Kimi K3.1 Pro vs Kimi K3 (Low)
Which is better for the money: Kimi K3.1 Pro 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.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
Kimi K3.1 Pro scores 25.0 points higher (55.1 vs 30.1) but costs 2.6× as much to run the benchmark ($3117 vs $1190; flagship vs premium cost classes). Pick Kimi K3.1 Pro when the extra intelligence is worth the premium, otherwise Kimi K3 (Low).
| Metric | Kimi K3.1 Pro | Kimi K3 (Low) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 55.1 | 30.1 | −45.4% Kimi K3 (Low) is 45.4% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $3,117.31 | $1,190.42 | −61.8% Kimi K3 (Low) is 61.8% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 46.58s | 56.42s | +21.1% Kimi K3 (Low) is 21.1% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $2.00 / $10.0 | $3.00 / $15.0 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
Kimi K3 (Low) vs Kimi K3.1 Pro: 45.4% less intelligence, 61.8% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 21.1% slower end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- Kimi K3.1 Pro is on today's frontier: nothing is both smarter and cheaper.
- Kimi K3 (Low) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) scores 51.80 for $1082.
Kimi K3.1 ProKimi K3 (Low)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/kimi-k3-1-pro/kimi-k3-low · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/kimi-k3-1-pro/kimi-k3-low?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill