10.00/M out · 9 HN pts
Qwen3.8 Max (0902)
Alibaba · $6.00/M out · 3 HN pts
Only Claude Sonnet 5.5 has CLI runs here (Claude Code).
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 three people in a workshop in Rotterdam, trying to keep old synthesizers alive. We repair, restore and recalibrate the instruments that shaped electronic music: Moogs and Oberheims, Rolands and Sequential Circuits, the odd temperamental Soviet oddity that someone found in an attic.
Most of what lands on our benches has been silent for years. A crackling pot, a drifting oscillator, a power supply that gave up in 1994. Some come from working musicians who need their instrument back before the next tour. Others come from people who inherited a dusty box from a parent and want to hear what it sounds like.
We work slowly and by hand. We trace faults with a scope and a schematic, source or rebuild parts when originals are gone, and change as little as we can. Every synth leaves with a note describing exactly what we did, so the next person to open it knows where we have been.
Come by, bring your synth, and stay for coffee.
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.
Specs and numbers
| Claude Sonnet 5.5 | Qwen3.8 Max (0902) | |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Anthropic | Alibaba |
| Made in | US | China |
| Released | 28 Sep 2026 | 3 Sep 2026 |
| Price in, per M tokens | $2.00 | $2.00 |
| Price out, per M tokens | $10.00 | $6.00 |
| Context | 1,000,000 tokens | 1,000,000 tokens |
| Weights | closed | closed |
| Hacker News points | 9 | 3 |
| Time for the six prompts | 3 min 49 s | 77 min 11 s |
| List price of the six prompts | $0.34 | $1.20 |
Claude Sonnet 5.5 was cheaper: $0.86 less at list price, and less on each of the 6 prompts. Claude Sonnet 5.5 was faster: 73 min 22 s less in total, and faster on each of the 6 prompts.
In the recording, both Breakout games play.
Rebuild this screen experiment: Claude Sonnet 5.5's rebuild matched the screenshot at 94%, Qwen3.8 Max (0902)'s 81%. Tea Garden experiment: Claude Sonnet 5.5's game passed 5 of 5 checks, Qwen3.8 Max (0902)'s 5 of 5.





