Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning) vs Qwen3.8 Max
Which is better for the money: Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning) by Kimi or Qwen3.8 Max by Alibaba? 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
Qwen3.8 Max scores 13.2 points higher (40.2 vs 27.0) but costs 2.1× as much to run the benchmark ($3172 vs $1528; flagship vs premium cost classes). Pick Qwen3.8 Max when the extra intelligence is worth the premium, otherwise Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning).
| Metric | Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning) | Qwen3.8 Max | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 27.0 | 40.2 | +48.9% Qwen3.8 Max is 48.9% more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $1,528.20 | $3,172.37 | +107.6% Qwen3.8 Max is 2.1× more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 65.20s | 62.83s | −3.6% Qwen3.8 Max is 3.6% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.95 / $4.00 | $2.00 / $6.00 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image, Video | Text, Image, Video |
Qwen3.8 Max vs Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning): 48.9% more intelligence, 107.6% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 3.6% 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.
- Qwen3.8 Max is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, Kimi K3.1 Pro scores 55.10 for $3117.
Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning)Qwen3.8 MaxToday'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/qwen3-8-max-0803 · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/kimi-k2-6/qwen3-8-max-0803?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill