Kimi K3 vs Mistral Medium 3.5
API pricing, context window and capabilities for Kimi K3 and Mistral Medium 3.5, 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, on intelligence and on context window.
Price
Tied
Terminal-Bench
Kimi K3
Intelligence
Kimi K3
Context window
Kimi K3
Key takeaways
who wins on what, from the published numbersKimi K3 wins
- Cheaper input ($0.70 vs $1.50 /1M)
- Larger context window (1M vs 262K)
- Higher max output (1M vs 262K)
- More serving providers (14 vs 4)
- Supports prompt caching
Mistral Medium 3.5 wins
- Cheaper output ($12.50 vs $7.50 /1M)
Cheaper overall
Mistral Medium 3.5
$1.50 + $7.50 /1M
Larger context
Kimi K3
1M
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 | Mistral Medium 3.5 | |
|---|---|---|
| Input $/1M | $0.70OpenRouter routed quote best | $1.50via Mistral |
| Output $/1M | $12.50via Sail | $7.50via Mistral best |
| Context window | 1M best | 262K |
| Max output | 1M best | 262K |
| Serving providers | 14 best | 4 |
| Date | Released Jul 16, 2026 | Released Apr 30, 2026 |
Benchmarks
Benchmark scores, side by side| Kimi K3 | Mistral Medium 3.5 | |
|---|---|---|
| Intelligence | 43.6 best | 14.2 |
| Terminal-Bench | 85% best | 51% |
| GPQA Diamond | 94% best | 75% |
| Output speed | 45 t/s | 167 t/s best |
| Latency (TTFT) | 3.17s | 2.21s best |
Cost calculator
choose a serving route for each sideInput tokens / month
Output tokens / month
Kimi K3
via OpenRouter
$19
Mistral Medium 3.5
via OpenRouter
$15
Capabilities
feature support, side by side| Feature | Kimi K3 | Mistral Medium 3.5 |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | ✓ | ✓ |
| Tool use | ✓ | ✓ |
| Reasoning | ✓ | ✓ |
| Audio | — | — |
| Prompt caching | ✓ | — |
| Structured output | ✓ | ✓ |
| Web search | — | — |
Related comparisons
Frequently asked questions
Which is cheaper, Kimi K3 or Mistral Medium 3.5?
Kimi K3 is cheaper for input ($0.70 vs $1.50 per 1M tokens) as an OpenRouter routed quote, while Moonshot lists it at $3.00 per 1M input. Mistral Medium 3.5 is cheaper for output ($12.50 vs $7.50 per 1M tokens) from Mistral.
What is the context window difference between Kimi K3 and Mistral Medium 3.5?
Kimi K3 has a 1M-token context window and Mistral Medium 3.5 has 262K tokens, so Kimi K3 can take a larger prompt.
How do Kimi K3 and Mistral Medium 3.5 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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