Both are Tencent models. Hunyuan Hy4 Preview is the newer, generally stronger default; reach for Hunyuan Hy3 when its lower price or a specific cost or latency profile matters more than the latest capabilities.
Hunyuan Hy3 and Hunyuan Hy4 Preview are both Tencent models, so the real question is not which lab to trust but which tier fits your workload and budget. Hunyuan Hy3 is a 295B Apache-2.0 open MoE that reaches frontier reasoning quality while running at roughly 21B active-parameter cost. Hunyuan Hy4 Preview is tencent's open-sourced (Apache 2.0) next-generation Hunyuan flagship preview, released August 28, 2026 as a 770B-parameter (49B active) MoE model that helped optimize its own training pipeline. Since both come from the same lab, the comparison below focuses on the tier-and-cost trade-offs that actually separate them.
Key differences
Context window: Hunyuan Hy4 Preview holds 3.9× more — 1M+ tokens (~1,500 pages) vs 256K (~384 pages). But effective recall usually fades long before the advertised ceiling, so the bigger number only helps if the model reasons over it.
Recency: Hunyuan Hy4 Preview is the newer model by about 53 days (released August 28, 2026), usually meaning fresher training data and capabilities.
Specifications
Spec
Hunyuan Hy3
Hunyuan Hy4 Preview
Provider
Tencent (China)
Tencent (China)
Released
July 6, 2026
August 28, 2026
Context window
256K (~384 pages)
1M+ tokens (~1,500 pages)
Price (in/out)
Open weight (self-host / free)
$0.834/$2.501 per 1M tokens
Open weight?
Yes — self-hostable
Yes — self-hostable
Modalities
text, code
text
SWE-Bench Verified
Not published
Not published
MRCR v2 @ 1M
Not published
Not published
Who wins what
Frontier-level reported reasoning and science (GPQA Diamond 90.4) at low active-parameter cost: Hunyuan Hy3 — Hunyuan Hy3 lists frontier-level reported reasoning and science (GPQA Diamond 90.4) at low active-parameter cost among its strengths; Hunyuan Hy4 Preview does not.
Runs a 295B model at the cost of a 21B — only 21B parameters active per token: Hunyuan Hy3 — Hunyuan Hy3 lists runs a 295B model at the cost of a 21B — only 21B parameters active per token among its strengths; Hunyuan Hy4 Preview does not.
Clean, unrestricted Apache-2.0 license with no geographic carve-out: Hunyuan Hy3 — Hunyuan Hy3 lists clean, unrestricted Apache-2.0 license with no geographic carve-out among its strengths; Hunyuan Hy4 Preview does not.
GPQA Diamond (92.3): Hunyuan Hy4 Preview — Tencent's open-sourced (Apache 2.0) next-generation Hunyuan flagship preview, released August 28, 2026 as a 770B-parameter (49B active) MoE model that helped optimize its own training pipeline — and it carries the larger 1M+ tokens context.
Terminal-Bench (85.4): Hunyuan Hy4 Preview — Hunyuan Hy3 is comparatively weak here — benchmarks are largely self-reported, and the ultra-low hosted pricing is a limited promotion
SWE-bench Multilingual (82.9): Hunyuan Hy4 Preview — Tencent's open-sourced (Apache 2.0) next-generation Hunyuan flagship preview, released August 28, 2026 as a 770B-parameter (49B active) MoE model that helped optimize its own training pipeline — and it is the newer of the two.
Lowest cost at scale: Hunyuan Hy3 — Its weights are open, so at volume you pay for your own hardware instead of Hunyuan Hy4 Preview's $0.834/$2.501 per 1M tokens.
Largest single-prompt input: Hunyuan Hy4 Preview — Its 1M+ tokens window is about 3.9× larger than Hunyuan Hy3's 256K, fitting roughly 1,500 pages in one prompt.
Which should you pick?
A cost-sensitive startup shipping high volume: Hunyuan Hy3 — At Open weight (self-host / free) it undercuts Hunyuan Hy4 Preview, and on millions of tokens that margin decides the monthly bill.
Someone analysing very long documents or codebases: Hunyuan Hy4 Preview — Larger 1M+ tokens window fits more in one prompt.
Anyone whose priority is frontier-level reported reasoning and science (gpqa diamond 90.4) at low active-parameter cost: Hunyuan Hy3 — It is specifically built for that.
Anyone whose priority is gpqa diamond (92.3): Hunyuan Hy4 Preview — That is its strongest area.
Hunyuan Hy3: where it fits
A 295B Apache-2.0 open MoE that reaches frontier reasoning quality while running at roughly 21B active-parameter cost. Released July 6, 2026 by Tencent, it is built for frontier-level reported reasoning and science (GPQA Diamond 90.4) at low active-parameter cost, runs a 295B model at the cost of a 21B — only 21B parameters active per token, clean, unrestricted Apache-2.0 license with no geographic carve-out, and broad day-one ecosystem support plus an FP8 checkpoint.
Its trade-offs are real: benchmarks are largely self-reported, and the ultra-low hosted pricing is a limited promotion, and the hosted API is China-jurisdiction, and self-hosting a 295B MoE still needs serious hardware. As an open-weight model, its running cost is your own hardware rather than a per-token fee.
Hunyuan Hy4 Preview: where it fits
Tencent's open-sourced (Apache 2.0) next-generation Hunyuan flagship preview, released August 28, 2026 as a 770B-parameter (49B active) MoE model that helped optimize its own training pipeline. Released August 28, 2026 by Tencent, it is built for gPQA Diamond (92.3), terminal-Bench (85.4), sWE-bench Multilingual (82.9), and large jump in long-horizon coding vs prior Hunyuan model (DeepSWE 28.0 to 64.3).
Its trade-offs: text-only, no native vision support, labeled a 'preview', not yet Tencent's finalized GA flagship, and sWE-Marathon score still low in absolute terms (31.9) despite a large relative jump. At $0.834 in / $2.501 out per million tokens, it sits in the budget price band.
The bottom line for this matchup
Because Hunyuan Hy3 and Hunyuan Hy4 Preview come from the same lab (Tencent), they share the same training philosophy and ecosystem — the decision is purely tier vs. cost. Hunyuan Hy4 Preview is the more capable, more recent option; the other earns its place only when its price or latency profile fits a specific job better. Most teams should default to Hunyuan Hy4 Preview and drop down only with a concrete reason.
Frequently asked questions
Is Hunyuan Hy3 or Hunyuan Hy4 Preview better for coding?
Public SWE-Bench figures are not available for either model, so the honest test is your own repository — run an identical real bug through both. By design, Hunyuan Hy3 leans toward frontier-level reported reasoning and science (gpqa diamond 90.4) at low active-parameter cost while Hunyuan Hy4 Preview leans toward gpqa diamond (92.3), and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.
Which is cheaper, Hunyuan Hy3 or Hunyuan Hy4 Preview?
Hunyuan Hy3 is cheaper — Open weight (self-host / free) vs $0.834/$2.501 per 1M tokens.
Which has the bigger context window?
Hunyuan Hy4 Preview — 1M+ tokens vs 256K, about 3.9× larger. Useful only if the model actually reasons over the full window, which not all do.
Should I upgrade from Hunyuan Hy3 to Hunyuan Hy4 Preview?
Since both are Tencent models, the newer one (Hunyuan Hy4 Preview) is usually the better default unless you need a specific cost or latency profile from the other.
Which is newer, Hunyuan Hy3 or Hunyuan Hy4 Preview?
Hunyuan Hy4 Preview — released August 28, 2026, about 53 days after Hunyuan Hy3.
Hunyuan Hy3 vs Hunyuan Hy4 Preview
Tencent · China | Tencent · China · Updated June 2026
Quick verdict
Both are Tencent models. Hunyuan Hy4 Preview is the newer, generally stronger default; reach for Hunyuan Hy3 when its lower price or a specific cost or latency profile matters more than the latest capabilities.
Hunyuan Hy3 and Hunyuan Hy4 Preview are both Tencent models, so the real question is not which lab to trust but which tier fits your workload and budget. Hunyuan Hy3 is a 295B Apache-2.0 open MoE that reaches frontier reasoning quality while running at roughly 21B active-parameter cost. Hunyuan Hy4 Preview is tencent's open-sourced (Apache 2.0) next-generation Hunyuan flagship preview, released August 28, 2026 as a 770B-parameter (49B active) MoE model that helped optimize its own training pipeline. Since both come from the same lab, the comparison below focuses on the tier-and-cost trade-offs that actually separate them.
Key differences at a glance
▸Context window: Hunyuan Hy4 Preview holds 3.9× more — 1M+ tokens (~1,500 pages) vs 256K (~384 pages). But effective recall usually fades long before the advertised ceiling, so the bigger number only helps if the model reasons over it.
▸Recency: Hunyuan Hy4 Preview is the newer model by about 53 days (released August 28, 2026), usually meaning fresher training data and capabilities.
Side-by-side specs
Spec
Hunyuan Hy3
Hunyuan Hy4 Preview
Provider
Tencent (China)
Tencent (China)
Released
July 6, 2026
August 28, 2026
Context window
256K (~384 pages)
1M+ tokens (~1,500 pages)
Price (in/out)
Open weight (self-host / free)
$0.834/$2.501 per 1M tokens
Open weight?
Yes — self-hostable
Yes — self-hostable
Modalities
text, code
text
SWE-Bench Verified
Not published
Not published
MRCR v2 @ 1M
Not published
Not published
Who wins what
Frontier-level reported reasoning and science (GPQA Diamond 90.4) at low active-parameter cost
Hunyuan Hy3
Hunyuan Hy3 lists frontier-level reported reasoning and science (GPQA Diamond 90.4) at low active-parameter cost among its strengths; Hunyuan Hy4 Preview does not.
Runs a 295B model at the cost of a 21B — only 21B parameters active per token
Hunyuan Hy3
Hunyuan Hy3 lists runs a 295B model at the cost of a 21B — only 21B parameters active per token among its strengths; Hunyuan Hy4 Preview does not.
Clean, unrestricted Apache-2.0 license with no geographic carve-out
Hunyuan Hy3
Hunyuan Hy3 lists clean, unrestricted Apache-2.0 license with no geographic carve-out among its strengths; Hunyuan Hy4 Preview does not.
GPQA Diamond (92.3)
Hunyuan Hy4 Preview
Tencent's open-sourced (Apache 2.0) next-generation Hunyuan flagship preview, released August 28, 2026 as a 770B-parameter (49B active) MoE model that helped optimize its own training pipeline — and it carries the larger 1M+ tokens context.
Terminal-Bench (85.4)
Hunyuan Hy4 Preview
Hunyuan Hy3 is comparatively weak here — benchmarks are largely self-reported, and the ultra-low hosted pricing is a limited promotion
SWE-bench Multilingual (82.9)
Hunyuan Hy4 Preview
Tencent's open-sourced (Apache 2.0) next-generation Hunyuan flagship preview, released August 28, 2026 as a 770B-parameter (49B active) MoE model that helped optimize its own training pipeline — and it is the newer of the two.
Lowest cost at scale
Hunyuan Hy3
Its weights are open, so at volume you pay for your own hardware instead of Hunyuan Hy4 Preview's $0.834/$2.501 per 1M tokens.
Largest single-prompt input
Hunyuan Hy4 Preview
Its 1M+ tokens window is about 3.9× larger than Hunyuan Hy3's 256K, fitting roughly 1,500 pages in one prompt.
Which should you pick?
A cost-sensitive startup shipping high volume
→ Hunyuan Hy3
At Open weight (self-host / free) it undercuts Hunyuan Hy4 Preview, and on millions of tokens that margin decides the monthly bill.
Someone analysing very long documents or codebases
→ Hunyuan Hy4 Preview
Larger 1M+ tokens window fits more in one prompt.
Anyone whose priority is frontier-level reported reasoning and science (gpqa diamond 90.4) at low active-parameter cost
→ Hunyuan Hy3
It is specifically built for that.
Anyone whose priority is gpqa diamond (92.3)
→ Hunyuan Hy4 Preview
That is its strongest area.
Hunyuan Hy3: where it fits
A 295B Apache-2.0 open MoE that reaches frontier reasoning quality while running at roughly 21B active-parameter cost. Released July 6, 2026 by Tencent, it is built for frontier-level reported reasoning and science (GPQA Diamond 90.4) at low active-parameter cost, runs a 295B model at the cost of a 21B — only 21B parameters active per token, clean, unrestricted Apache-2.0 license with no geographic carve-out, and broad day-one ecosystem support plus an FP8 checkpoint.
Its trade-offs are real: benchmarks are largely self-reported, and the ultra-low hosted pricing is a limited promotion, and the hosted API is China-jurisdiction, and self-hosting a 295B MoE still needs serious hardware. As an open-weight model, its running cost is your own hardware rather than a per-token fee.
Hunyuan Hy4 Preview: where it fits
Tencent's open-sourced (Apache 2.0) next-generation Hunyuan flagship preview, released August 28, 2026 as a 770B-parameter (49B active) MoE model that helped optimize its own training pipeline. Released August 28, 2026 by Tencent, it is built for gPQA Diamond (92.3), terminal-Bench (85.4), sWE-bench Multilingual (82.9), and large jump in long-horizon coding vs prior Hunyuan model (DeepSWE 28.0 to 64.3).
Its trade-offs: text-only, no native vision support, labeled a 'preview', not yet Tencent's finalized GA flagship, and sWE-Marathon score still low in absolute terms (31.9) despite a large relative jump. At $0.834 in / $2.501 out per million tokens, it sits in the budget price band.
The bottom line for this matchup
Because Hunyuan Hy3 and Hunyuan Hy4 Preview come from the same lab (Tencent), they share the same training philosophy and ecosystem — the decision is purely tier vs. cost. Hunyuan Hy4 Preview is the more capable, more recent option; the other earns its place only when its price or latency profile fits a specific job better. Most teams should default to Hunyuan Hy4 Preview and drop down only with a concrete reason.
Want both Hunyuan Hy3 and Hunyuan Hy4 Preview without two subscriptions? LumiChats gives you these plus 40+ models under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day) — draft with one, cross-check with the other.
Is Hunyuan Hy3 or Hunyuan Hy4 Preview better for coding?
Public SWE-Bench figures are not available for either model, so the honest test is your own repository — run an identical real bug through both. By design, Hunyuan Hy3 leans toward frontier-level reported reasoning and science (gpqa diamond 90.4) at low active-parameter cost while Hunyuan Hy4 Preview leans toward gpqa diamond (92.3), and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.
Which is cheaper, Hunyuan Hy3 or Hunyuan Hy4 Preview?
Hunyuan Hy3 is cheaper — Open weight (self-host / free) vs $0.834/$2.501 per 1M tokens.
Which has the bigger context window?
Hunyuan Hy4 Preview — 1M+ tokens vs 256K, about 3.9× larger. Useful only if the model actually reasons over the full window, which not all do.
Should I upgrade from Hunyuan Hy3 to Hunyuan Hy4 Preview?
Since both are Tencent models, the newer one (Hunyuan Hy4 Preview) is usually the better default unless you need a specific cost or latency profile from the other.
Which is newer, Hunyuan Hy3 or Hunyuan Hy4 Preview?
Hunyuan Hy4 Preview — released August 28, 2026, about 53 days after Hunyuan Hy3.
Specifications and benchmarks reflect publicly reported figures as of June 2026 and may change as providers release updates. Always verify on your own workload.