Kimi K3 vs Qwen3.8 Max

API pricing, context window and capabilities for Kimi K3 and Qwen3.8 Max, side by side. Prices are the cheapest listed serving route per 1M tokens, from LiteLLM and OpenRouter.

Verdict

computed from the published numbers

Kimi K3 wins on Terminal-Bench and on intelligence.

Price
Tied
Terminal-Bench
Kimi K3
Intelligence
Kimi K3
Context window
Tied

Key takeaways

who wins on what, from the published numbers

Kimi K3 wins

  • Cheaper input ($0.70 vs $1.65 /1M)
  • Higher max output (1M vs 131K)
  • More serving providers (14 vs 10)

Qwen3.8 Max wins

  • Cheaper output ($12.50 vs $4.95 /1M)
  • Has web search
Cheaper overall
Qwen3.8 Max
$1.65 + $4.95 /1M
Larger context
Tied
More providers
Kimi K3
14 providers

Pricing & specs

cheapest listed route · per 1M tokens
On-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 K3Qwen3.8 Max
Input $/1M$0.70OpenRouter routed quote best$1.65via DeepInfra
Output $/1M$12.50via Sail $4.95via DeepInfra best
Context window1M 1M
Max output1M best131K
Serving providers14 best10
DateReleased Jul 16, 2026 Released Aug 3, 2026

Benchmarks

Benchmark scores, side by side
Kimi K3Qwen3.8 Max
Intelligence43.6 best40.1
Terminal-Bench85% best81%
GPQA Diamond94% best93%
Output speed45 t/s best41 t/s
Latency (TTFT)3.17s 2.57s best

Cost calculator

choose a serving route for each side
Input tokens / month
Output tokens / month
Kimi K3
via OpenRouter
$19
Qwen3.8 Max
via Scx AI
$13

Capabilities

feature support, side by side
FeatureKimi K3Qwen3.8 Max
Vision✓✓
Tool use✓✓
Reasoning✓✓
Audio——
Prompt caching✓✓
Structured output✓✓
Web search—✓

Related comparisons

Frequently asked questions

Which is cheaper, Kimi K3 or Qwen3.8 Max?
Kimi K3 is cheaper for input ($0.70 vs $1.65 per 1M tokens) as an OpenRouter routed quote, while Moonshot lists it at $3.00 per 1M input. Qwen3.8 Max is cheaper for output ($12.50 vs $4.95 per 1M tokens) from DeepInfra.
What is the context window difference between Kimi K3 and Qwen3.8 Max?
Both Kimi K3 and Qwen3.8 Max have about a 1M-token context window.
How do Kimi K3 and Qwen3.8 Max 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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