Kimi K3 vs Inkling
Why this pair: Open-weight multimodal agent models from Thinking Machines Lab and Moonshot AI
Model Markets Rankings
Intelligence, Cost, and Efficiency
| Ranking | Kimi-K3 | Inkling |
|---|---|---|
| IntelligenceHigher is better · MM Intelligence v1.2 | #11 of 2271.3 score | UnrankedNot in the 22-model eligible cohort |
| CostLower is better · Published-token output estimate | #24 of 36$0.194 per LiveBench case | UnrankedNot in the 36-model eligible cohort |
| EfficiencyHigher is better · MM Efficiency v1.0 | #13 of 2251.7 score | UnrankedNot in the 22-model eligible cohort |
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
| Benchmark | Kimi-K3 | Inkling |
|---|---|---|
| ARC-AGI-1verified-v1-15fb467fd4fc · verified_score · leader | 94.50100% of row best · percent · Kimi K3 (Max) | 79.5084% of row best · percent · Inkling |
| ARC-AGI-2verified-v2-9a3db289984e · verified_score · leader | 60.42100% of row best · percent · Kimi K3 (Max) | 36.5360% of row best · percent · Inkling |
| LMArena Text Arenatext-2026-09-01-011508720696 · arena_rating · leader | 1,476.31100% of row best · rating · kimi-k3-max; 95% CI [1470.86166728, 1481.76254962]; votes 17895; rank 16 | 1,438.2597% of row best · rating · inkling; 95% CI [1433.11517161, 1443.38005000]; votes 21973; rank 67 |
| ToneBench2026-08-28-10-task-cd9819ab6e4d · overall_score · leader | 88.19100% of row best · points · Kimi K3 · 15,023 output tokens / case | 79.4190% of row best · points · Inkling · 5,785 output tokens / case |
| Overall ResultCounted from the protocol-matched rows above | 4 benchmark winsOverall lead | 0 benchmark wins |
Third-party benchmark Only like-for-like primary-publisher results are shown; raw scores, relative scores, configuration, and token spend remain visible.
Technical Differences
Side-by-Side Facts
| Field | Kimi-K3 | Inkling |
|---|---|---|
| Developer | Moonshot AI | Thinking Machines Lab |
| Family | Kimi K3 | Inkling |
| Model | Kimi-K3 | Inkling |
| Version | Kimi-K3 | Inkling |
| Lifecycle | active | active |
| Released | 2026-07-16 | 2026-07-15 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Unknown | Unknown |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image, Video, Audio |
| Output modalities | Text | Text |
| Context window | 1,049K | 1,049K |
| Total parameters | 2.8T | 975B |
| Active parameters | 104B | 41B |
| License | other | apache-2.0 |
| Open weights | Yes | Yes |
| API available | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | Yes | Yes |
| Provider access | Deepinfra (Standard), Fireworks Ai (Standard), Hugging Face (Standard), Openrouter (Standard), Together Ai (Standard) | Deepinfra (Standard), Fireworks Ai (Standard), Openrouter (Standard), Together Ai (Standard) |
| Capabilities | chat, generation, reasoning | agents, chat, coding, generation, reasoning, tools, vision |
17 comparable fields · 11 material differences · Editorially curated pair passes the primary-source comparison gate
Kimi K3 Capabilities
Inkling Capabilities
Internal Comparison Graph
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Primary Evidence
Sources and Freshness
Questions
Kimi K3 vs Inkling FAQs
Is Kimi K3 or Inkling better for coding?+
This comparison does not currently contain a protocol-matched coding benchmark for both Kimi K3 and Inkling, so Model Markets cannot name a coding leader from pricing, context size, or capability labels alone.
Which is cheaper, Kimi K3 or Inkling?+
Kimi K3 is $2.85 and Inkling is $0.95 per million tokens, so Inkling is cheaper on this metric. Kimi K3 is $14.25 and Inkling is $4.05 per million tokens, so Inkling is cheaper on this metric.
Which has a larger context window, Kimi K3 or Inkling?+
Neither model has a larger sourced context window in this comparison. Kimi K3 is 1,049K and Inkling is 1,049K.
Which performs better in benchmarks, Kimi K3 or Inkling?+
Kimi K3 leads the current overall benchmark count. The result uses 4 protocol-matched benchmarks from 3 publishers; it is not a universal quality score.
Can Kimi K3 or Inkling be self-hosted?+
Both models have the same recorded self-hosting status: supported. Kimi K3 is open weight; Inkling is open weight.
Can Kimi K3 and Inkling understand images?+
Kimi K3 is documented with image input; Inkling is documented with image input. This reflects supported input modalities, not vision quality.
Which can generate longer answers, Kimi K3 or Inkling?+
Neither has a larger sourced maximum output. Kimi K3 is — and Inkling is —.
Do Kimi K3 and Inkling support reasoning and tool use?+
Kimi K3: reasoning and image input. Inkling: reasoning, tool calling, and image input. Feature support does not establish relative quality.
Which is available from more inference providers, Kimi K3 or Inkling?+
Kimi K3 has 5 sourced provider routes; Inkling has 4, so Kimi K3 has broader tracked availability.
Which offers better value, Kimi K3 or Inkling?+
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.