Compare / Qwen3.6-Max-Preview vs Kimi K3
Qwen3.6-Max-Preview vs Kimi K3
Which is cheaper, which is more capable, and which does better at each kind of work, from 13 results on 4 sources that measured both models.
Of the 13 results both models have, the better value on each. Results whose reported ranges overlap are too close to call.
Results as of 9 October 2026 (catalogue release 2026-10-09-dd620e778ac5). See also Alibaba vs Moonshot AI, every model from both labs.
Qwen3.6-Max-Preview or Kimi K3? The short answer
Pick Kimi K3 if quality matters most: it scores higher (Intelligence Index 43.6 against 28.4). Pick Qwen3.6-Max-Preview if cost matters more: it costs 2.6 times less per token.
- Qwen3.6-Max-Preview is cheaper: $2.31 against $6.00 per million tokens, 2.6 times less.
- Kimi K3 scores higher on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index: 43.6 against 28.4.
- Kimi K3 is newer: released 16 Jul 2026, against 20 Apr 2026 for Qwen3.6-Max-Preview.
- On third-party benchmarks, on the results both models have: Kimi K3 does better for agents and tool use, reasoning and knowledge and writing.
Head to head
Every fact side by side
| Qwen3.6-Max-Preview | Kimi K3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Price per million tokens | $1.03 in · $6.16 out | $3.00 in · $15.00 out |
| Blended (3 in : 1 out) | $2.31 | $6.00 |
| Cheapest host, blended | – | $3.70 (Morph, FP8) |
| Cached input, per million | – | $0.30 cached input |
| Intelligence Index | 28.4 | 43.6 |
| Spring Prompt overall | – | 50 |
| Output speed, tokens a second | – | 45 |
| Context window | 262,144 tokens | 1,048,576 tokens |
| Released | 20 Apr 2026 | 16 Jul 2026 (newer) |
| Weights | Closed | Open |
| Developer based in | China | China |
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.
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.
| Measure | Qwen3.6-Max-Preview | Kimi K3 |
|---|---|---|
| Arena (formerly LMArena) reported by Arena (formerly LMArena) · 3 results | ||
| Overall · TextArena rating, higher is better 51 · 13 of 387 measured | 1,460 | 1,488max reasoning |
| Overall · Text factualityArena rating, higher is better 51 · 20 of 163 measured | 1,453 | 1,472max reasoning |
| Business, management and finance · TextArena rating, higher is better 64 · 12 of 380 measured | 1,451 | 1,487max reasoning |
| Artificial Analysis reported by Artificial Analysis · 3 results | ||
| Artificial Analysis Intelligence Indexindex score, higher is better 57 · 17 of 243 measured | 28.4 | 43.6max reasoning |
| GPQA Diamond% of questions, higher is better 55 · 10 of 231 measured | 88.8% | 93.5%max reasoning |
| Humanity's Last Exam% of questions, higher is better 70 · 17 of 242 measured | 30.8% | 46.9%max reasoning |
| SimpleQA Verified (Epoch AI) reported by SimpleQA Verified (Epoch AI) · 1 result | ||
| Correct answers% of questions, higher is better 21 · 23 of 76 measured | 52.0% | 50.6%max reasoning |
| Vending-Bench 2 reported by Vending-Bench 2 · 1 result | ||
| Money after a yearUS dollars, higher is better 31 · 24 of 58 measured | $4,254 | $5,165 |
Show all 13 results (5 more)
| Measure | Qwen3.6-Max-Preview | Kimi K3 |
|---|---|---|
| Arena (formerly LMArena) reported by Arena (formerly LMArena) · 4 results | ||
| Creative writing · TextArena rating, higher is better 50 · 20 of 385 measured | 1,437 | 1,460max reasoning |
| Expert prompts · TextArena rating, higher is better 36 · 10 of 338 measured | 1,500 | 1,533max reasoning |
| Instruction following · TextArena rating, higher is better 56 · 11 of 387 measured | 1,450 | 1,488max reasoning |
| Writing, literature and language · TextArena rating, higher is better 50 · 13 of 386 measured | 1,446 | 1,476max reasoning |
| Artificial Analysis reported by Artificial Analysis · 1 result | ||
| Long-context reasoning (AA-LCR)% of questions, higher is better 33 · 1 of 233 measured | 80.7% | 88.7%max reasoning |
Compare them with other models
Quick answers
Is Qwen3.6-Max-Preview better than Kimi K3?
Pick Kimi K3 if quality matters most: it scores higher (Intelligence Index 43.6 against 28.4). Pick Qwen3.6-Max-Preview if cost matters more: it costs 2.6 times less per token.
Which is cheaper, Qwen3.6-Max-Preview or Kimi K3?
Qwen3.6-Max-Preview is cheaper: $2.31 against $6.00 per million tokens, 2.6 times less.
Which is better for agents and tool use, Qwen3.6-Max-Preview or Kimi K3?
Kimi K3 ranks 34 of 164 models on sale for multi-step tasks with tools: support desks, coding agents, function calls, against 81 for Qwen3.6-Max-Preview.
Which is better for reasoning and knowledge, Qwen3.6-Max-Preview or Kimi K3?
Kimi K3 ranks 15 of 198 models on sale for hard questions across science, maths and general knowledge, against 59 for Qwen3.6-Max-Preview.
Which is better for writing, Qwen3.6-Max-Preview or Kimi K3?
Kimi K3 ranks 11 of 188 models on sale for what people prefer in blind comparisons, and judged writing quality, against 41 for Qwen3.6-Max-Preview.
Which is better for sticking to the facts, Qwen3.6-Max-Preview or Kimi K3?
Kimi K3 ranks 28 of 152 models on sale for summarising without inventing things, and factual answers, against 45 for Qwen3.6-Max-Preview.
Which has the bigger context window, Qwen3.6-Max-Preview or Kimi K3?
Kimi K3: 1,048,576 tokens, against 262,144 for Qwen3.6-Max-Preview.
Run Qwen3.6-Max-Preview and Kimi K3 on your own prompt
Benchmarks aren't your data. Try both side by side in the playground, with the cost of every answer.