Compare / Qwen3.6-Max-Preview vs Kimi K2.7 Code

Qwen3.6-Max-Preview vs Kimi K2.7 Code

Which is cheaper, which is more capable, and which does better at each kind of work, from 9 results on 3 sources that measured both models.

AlibabaQwen3.6-Max-Preview Released 20 Apr 2026 · $1.03 in · $6.16 out
Moonshot AIKimi K2.7 Code Released 12 Jun 2026 · $0.95 in · $4.00 out
Qwen3.6-Max-Preview wins 5Kimi K2.7 Code wins 4

Of the 9 results both models have, the better value on each. Results whose reported ranges overlap are too close to call.

Results as of 14 October 2026 (catalogue release 2026-10-14-7d7cf32c3f6d). See also Alibaba vs Moonshot AI, every model from both labs.

Qwen3.6-Max-Preview or Kimi K2.7 Code? The short answer

Pick Qwen3.6-Max-Preview if quality matters most: it scores higher (Intelligence Index 28.4 against 25.8). Pick Kimi K2.7 Code if cost matters more: it costs 26% less per token.

  • Kimi K2.7 Code is cheaper: $1.71 against $2.31 per million tokens, 26% less.
  • Qwen3.6-Max-Preview scores higher on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index: 28.4 against 25.8.
  • Kimi K2.7 Code is newer: released 12 Jun 2026, against 20 Apr 2026 for Qwen3.6-Max-Preview.
  • On third-party benchmarks, on the results both models have: Qwen3.6-Max-Preview does better for sticking to the facts; Kimi K2.7 Code for agents and tool use and reasoning and knowledge.

Head to head

28.4
Intelligence Index
25.8
$2.31
Price per million tokens, blendedlower is better
$1.71
262,144
Context window, tokens
262,144

Every fact side by side

Qwen3.6-Max-PreviewKimi K2.7 Code
Price per million tokens$1.03 in · $6.16 out$0.95 in · $4.00 out
Blended (3 in : 1 out)$2.31$1.71
Cheapest host, blended–$1.28 (StreamLake)
Cached input, per million–$0.19 cached input
Intelligence Index28.425.8
Spring Prompt overall––
Output speed, tokens a second–59
Context window262,144 tokens262,144 tokens
Released20 Apr 202612 Jun 2026 (newer)
WeightsClosedOpen
Developer based inChinaChina

Prices are the developer's list price where we have read it, otherwise the typical host on OpenRouter; see every model's price. Intelligence and speed from Artificial Analysis.

Which is better for what

Each model's rank among the models on sale today, for each kind of work, from our own benchmarks and licensed sources. Further right is better; the better rank is in green.

Agents and tool useMulti-step tasks with tools: support desks, coding agents, function calls 83 of 166 61 of 166
Professional workReal tasks from banking, consulting and law, business documents and freelance projects not measured 41 of 51
Reasoning and knowledgeHard questions across science, maths and general knowledge 61 of 200 59 of 200
WritingWhat people prefer in blind comparisons, and judged writing quality 42 of 189 not measured
Sticking to the factsSummarising without inventing things, and factual answers 46 of 153 98 of 153

Every shared result

Each model's best result on every measure both have, grouped by benchmark, with the setting that produced it. Under each measure, every model that benchmark has measured is a grey tick, best to the right, so you can see where the two sit in the field. The headline measures of each benchmark come first; the rest are under "Show all". Green marks the better value; where a source reports ranges that overlap, neither is marked.

MeasureQwen3.6-Max-PreviewKimi K2.7 Code
Artificial Analysis reported by Artificial Analysis · 3 results
Artificial Analysis Intelligence Indexindex score, higher is better 58 · 70 of 244 measured 28.4 25.8
GPQA Diamond% of questions, higher is better 55 · 47 of 231 measured 88.8% 89.6%
Humanity's Last Exam% of questions, higher is better 71 · 60 of 243 measured 30.8% 35.0%
SimpleQA Verified (Epoch AI) reported by SimpleQA Verified (Epoch AI) · 1 result
Correct answers% of questions, higher is better 21 · 47 of 76 measured 52.0% 36.5%
Vending-Bench 2 reported by Vending-Bench 2 · 1 result
Money after a yearUS dollars, higher is better 31 · 27 of 58 measured $4,254 $5,083
Show all 9 results (4 more)
MeasureQwen3.6-Max-PreviewKimi K2.7 Code
Artificial Analysis reported by Artificial Analysis · 4 results
IFBench% of instructions, higher is better 14 · 74 of 195 measured 76.6% 63.1%
Long-context reasoning (AA-LCR)% of questions, higher is better 33 · 49 of 234 measured 80.7% 79.3%
Terminal-Bench Hard% of tasks, higher is better 23 · 22 of 190 measured 43.9% 44.7%
τ²-bench telecom% of tasks, higher is better 12 · 42 of 193 measured 95.9% 90.1%

Quick answers

Is Qwen3.6-Max-Preview better than Kimi K2.7 Code?

Pick Qwen3.6-Max-Preview if quality matters most: it scores higher (Intelligence Index 28.4 against 25.8). Pick Kimi K2.7 Code if cost matters more: it costs 26% less per token.

Which is cheaper, Qwen3.6-Max-Preview or Kimi K2.7 Code?

Kimi K2.7 Code is cheaper: $1.71 against $2.31 per million tokens, 26% less.

Which is better for agents and tool use, Qwen3.6-Max-Preview or Kimi K2.7 Code?

Kimi K2.7 Code ranks 61 of 166 models on sale for multi-step tasks with tools: support desks, coding agents, function calls, against 83 for Qwen3.6-Max-Preview.

Which is better for reasoning and knowledge, Qwen3.6-Max-Preview or Kimi K2.7 Code?

Kimi K2.7 Code ranks 59 of 200 models on sale for hard questions across science, maths and general knowledge, against 61 for Qwen3.6-Max-Preview.

Which is better for sticking to the facts, Qwen3.6-Max-Preview or Kimi K2.7 Code?

Qwen3.6-Max-Preview ranks 46 of 153 models on sale for summarising without inventing things, and factual answers, against 98 for Kimi K2.7 Code.

Run Qwen3.6-Max-Preview and Kimi K2.7 Code on your own prompt

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