Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning) vs Kimi K3.1 Pro
Which is better for the money: Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning) by Kimi or Kimi K3.1 Pro 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 K3.1 Pro scores 28.1 points higher (55.1 vs 27.0) but costs 2.0× as much to run the benchmark ($3117 vs $1528; flagship vs premium cost classes). Pick Kimi K3.1 Pro when the extra intelligence is worth the premium, otherwise Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning).
| Metric | Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning) | Kimi K3.1 Pro | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 27.0 | 55.1 | +104.1% Kimi K3.1 Pro is 2.0× more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $1,528.20 | $3,117.31 | +104.0% Kimi K3.1 Pro is 2.0× more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 54.37s | 46.58s | −14.3% Kimi K3.1 Pro is 14.3% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.95 / $4.00 | $2.00 / $10.0 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image, Video | Text, Image |
Kimi K3.1 Pro vs Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning): 104.1% more intelligence, 104.0% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 14.3% faster end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) scores 51.80 for $1082.
- Kimi K3.1 Pro is on today's frontier: nothing is both smarter and cheaper.
Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning)Kimi K3.1 ProToday'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/kimi-k2-6/kimi-k3-1-pro · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/kimi-k2-6/kimi-k3-1-pro?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill