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Kimi K3 vs Grok 4.6

Market Position

LiveBench Quality Versus Estimated Output Cost

Full ranking →
Efficiency FrontierLiveBench overall · output estimate
Upper-left is better
xAIDeepSeekZ.aiMiniMaxOpenAIQwenGoogle DeepMindMoonshot AIAnthropic
LiveBench quality versus score-adjusted output costEach dot is a reviewed major-model configuration and is colored by developer. Higher means a better LiveBench overall score. Farther left means lower estimated output cost after adjusting by the score. A dotted line connects the non-dominated frontier observations. When models are selected, their sourced families remain prominent, unrelated observations retain their developer colors at lower opacity, and an orange ring identifies each selected model.$0.0050$0.010$0.020$0.050$0.100$0.200$0.5006873788287Grok Build 0.1GLM 5.3 FlashGPT-5.6 Luna (max)DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision ExpGPT-5.6 Sol (max)Score-adjusted output cost per LiveBench case (log) →LiveBench overall →
The dotted frontier connects measured, non-dominated major-model observations. With a selection, sourced families stay prominent, unrelated observations retain their developer colors at lower opacity, and orange rings mark the selected model or models. Family lines connect models only when their sourced family and generation match. Cost is estimated from published output tokens and the lowest current USD output rate; it excludes input, caching, batch discounts, and provider-specific benchmark execution details.

This current-market view appears only when both compared models are reviewed current models with publisher-reported LiveBench token accounting and current sourced USD output rates.

Model Markets Rankings

Intelligence, Cost, and Efficiency

All rankings →
RankingKimi-K3Grok 4.6
CostLower is better · Published-token output estimate#24 of 36$0.194 per LiveBench case#18 of 36$0.097 per LiveBench case

Ranks come from the current complete eligible cohorts. Green highlights appear only when both models are ranked in the same metric. Missing required inputs remain unranked, and the three dimensions are not collapsed into an overall winner.

Benchmark Performance

Available Benchmarks

All benchmark results →
BenchmarkKimi-K3Grok 4.6
ARC-AGI-1verified-v1-2aa739d957fc · verified_score · leader94.50100% of row best · percent · Kimi K3 (Max)87.5093% of row best · percent · Grok 4.6 (Medium)
ARC-AGI-2verified-v2-b5cb5ec6e8c7 · verified_score · leader60.4290% of row best · percent · Kimi K3 (Max)67.08100% of row best · percent · Grok 4.6 (XHigh)
LMArena Text Arenatext-2026-09-01-011508720696 · arena_rating · leader1,476.31100% of row best · rating · kimi-k3-max; 95% CI [1470.86166728, 1481.76254962]; votes 17895; rank 161,443.7598% of row best · rating · grok-4.6-high; 95% CI [1433.62910542, 1453.86294509]; votes 3453; rank 55
LiveBench2026-06-25 · overall · leader81.0299% of row best · percent · kimi-k3 · 13,647 output tokens / case82.17100% of row best · percent · grok-4.6 · 16,154 output tokens / case
ToneBench2026-08-28-10-task-cd9819ab6e4d · overall_score · leader88.19100% of row best · points · Kimi K3 · 15,023 output tokens / case86.6198% of row best · points · Grok 4.6 · 15,575 output tokens / case
Overall ResultCounted from the protocol-matched rows above3 benchmark winsOverall lead2 benchmark wins

Third-party benchmark Only like-for-like primary-publisher results are shown; raw scores, relative scores, configuration, and token spend remain visible.

FieldAt a Glance
Moonshot AI · activeKimi K3Verified Aug 28, 2026
xAI · activeGrok 4.6Verified Aug 29, 2026

Technical Differences

Side-by-Side Facts

Indexable
FieldKimi-K3Grok 4.6
DeveloperMoonshot AIxAI
FamilyKimi K3Grok 4
ModelKimi-K3Grok 4.6
VersionKimi-K3Grok 4.6
Lifecycleactiveactive
Released2026-07-16Unknown
Knowledge cutoffUnknown2026-02-01
Input modalitiesText, ImageText, Image
Output modalitiesTextText
Context window1,049K500K
Total parameters2.8TUnknown
Active parameters104BUnknown
LicenseotherUnknown
Open weightsYesNo
API availableYesYes
Self-hostableYesNo
Provider accessDeepinfra (Standard), Fireworks Ai (Standard), Hugging Face (Standard), Openrouter (Standard), Together Ai (Standard)Xai (Standard)
Capabilitieschat, generation, reasoningchat, generation, reasoning, tools

13 comparable fields · 9 material differences · Pair passes the primary-source comparison gate

Kimi K3 Capabilities

chatgenerationreasoning
Input price$2.85
Output price$14.25
Serving providers5
Canonical IDmoonshotai/Kimi-K3

Grok 4.6 Capabilities

chatgenerationreasoningtools
Input price$2.00
Output price$6.00
Serving providers1
Canonical IDxai/grok-4.6

Internal Comparison Graph

Related Comparisons

All image comparisons →
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vsfamily variantsembedding, image, text
vscross-developer peersimage, text
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vscross-developer peersimage, text
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vscross-developer peersimage, text
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Primary Evidence

Sources and Freshness

moonshotai/Kimi-K3 developer model repositoryMoonshot AI · observed Aug 28, 2026Grok 4.6 | SpaceXAI DocsxAI · observed Aug 29, 2026ARC-AGI-1 verified-v1-2aa739d957fc score tableARC Prize Foundation · observed Sep 4, 2026ARC-AGI-2 verified-v2-b5cb5ec6e8c7 score tableARC Prize Foundation · observed Sep 4, 2026LMArena Text Arena text-2026-09-01-011508720696 score tableLMArena · observed Sep 4, 2026LiveBench 2026-06-25 score tableLiveBench · observed Sep 4, 2026LiveBench 2026-06-25 token accountingLiveBench · observed Sep 4, 2026ToneBench 2026-08-28-10-task-cd9819ab6e4d score tableTowards AI · observed Sep 4, 2026

Questions

Kimi K3 vs Grok 4.6 FAQs

Is Kimi K3 or Grok 4.6 better for coding?+

This comparison does not currently contain a protocol-matched coding benchmark for both Kimi K3 and Grok 4.6, so Model Markets cannot name a coding leader from pricing, context size, or capability labels alone.

Which is cheaper, Kimi K3 or Grok 4.6?+

Kimi K3 is $2.85 and Grok 4.6 is $2.00 per million tokens, so Grok 4.6 is cheaper on this metric. Kimi K3 is $14.25 and Grok 4.6 is $6.00 per million tokens, so Grok 4.6 is cheaper on this metric.

Which has a larger context window, Kimi K3 or Grok 4.6?+

Kimi K3 has the larger sourced context window. Kimi K3 supports 1,049K and Grok 4.6 supports 500K.

Which performs better in benchmarks, Kimi K3 or Grok 4.6?+

Kimi K3 leads the current overall benchmark count. The result uses 5 protocol-matched benchmarks from 4 publishers; it is not a universal quality score.

Can Kimi K3 or Grok 4.6 be self-hosted?+

Kimi K3 is the only model in this pair currently marked as self-hostable. Kimi K3 is open weight; Grok 4.6 is not marked open weight.

Can Kimi K3 and Grok 4.6 understand images?+

Kimi K3 is documented with image input; Grok 4.6 is documented with image input. This reflects supported input modalities, not vision quality.

Which can generate longer answers, Kimi K3 or Grok 4.6?+

Neither has a larger sourced maximum output. Kimi K3 is — and Grok 4.6 is —.

Do Kimi K3 and Grok 4.6 support reasoning and tool use?+

Kimi K3: reasoning and image input. Grok 4.6: reasoning, tool calling, and image input. Feature support does not establish relative quality.

Which is available from more inference providers, Kimi K3 or Grok 4.6?+

Kimi K3 has 5 sourced provider routes; Grok 4.6 has 1, so Kimi K3 has broader tracked availability.

Which offers better value, Kimi K3 or Grok 4.6?+

There is no universal value winner. Compare the input and output prices above with the matched benchmark result for your workload: cheaper tokens can be offset by different quality, token usage, latency, or provider availability.

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