DeepSeek V4 Pro 0424 (Max) vs Kimi K3 (Max)
Which is better for the money: DeepSeek V4 Pro 0424 (Max) by DeepSeek or Kimi K3 (Max) by Kimi? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-10-25.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
Kimi K3 (Max) scores 13.2 points higher (43.6 vs 30.4) but costs 13× as much to run the benchmark ($3658 vs $277; flagship vs mid-range cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick Kimi K3 (Max) when you need intelligence above 30.4, and DeepSeek V4 Pro 0424 (Max) when 30.4 is enough.
| Metric | DeepSeek V4 Pro 0424 (Max) | Kimi K3 (Max) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 30.4 | 43.6 | +43.4% Kimi K3 (Max) is 43.4% more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $277.30 | $3,658.07 | +1219.2% Kimi K3 (Max) is 13× more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 48.90s | 58.57s | +19.8% Kimi K3 (Max) is 19.8% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.43 / $0.87 | $3.00 / $15.0 | |
| Input modalities | Text | Text, Image |
Kimi K3 (Max) vs DeepSeek V4 Pro 0424 (Max): 43.4% more intelligence, 1219.2% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 19.8% slower end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- DeepSeek V4 Pro 0424 (Max) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, MiMo-V2.6-Pro scores 46.30 for $207.
- Kimi K3 (Max) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, Kimi K3.1 Pro scores 55.10 for $3117.
DeepSeek V4 Pro 0424 (Max)Kimi K3 (Max)Today's Pareto frontierOpen-weights frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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Accept: text/markdown or ?format=md returns this page as Markdown. JSON: /api/v1/compare/deepseek-v4-pro-0424/kimi-k3 · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/deepseek-v4-pro-0424/kimi-k3?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill