Qwen 3.8 vs Fugu Mini

What I tested — same prompt, two models

I run the same fixed prompt set through every new model the day it drops — same string, one shot, single HTML file out — and I score the result 0–10 on whether it ran, how close it hit the brief, and how good it looked. Below is what came out when I gave the exact same prompts to Qwen 3.8 and Fugu Mini, side by side, on 35 shared tasks inside the Agent Operating System.

Both models were given identical prompts inside the Agent Operating System — no help, no iteration, no "best of N" tricks. I run each prompt once, save the HTML file the model produces, and score it 0–10 on whether it ran, how close it hit the brief, and how good it looked. The scoring is mine. The verdicts below are pulled from my source comparison guides at agentos.guide where I publish every score and the reasoning behind it.

Qwen 3.8 · Benched on GoldieBench via the Qoder CLI (`qoder-qwen`, model Qwen3.8-Max-Preview) — the only door while it has no public API. Non-game tasks are one-shot like the rest of the field. GAME tasks run in Qoder's real AGENT mode: skill-infused build, then up to 2 QA fix rounds where a vision judge + live console errors are fed back and Qwen 3.8 edits its own file (it took crypt from a black-screen 3.0 to a torch-lit 7.8). Scored on a mid-play frame by the same Opus judge as everyone else.

Fugu Mini · Dispatched from Agent OS as the fast Sakana lane. Bench scored by Claude judge against the same 42 prompts.

Where Qwen 3.8 beat Fugu Mini

The tasks where I gave Qwen 3.8 a higher 0–10 score on the same prompt — with the actual commentary from my source guides.

Where Fugu Mini beat Qwen 3.8

The tasks where I gave Fugu Mini a higher 0–10 score on the same prompt — with the actual commentary from my source guides.

Strengths & weaknesses I logged

Pricing & context — the spec sheet

The verdict — which should you pick?

Across 34 scored shared tasks, the averages are essentially tied — Qwen 3.8 8.04 vs Fugu Mini 7.75. This isn't the comparison where one wins; it's the comparison where you pick based on context, pricing, and what you're actually trying to ship.

If you only run one of these inside your stack, the head-to-head average above is the call. If you can run both, my honest play is to wire Qwen 3.8 and Fugu Mini both into the Agent Operating System and dispatch each from the kanban by task type — one-shot 3d game and world prototypes where atmosphere matters → Qwen 3.8, agent loops where latency matters more than panel consensus → Fugu Mini. That's the same setup I run for the 4,000+ founders inside the AI Profit Boardroom.

FAQ — Qwen 3.8 vs Fugu Mini

Which is better, Qwen 3.8 or Fugu Mini?

On Goldie Bench, Qwen 3.8 averages 8.04/10 across the shared tasks, with 10 gold, 10 silver, 5 bronze overall. Fugu Mini averages 7.75/10, with 2 gold, 0 silver, 2 bronze. Qwen 3.8 wins the head-to-head 26–8.

How much does Qwen 3.8 cost vs Fugu Mini?

Qwen 3.8: Qwen3.8-Max-Preview is Alibaba's ~2.4T-parameter flagship, positioned just behind Claude Fable 5. It is NOT on OpenRouter or a public API yet — the only access today is inside Qoder (Alibaba's agentic coding platform, free 2-week Pro trial). Benched here via the Qoder CLI on model `Qwen3.8-Max-Preview`, one-shot. Fugu Mini: The non-Ultra `fugu` model on Sakana's API. Sakana describes it as 'Fast mini model optimized for low latency yet high quality responses.' Crucially: zero orchestration tokens per call (vs Ultra's panel of thousands). Returns in ~3 min instead of 6-15 min and doesn't time out on heavy prompts.

What's the context window for Qwen 3.8 vs Fugu Mini?

Qwen 3.8 has a Served through Alibaba's Qoder agent platform; the 3.8-Max preview has no standalone public context window yet. context window. Fugu Mini has a Single-model variant of Sakana's Fugu — no panel orchestration. Same API endpoint, much faster per call. context window.

When should I pick Qwen 3.8 over Fugu Mini?

Pick Qwen 3.8 for: One-shot 3D game and world prototypes where atmosphere matters; Anyone already in the Qoder IDE/CLI wanting a near-frontier model free on the Pro trial; A cheaper stand-in for Fable 5 on creative-visual builds. The trade-off is the weaknesses we logged on the bench: Torch-lit dungeon (crypt) came out generic (6.3); one open-world RPG one-shot black-screened (twilightvale 2.5) — classic three.js r128 API drift; Preview is Qoder / Token-Plan only — no OpenRouter or public API, so it can't be routed into an app the way the OpenRouter models can.

When should I pick Fugu Mini over Qwen 3.8?

Pick Fugu Mini for: Agent loops where latency matters more than panel consensus; Quick first-drafts you'll refine downstream; Filling out a bench when Ultra is timing out. The trade-off is the weaknesses we logged on the bench: Single model only — no ensemble verdict; Newer than Ultra — less calibration / verification.

How does Goldie Bench score Qwen 3.8 vs Fugu Mini?

Every demo on this page was built by Julian Goldie inside the Agent Operating System — same fixed prompt for both models, one shot, single HTML file out. Each result gets a 0–10 score on whether it ran, how close it hit the brief, and how good it looked. The highest score on each task gets gold; second gets silver; third gets bronze. See methodology for full provenance.

Related comparisons

Other head-to-heads using the same scoring system:

Full model pages: Qwen 3.8 · Fugu Mini · back to the leaderboard