GPT-5.5 Instant (June 2026) vs Kimi K3 (Max)
Which is better for the money: GPT-5.5 Instant (June 2026) by OpenAI or Kimi K3 (Max) by Kimi? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-10-26.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
Kimi K3 (Max) scores 17.6 points higher (43.6 vs 26.0) but costs 3.1× as much to run the benchmark ($3658 vs $1184; flagship vs premium cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick Kimi K3 (Max) when you need intelligence above 26.0, and GPT-5.5 Instant (June 2026) when 26.0 is enough.
| Metric | GPT-5.5 Instant (June 2026) | Kimi K3 (Max) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 26.0 | 43.6 | +67.7% Kimi K3 (Max) is 67.7% more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $1,184.34 | $3,658.07 | +208.9% Kimi K3 (Max) is 3.1× more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 16.70s | 50.42s | +201.9% Kimi K3 (Max) is 201.9% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $5.00 / $30.0 | $3.00 / $15.0 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
Kimi K3 (Max) vs GPT-5.5 Instant (June 2026): 67.7% more intelligence, 208.9% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 201.9% slower end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- GPT-5.5 Instant (June 2026) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) scores 51.80 for $1082.
- Kimi K3 (Max) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, Kimi K3.1 Pro scores 55.10 for $3117.
GPT-5.5 Instant (June 2026)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/gpt-5-5-instant-06-26/kimi-k3 · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/gpt-5-5-instant-06-26/kimi-k3?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill