Kimi K3 (max)
By Kimi · released 2026-07-16 (7 weeks) · snapshot 2026-09-09
- Intelligence index
- 43.80
- Cost to run the AA index
- $3658
- Price per 1M tokens (in / out)
- $3.00 / $15.0
- End-to-end time
- 63.5s
Is Kimi K3 (max) on the Pareto frontier, and what beats it?
Off the frontier
No. GPT-6 Astra (high) is at least as smart for the same money or less.
Next step up: GPT-6 Astra (xhigh), smarter but dearer.
| # | Model | Creator | Intelligence | Total cost | E2E total | Open | Released | Frontier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kimi K3 (max) | Kimi | 43.80 | $3658 | 63.5s | 2026-07-16 | ||
| 2 | GPT-6 Astra (high) | OpenAI | 51.00 | $2917 | 55.6s | 2026-09-03 | Frontier | |
| 3 | GPT-6 Astra (xhigh) | OpenAI | 52.50 | $3803 | 178.2s | 2026-09-03 | Frontier |
Open in the picker Daily check URL: 200 on the frontier, 409 once beaten
Kimi K3 (max) today
1 of 2 effort levels plotted. The remaining levels lack intelligence or benchmark cost data.
Intelligence: Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index. Cost: total cost to run that benchmark, so reasoning tokens count. API id: kimi-k3.
Compare head to head
Suggested: what beats it, its effort levels, and frontier models near its price.
- Kimi K3 (max) vs GPT-6 Astra (high)
- Kimi K3 (max) vs GPT-6 Astra (xhigh)
- Kimi K3 (max) vs Kimi K3 (low)
- Kimi K3 (max) vs GPT-5.6 Sol (high)
- Kimi K3 (max) vs GPT-6 Astra (low)
- Kimi K3 (max) vs Muse Spark 1.3 (max)
- Kimi K3 (max) vs GPT-6 Astra (medium)
- Kimi K3 (max) vs GPT-6 Astra (max)
- Kimi K3 (max) vs Claude Fable 5.1 (Adaptive Reasoning, Xhigh Effort, Default Fallback)
What the Kimi K3 release did to the frontier on 2026-07-16
None of its 2 effort levels reached the overall frontier at launch, but 1 led the open-weights frontier (Kimi K3 (max)).
Should you use Kimi K3 (max)?
Should you use Kimi K3 (max)?
Only when it fits your setup: GPT-6 Astra (high) is at least as smart for the same money or less, so Kimi K3 (max) is off the value frontier today.
What is better and cheaper than Kimi K3 (max)?
GPT-6 Astra (high) — at least as smart for the same money or less.
How much does Kimi K3 (max) cost?
$3.00/$15 in/out per 1M tokens, and $3658 to run the full Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, the honest all-in number for reasoning models.
Is Kimi K3 (max) on the Pareto frontier?
No: GPT-6 Astra (high) beats it on intelligence, cost, or both.
Frontier membership by axis pair
Other axis pairs where Kimi K3 (max) is Pareto-optimal.
| Y axis | X axis | On the frontier |
|---|---|---|
| AA intelligence index | AA total cost to run (USD) | |
| AA intelligence index | End-to-end total seconds | |
| AA intelligence index | Output speed tokens/sec |
Accept: text/markdown or ?format=md returns this page as Markdown. JSON: /api/v1/models/kimi-k3 · Markdown: /api/v1/models/kimi-k3?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill