Kimi K3 (Max) vs Solar Pro 3
Which is better for the money: Kimi K3 (Max) by Kimi or Solar Pro 3 by Upstage? 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 35.8 points higher (43.6 vs 7.8) but costs 23× as much to run the benchmark ($3658 vs $159; flagship vs mid-range cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick Kimi K3 (Max) when you need intelligence above 7.8, and Solar Pro 3 when 7.8 is enough.
| Metric | Kimi K3 (Max) | Solar Pro 3 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 43.6 | 7.8 | −82.1% Solar Pro 3 is 82.1% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $3,658.07 | $159.22 | −95.6% Solar Pro 3 is 95.6% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 63.08s | 18.94s | −70.0% Solar Pro 3 is 70.0% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $3.00 / $15.0 | $0.15 / $0.60 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text |
Solar Pro 3 vs Kimi K3 (Max): 82.1% less intelligence, 95.6% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 70.0% 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.
- Solar Pro 3 is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, Claude Haiku 5.5 (Xhigh) scores 41.20 for $158.
Kimi K3 (Max)Solar Pro 3Today'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/solar-pro-3 · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/kimi-k3/solar-pro-3?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill