cd /news/large-language-models/quasar-438b-intelligence-performance… · home topics large-language-models article
[ARTICLE · art-117523] src=artificialanalysis.ai ↗ pub= topic=large-language-models verified=true sentiment=· neutral

Quasar 438B: Intelligence, Performance and Price Analysis

Multiverse Computing's Quasar 438B, released on August 10, 2026, scores 43 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, well above the median of 18 for comparable reasoning models, but costs $0.60 per 1M input tokens and $1.80 per 1M output tokens, with a total evaluation cost of $1047.71. The model outputs at 182.7 tokens per second, faster than the median of 105.9 t/s, and has a 1M token context window.

read4 min views1 publishedSep 1, 2026
Quasar 438B: Intelligence, Performance and Price Analysis
Image: source

Model summary

Quasar 438B is amongst the leading models in intelligence, but particularly expensive when comparing to other models of similar price. It's also notably fast, however very verbose. The model supports text input, outputs text, and has a 1M tokens context window.

Quasar 438B scores 43 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, placing it well above average among comparable models (median: 18). When evaluating the Intelligence Index, it generated 350M tokens, which is very verbose in comparison to the median of 67M.

Pricing for Quasar 438B is $0.60 per 1M input tokens (expensive, median: $0.25) and $1.80 per 1M output tokens (expensive, median: $0.90). In total, it cost $1047.71 to evaluate Quasar 438B on the Intelligence Index.

At 183 tokens per second, Quasar 438B is notably fast (106).

Reasoning Yes This page shows the reasoning version of this model. A non-reasoning variant may also exist.
Input modality Supports: text
Output modality Supports: text
Context window 1M ~1500 A4 pages of size 12 Arial font

Metrics are compared against models of the same class:

  • Non-reasoning models → compared only with other non-reasoning models
  • Reasoning models → compared across both reasoning and non-reasoning
  • Open weights models → compared only with other open weights models of the same size class:
- Tiny: ≤4B parameters
- Small: 4B–40B parameters
- Medium: 40B–150B parameters
- Large: >150B parameters
  • Proprietary models → compared across proprietary and open weights models of the same price range, using a blended 3:1 input/output price ratio:

  • <$0.15 per 1M tokens

  • $0.15–$1 per 1M tokens

  • $1 per 1M tokens Highlights

Intelligence #

Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index

Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index by Open Weights / Proprietary

Intelligence Evaluations

Agentic real-world work tasks, (Elo-500)/2000 Agentic tool use

Agentic coding & terminal use

Coding

Reasoning & knowledge

Scientific reasoning

Physics reasoning

Knowledge

1 - hallucination rate

Long context reasoning

Agentic knowledge work, Elo

Agentic SaaS workflows

Legal agentic work, criterion pass rate

Agentic business operations

Quantitative analysis on spreadsheets & documents

Instruction following

Long-horizon agentic tasks

Kubernetes incident root-cause analysis

Visual reasoning

AA-Omniscience

AA-Omniscience Index

Intelligence Index Comparisons #

Intelligence Index vs. Cost per Intelligence Index Task

Token Use #

Output Tokens per Intelligence Index Task

Cost #

Cost per Intelligence Index Task

Cost to Run Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index

Pricing: Cache Hit, Input, and Output

Context Window #

Context Window

Speed #

Measured by Output Speed (tokens per second)

Output Speed

Time per Intelligence Index Task

Latency #

Measured by Time (seconds) to First Token

Latency: Time To First Answer Token

End-to-End Response Time #

Seconds to output 500 tokens, calculated based on time to first token, 'thinking' time for reasoning models, and output speed

End-to-End Response Time

Frequently Asked Questions #

Common questions about Quasar 438B

Quasar 438B was released on August 10, 2026.

Quasar 438B was created by Multiverse Computing.

Quasar 438B scores 43 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, placing it well above average among other reasoning models in a similar price tier (median: 18).

Quasar 438B generates output at 182.7 tokens per second (based on Multiverse Computing's API), which is well above average compared to other reasoning models in a similar price tier (median: 105.9 t/s).

Quasar 438B has a time to first token (TTFT) of 1.09s (based on Multiverse Computing's API), which is very competitive compared to other reasoning models in a similar price tier (median: 2.01s).

Quasar 438B costs $0.60 per 1M input tokens (at the higher end, median: $0.25) and $1.80 per 1M output tokens (at the higher end, median: $0.90), based on Multiverse Computing's API.

Quasar 438B costs $0.60 per 1M input tokens and $1.80 per 1M output tokens (based on Multiverse Computing's API). For a blended rate (7:2:1 cache hit/input/output ratio), this is $0.72 per 1M tokens. Pricing may vary by provider. Compare provider pricing

When evaluated on the Intelligence Index, Quasar 438B generated 350M output tokens, which is at the higher end compared to other reasoning models in a similar price tier (median: 67M).

Yes, Quasar 438B is a reasoning model. It uses extended thinking or chain-of-thought reasoning to work through complex problems before providing an answer.

Quasar 438B supports text input.

Quasar 438B supports text output.

No, Quasar 438B does not support image input. It can only process text.

No, Quasar 438B is not multimodal. It only supports text input.

Quasar 438B has a context window of 1.0M tokens. This determines how much text and conversation history the model can process in a single request.

No, Quasar 438B is proprietary. The model weights are not publicly available.

Quasar 438B has 438 billion parameters.

Quasar 438B achieves a score of 43 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index. This composite benchmark evaluates models across reasoning, knowledge, mathematics, and coding.

Yes, Quasar 438B is available via API through 1 provider. Compare API providers

Quasar 438B is available through 1 API provider. Compare providers

── more in #large-language-models 4 stories · sorted by recency
── more on @multiverse computing 3 stories trending now
sponsored brought to you by zahid.host 4,200+ EU-deployed projects
reading about agents? ship yours in a single git push.

Run your AI side-project on zahid.host

EU-based hosting, git-push deploys, automatic HTTPS, no cold starts. Free tier with a custom domain — perfect for shipping the agent you just read about.

$git push zahid main
Live at https://your-agent.zahid.host
Get free account → Pricing
from €0/mo · no card required
LIVE [news/quasar-438b-intellig…] indexed:0 read:4min 2026-09-01 ·