Compare / Qwen3.8-Max (0902) vs Kimi K2.6
Qwen3.8-Max (0902) vs Kimi K2.6
Which is cheaper, which is more capable, and which does better at each kind of work, from 18 results on 4 sources that measured both models.
Of the 18 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.
Qwen3.8-Max (0902) or Kimi K2.6? The short answer
Pick Qwen3.8-Max (0902) if quality matters most: it scores higher (Intelligence Index 45.4 against 27.0). Pick Kimi K2.6 if cost matters more: it costs 43% less per token.
- Kimi K2.6 is cheaper: $1.71 against $3.00 per million tokens, 43% less.
- Qwen3.8-Max (0902) scores higher on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index: 45.4 against 27.0.
- Qwen3.8-Max (0902) is newer: released 3 Aug 2026, against 20 Apr 2026 for Kimi K2.6.
- On third-party benchmarks, on the results both models have: Qwen3.8-Max (0902) does better for agents and tool use, professional work, reasoning and knowledge, writing and sticking to the facts.
Head to head
Every fact side by side
| Qwen3.8-Max (0902) | Kimi K2.6 | |
|---|---|---|
| Price per million tokens | $2.00 in · $6.00 out | $0.95 in · $4.00 out |
| Blended (3 in : 1 out) | $3.00 | $1.71 |
| Cheapest host, blended | – | $0.96 (Inceptron, INT4) |
| Cached input, per million | – | $0.16 cached input |
| Intelligence Index | 45.4 | 27.0 |
| Spring Prompt overall | 48 | – |
| Output speed, tokens a second | 37 | – |
| Context window | 1,000,000 tokens | 262,144 tokens |
| Released | 3 Aug 2026 (newer) | 20 Apr 2026 |
| 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 | Qwen3.8-Max (0902) | Kimi K2.6 |
|---|---|---|
| Arena (formerly LMArena) reported by Arena (formerly LMArena) · 3 results | ||
| Overall · TextArena rating, higher is better 20 · 50 of 387 measured | 1,482 | 1,461 |
| Overall · Text factualityArena rating, higher is better 22 · 45 of 163 measured | 1,472 | 1,456 |
| Business, management and finance · TextArena rating, higher is better 16 · 59 of 380 measured | 1,484 | 1,455 |
| Artificial Analysis reported by Artificial Analysis · 3 results | ||
| Artificial Analysis Intelligence Indexindex score, higher is better 14 · 62 of 243 measured | 45.4 | 27.0 |
| GPQA Diamond% of questions, higher is better 15 · 31 of 231 measured | 92.8% | 91.1% |
| Humanity's Last Exam% of questions, higher is better 24 · 51 of 242 measured | 43.1% | 37.5% |
| GDP.pdf reported by GDP.pdf · 1 result | ||
| Professional document tasks% of rubric, higher is better 13 · 28 of 32 measured | 23.2%xhigh reasoning | 12.0% |
| SimpleQA Verified (Epoch AI) reported by SimpleQA Verified (Epoch AI) · 1 result | ||
| Correct answers% of questions, higher is better 30 · 49 of 76 measured | 47.3%xhigh reasoning | 34.9% |
Show all 18 results (10 more)
| Measure | Qwen3.8-Max (0902) | Kimi K2.6 |
|---|---|---|
| Arena (formerly LMArena) reported by Arena (formerly LMArena) · 4 results | ||
| Creative writing · TextArena rating, higher is better 17 · 58 of 385 measured | 1,468 | 1,433 |
| Expert prompts · TextArena rating, higher is better 20 · 32 of 338 measured | 1,513 | 1,503 |
| Instruction following · TextArena rating, higher is better 25 · 47 of 387 measured | 1,474 | 1,456 |
| Writing, literature and language · TextArena rating, higher is better 18 · 58 of 386 measured | 1,472 | 1,441 |
| Artificial Analysis reported by Artificial Analysis · 6 results | ||
| Terminal-Bench 2.1% of tasks, higher is better 5 · 38 of 130 measured | 88.8% | 65.9% |
| Terminal-Bench 4.0% of tasks, higher is better 12 · 58 of 112 measured | 38.9% | 0.5% |
| τ-bench banking% of tasks, higher is better 7 · 42 of 121 measured | 47.8% | 23.3% |
| Artificial Analysis Coding Indexindex score, higher is better 10 · 37 of 131 measured | 76.2 | 61.8 |
| Long-context reasoning (AA-LCR)% of questions, higher is better 35 · 31 of 233 measured | 80.3% | 81.0% |
| SciCode% of problems, higher is better 36 · 40 of 113 measured | 52.1% | 51.5% |
Compare them with other models
Quick answers
Is Qwen3.8-Max (0902) better than Kimi K2.6?
Pick Qwen3.8-Max (0902) if quality matters most: it scores higher (Intelligence Index 45.4 against 27.0). Pick Kimi K2.6 if cost matters more: it costs 43% less per token.
Which is cheaper, Qwen3.8-Max (0902) or Kimi K2.6?
Kimi K2.6 is cheaper: $1.71 against $3.00 per million tokens, 43% less.
Which is better for agents and tool use, Qwen3.8-Max (0902) or Kimi K2.6?
Qwen3.8-Max (0902) ranks 7 of 164 models on sale for multi-step tasks with tools: support desks, coding agents, function calls, against 65 for Kimi K2.6.
Which is better for professional work, Qwen3.8-Max (0902) or Kimi K2.6?
Qwen3.8-Max (0902) ranks 18 of 51 models on sale for real tasks from banking, consulting and law, business documents and freelance projects, against 43 for Kimi K2.6.
Which is better for reasoning and knowledge, Qwen3.8-Max (0902) or Kimi K2.6?
Qwen3.8-Max (0902) ranks 17 of 198 models on sale for hard questions across science, maths and general knowledge, against 50 for Kimi K2.6.
Which is better for writing, Qwen3.8-Max (0902) or Kimi K2.6?
Qwen3.8-Max (0902) ranks 16 of 188 models on sale for what people prefer in blind comparisons, and judged writing quality, against 35 for Kimi K2.6.
Which is better for sticking to the facts, Qwen3.8-Max (0902) or Kimi K2.6?
Qwen3.8-Max (0902) ranks 38 of 152 models on sale for summarising without inventing things, and factual answers, against 84 for Kimi K2.6.
Which has the bigger context window, Qwen3.8-Max (0902) or Kimi K2.6?
Qwen3.8-Max (0902): 1,000,000 tokens, against 262,144 for Kimi K2.6.
Run Qwen3.8-Max (0902) and Kimi K2.6 on your own prompt
Benchmarks aren't your data. Try both side by side in the playground, with the cost of every answer.