Compare / Qwen3-Max vs Kimi K3
Qwen3-Max vs Kimi K3
Which is cheaper, which is more capable, and which does better at each kind of work, from 12 results on 4 sources that measured both models.
Of the 12 results both models have, the better value on each. Results whose reported ranges overlap are too close to call.
Results as of 13 October 2026 (catalogue release 2026-10-13-2e2420e3c5cc). See also Alibaba vs Moonshot AI, every model from both labs.
Qwen3-Max or Kimi K3? The short answer
Pick Kimi K3 if quality matters most: it scores higher (Intelligence Index 43.6 against 15.6). Pick Qwen3-Max if cost matters more: it costs 3.8 times less per token.
- Qwen3-Max is cheaper: $1.56 against $6.00 per million tokens, 3.8 times less.
- Kimi K3 scores higher on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index: 43.6 against 15.6.
- Kimi K3 is newer: released 16 Jul 2026, against 24 Sep 2025 for Qwen3-Max.
- On third-party benchmarks, on the results both models have: Kimi K3 does better for agents and tool use, reasoning and knowledge, writing and sticking to the facts.
Head to head
Every fact side by side
| Qwen3-Max | Kimi K3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Price per million tokens | $0.78 in · $3.90 out | $3.00 in · $15.00 out |
| Blended (3 in : 1 out) | $1.56 | $6.00 |
| Cheapest host, blended | – | $3.70 (Morph, FP8) |
| Cached input, per million | – | $0.30 cached input |
| Intelligence Index | 15.6 | 43.6 |
| Spring Prompt overall | – | 49 |
| Output speed, tokens a second | – | 45 |
| Context window | 262,144 tokens | 1,048,576 tokens |
| Released | 24 Sep 2025 | 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.
From our research
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-Max | Kimi K3 |
|---|---|---|
| Arena (formerly LMArena) reported by Arena (formerly LMArena) · 3 results | ||
| Overall · TextArena rating, higher is better 108 · 13 of 387 measured | 1,423 | 1,488max reasoning |
| Business, management and finance · TextArena rating, higher is better 110 · 12 of 380 measured | 1,419 | 1,487max reasoning |
| Creative writing · TextArena rating, higher is better 105 · 20 of 385 measured | 1,393 | 1,460max reasoning |
| Artificial Analysis reported by Artificial Analysis · 3 results | ||
| Artificial Analysis Intelligence Indexindex score, higher is better 123 · 17 of 243 measured | 15.6 | 43.6max reasoning |
| GPQA Diamond% of questions, higher is better 132 · 10 of 231 measured | 76.4% | 93.5%max reasoning |
| Humanity's Last Exam% of questions, higher is better 140 · 17 of 242 measured | 11.9% | 46.9%max reasoning |
| SimpleQA Verified (Epoch AI) reported by SimpleQA Verified (Epoch AI) · 1 result | ||
| Correct answers% of questions, higher is better 27 · 23 of 76 measured | 48.7% | 50.6%max reasoning |
| Vending-Bench 2 reported by Vending-Bench 2 · 1 result | ||
| Money after a yearUS dollars, higher is better 52 · 24 of 58 measured | $71.57 | $5,165 |
Show all 12 results (4 more)
| Measure | Qwen3-Max | Kimi K3 |
|---|---|---|
| Arena (formerly LMArena) reported by Arena (formerly LMArena) · 3 results | ||
| Expert prompts · TextArena rating, higher is better 137 · 10 of 338 measured | 1,417 | 1,533max reasoning |
| Instruction following · TextArena rating, higher is better 106 · 11 of 387 measured | 1,413 | 1,488max reasoning |
| Writing, literature and language · TextArena rating, higher is better 101 · 13 of 386 measured | 1,405 | 1,476max reasoning |
| Artificial Analysis reported by Artificial Analysis · 1 result | ||
| Long-context reasoning (AA-LCR)% of questions, higher is better 154 · 1 of 233 measured | 50.0% | 88.7%max reasoning |
Compare them with other models
Quick answers
Is Qwen3-Max better than Kimi K3?
Pick Kimi K3 if quality matters most: it scores higher (Intelligence Index 43.6 against 15.6). Pick Qwen3-Max if cost matters more: it costs 3.8 times less per token.
Which is cheaper, Qwen3-Max or Kimi K3?
Qwen3-Max is cheaper: $1.56 against $6.00 per million tokens, 3.8 times less.
Which is better for agents and tool use, Qwen3-Max 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 154 for Qwen3-Max.
Which is better for reasoning and knowledge, Qwen3-Max or Kimi K3?
Kimi K3 ranks 15 of 198 models on sale for hard questions across science, maths and general knowledge, against 121 for Qwen3-Max.
Which is better for writing, Qwen3-Max or Kimi K3?
Kimi K3 ranks 11 of 188 models on sale for what people prefer in blind comparisons, and judged writing quality, against 99 for Qwen3-Max.
Which is better for sticking to the facts, Qwen3-Max or Kimi K3?
Kimi K3 ranks 28 of 152 models on sale for summarising without inventing things, and factual answers, against 50 for Qwen3-Max.
Which has the bigger context window, Qwen3-Max or Kimi K3?
Kimi K3: 1,048,576 tokens, against 262,144 for Qwen3-Max.
Run Qwen3-Max 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.