Kimi K3 (Max) vs Mistral Small 3.2
Which is better for the money: Kimi K3 (Max) by Kimi or Mistral Small 3.2 by Mistral? 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 36.6 points higher (43.6 vs 7.0) but costs 30× as much to run the benchmark ($3658 vs $122; flagship vs mid-range cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick Kimi K3 (Max) when you need intelligence above 7.0, and Mistral Small 3.2 when 7.0 is enough.
| Metric | Kimi K3 (Max) | Mistral Small 3.2 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 43.6 | 7.0 | −83.9% Mistral Small 3.2 is 83.9% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $3,658.07 | $121.78 | −96.7% Mistral Small 3.2 is 96.7% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 63.08s | 12.50s | −80.2% Mistral Small 3.2 is 80.2% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $3.00 / $15.0 | $0.07 / $0.20 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
Mistral Small 3.2 vs Kimi K3 (Max): 83.9% less intelligence, 96.7% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 80.2% faster end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- Kimi K3 (Max) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, Kimi K3.1 Pro scores 55.10 for $3117.
- Mistral Small 3.2 is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, MiMo-V2.6-Flash scores 37.90 for $110.
Kimi K3 (Max)Mistral Small 3.2Today'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/mistral-small-3-2 · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/kimi-k3/mistral-small-3-2?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill