Kimi K3 vs MiniMax M3
API pricing, context window and capabilities for Kimi K3 and MiniMax M3, side by side. Prices are the cheapest listed serving route per 1M tokens, from LiteLLM and OpenRouter.
Verdict
computed from the published numbersKimi K3 wins on Terminal-Bench and on intelligence. MiniMax M3 wins on price.
Price
MiniMax M3
Terminal-Bench
Kimi K3
Intelligence
Kimi K3
Context window
Tied
Key takeaways
who wins on what, from the published numbersKimi K3 wins
- More serving providers (14 vs 11)
MiniMax M3 wins
- Cheaper input ($0.70 vs $0.23 /1M)
- Cheaper output ($12.50 vs $0.96 /1M)
Cheaper overall
MiniMax M3
$0.23 + $0.96 /1M
Larger context
Tied
More providers
Kimi K3
14 providers
Pricing & specs
cheapest listed route · per 1M tokensOn-demand listed rates, OpenRouter routed quotes and Vercel reseller quotes. Enterprise commitments can be materially lower. An OpenRouter routed quote is the price of whichever upstream provider OpenRouter prefers today, so it moves day to day.
| Kimi K3 | MiniMax M3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Input $/1M | $0.70OpenRouter routed quote | $0.23via Wandb best |
| Output $/1M | $12.50via Sail | $0.96via Wandb best |
| Context window | 1M | 1M |
| Max output | 1M | 1M |
| Serving providers | 14 best | 11 |
| Date | Released Jul 16, 2026 | Released Jun 1, 2026 |
Benchmarks
Benchmark scores, side by side| Kimi K3 | MiniMax M3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Intelligence | 43.6 best | 29.2 |
| Terminal-Bench | 85% best | 65% |
| GPQA Diamond | 94% best | 93% |
| Output speed | 45 t/s | 107 t/s best |
| Latency (TTFT) | 3.17s | 1.21s best |
Cost calculator
choose a serving route for each sideInput tokens / month
Output tokens / month
Kimi K3
via OpenRouter
$19
MiniMax M3
via Wandb
$2.11
Capabilities
feature support, side by side| Feature | Kimi K3 | MiniMax M3 |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | ✓ | ✓ |
| Tool use | ✓ | ✓ |
| Reasoning | ✓ | ✓ |
| Audio | — | — |
| Prompt caching | ✓ | ✓ |
| Structured output | ✓ | ✓ |
| Web search | — | — |
Related comparisons
Frequently asked questions
Which is cheaper, Kimi K3 or MiniMax M3?
MiniMax M3 is cheaper for input ($0.70 vs $0.23 per 1M tokens) from Wandb. MiniMax M3 is cheaper for output ($12.50 vs $0.96 per 1M tokens) from Wandb.
What is the context window difference between Kimi K3 and MiniMax M3?
Both Kimi K3 and MiniMax M3 have about a 1M-token context window.
How do Kimi K3 and MiniMax M3 compare on benchmarks?
On the tracked benchmarks, Kimi K3 leads on Terminal-Bench, and Kimi K3 leads on intelligence.
Listed prices from LiteLLM, OpenRouter and Vercel · last checked Oct 14, 2026
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