# Apertus v1.5 8B vs ThinkingCap (Qwen3.8 27B) (slim)

> Apertus v1.5 8B and ThinkingCap score within a point of each other for open-weight models you run yourself, 61 and 61 out of 100. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apertus-v1-5-8b-vs-thinkingcap-qwen3-8-27b.md (~6,550 tokens) · this version ~530 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apertus-v1-5-8b-vs-thinkingcap-qwen3-8-27b.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/apertus-v1-5-8b-vs-thinkingcap-qwen3-8-27b
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp · Updated: 2026-10-21
- Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data)

Apertus v1.5 8B and ThinkingCap (Qwen3.8 27B) score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 61 (C) and 61 (C). ThinkingCap (Qwen3.8 27B) leads on reach. Both do open-weight models you run yourself.

- Apertus v1.5 8B: C 61, rank #35 of 100 open-weight models · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/apertus-v1-5-8b.min.md
- ThinkingCap (Qwen3.8 27B): C 61, rank #50 of 100 open-weight models · https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/thinkingcap-qwen3-8-27b.min.md
- Apertus v1.5 8B, good for Agents that want a fully open, multilingual 8B with image and audio input on one 24 GB GPU, and can run a publisher fork of vLLM. Ahead on Risk, 75 against 45; Agent interface, 85 against 70; Documentation and upkeep, 84 against 53.
- ThinkingCap (Qwen3.8 27B), good for Small teams and individuals running Qwen3.8-27B for agent or reasoning work who want shorter thinking traces on one 24 GB GPU or Mac. Ahead on Reach, 75 against 40.

| Category | Apertus v1.5 8B | ThinkingCap (Qwen3.8 27B) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Capability (35%) | pending | pending |
| Reach (25%) | 40 | 75 |
| Risk (20%) | 75 | 45 |
| Agent interface (10%) | 85 | 70 |
| Documentation and upkeep (10%) | 84 | 53 |

| Fact (where they differ) | Apertus v1.5 8B | ThinkingCap (Qwen3.8 27B) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Vendor | Swiss AI Initiative (EPFL and ETH Zurich) | BottleCap AI |
| Licence | Apache-2.0, with the Apertus Acceptable Use Policy (v1.5, 14 July 2026) accepted at the download gate | PolyForm-Small-Business-1.0.0 |
| Last release | 2026-10-14 | 2026-10-06 |
| Terms last updated |  | no document linked |
| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked |  |
| Agent reviews | 2.8/5 (4) | 2.5/5 (4) |