Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning) vs Kimi K3 (Low)
Which is better for the money: Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning) by Kimi or Kimi K3 (Low) by Kimi? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-10-25.
Clear winner
Verdict
Pick Kimi K3 (Low)
Kimi K3 (Low) vs Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning): 11.5% more intelligence, 22.1% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 0.5% slower end-to-end.
| Metric | Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning) | Kimi K3 (Low) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 27.0 | 30.1 | +11.5% Kimi K3 (Low) is 11.5% more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $1,528.20 | $1,190.42 | −22.1% Kimi K3 (Low) is 22.1% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 56.90s | 57.21s | +0.5% Kimi K3 (Low) is 0.5% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.95 / $4.00 | $3.00 / $15.0 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image, Video | Text, Image |
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 (Low) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) scores 51.80 for $1082.
Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning)Kimi K3 (Low)Today's Pareto frontierOpen-weights frontierEvery other model
Matchup
Compare something else
Agents:
Accept: text/markdown or ?format=md returns this page as Markdown. JSON: /api/v1/compare/kimi-k2-6/kimi-k3-low · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/kimi-k2-6/kimi-k3-low?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill