GPT-5.6 Sol (Medium) vs Kimi K3 (Max)
Which is better for the money: GPT-5.6 Sol (Medium) by OpenAI or Kimi K3 (Max) by Kimi? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-10-24.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
Kimi K3 (Max) scores 4.4 points higher (43.6 vs 39.2) but costs 3.7× as much to run the benchmark ($3658 vs $997; flagship vs premium cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick Kimi K3 (Max) when you need intelligence above 39.2, and GPT-5.6 Sol (Medium) when 39.2 is enough.
| Metric | GPT-5.6 Sol (Medium) | Kimi K3 (Max) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 39.2 | 43.6 | +11.2% Kimi K3 (Max) is 11.2% more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $997.39 | $3,658.07 | +266.8% Kimi K3 (Max) is 3.7× more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 10.00s | 63.08s | +530.8% Kimi K3 (Max) is 530.8% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $4.00 / $20.0 | $3.00 / $15.0 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
Kimi K3 (Max) vs GPT-5.6 Sol (Medium): 11.2% more intelligence, 266.8% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 530.8% slower end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- GPT-5.6 Sol (Medium) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Xhigh) scores 51.00 for $662.
- Kimi K3 (Max) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, Kimi K3.1 Pro scores 55.10 for $3117.
GPT-5.6 Sol (Medium)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-5-6-sol-medium/kimi-k3 · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/gpt-5-6-sol-medium/kimi-k3?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill