MiniMax-M3 vs Kimi-K3
Benchmark Performance
Available Benchmarks
| Benchmark | MiniMax-M3 | Kimi-K3 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text Arenatext-2026-09-01-011508720696 · arena_rating · leader | 1,435.2097% of row best · rating · minimax-m3; 95% CI [1430.86827835, 1439.53977389]; votes 44544; rank 77 | 1,476.31100% of row best · rating · kimi-k3-max; 95% CI [1470.86166728, 1481.76254962]; votes 17895; rank 16 |
| LiveBench2026-06-25 · overall · leader | 70.2687% of row best · percent · minimax-m3 · 15,530 output tokens / case | 81.02100% of row best · percent · kimi-k3 · 13,647 output tokens / case |
| Overall ResultCounted from the protocol-matched rows above | 0 benchmark wins | 2 benchmark winsOverall lead |
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 | MiniMax-M3 | Kimi-K3 |
|---|---|---|
| Developer | MiniMax | Moonshot AI |
| Family | Minimax M3 | Kimi K3 |
| Model | MiniMax-M3 | Kimi-K3 |
| Version | MiniMax-M3 | Kimi-K3 |
| Lifecycle | active | active |
| Released | 2026-06-01 | 2026-07-16 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Unknown | Unknown |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
| Output modalities | Text | Text |
| Context window | 1,048,576 | 1,048,576 |
| Total parameters | 427,040,140,160 | 2,779,931,837,184 |
| Active parameters | 23,000,000,000 | 104,000,000,000 |
| License | other | other |
| 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), Hugging Face (Standard), Openrouter (Standard), Together Ai (Standard) |
| Capabilities | chat, generation, reasoning, tools | chat, generation, reasoning |
17 comparable fields · 8 material differences · Pair passes the primary-source comparison gate
MiniMax-M3 Capabilities
Kimi-K3 Capabilities
Internal Comparison Graph
Related Comparisons
| A | Pair | B | Context |
|---|---|---|---|
Claude Mythos 5.1Anthropic | vs | Kimi-K3Moonshot AI | cross-developer peersimage, text |
Kimi-K3Moonshot AI | vs |  Hy4 previewTencent | cross-developer peerstext |
MiniMax-M3MiniMax | vs | Hy4 previewTencent | cross-developer peerstext |
Kimi K2.7 CodeMoonshot AI | vs | Kimi-K3Moonshot AI | family variantsimage, text |
 DeepSeek-V4-Pro-0813DeepSeek | vs | Kimi-K3Moonshot AI | cross-developer peerstext |
Kimi-K3Moonshot AI | vs | InklingThinking Machines Lab | cross-developer peersimage, text |
Kimi-K2.5Moonshot AI | vs | Kimi-K3Moonshot AI | family variantsembedding, image, text |
Kimi-K2.6Moonshot AI | vs | Kimi-K3Moonshot AI | family variantsembedding, image, text |
MiniMax-M3MiniMax | vs | InklingThinking Machines Lab | cross-developer peersimage, text |
MiniMax-M3MiniMax | vs |  Mistral-Small-4-119B-2603Mistral AI | cross-developer peersimage, text |
MiniMax-M3MiniMax | vs | cross-developer peersimage, text | |
MiniMax-M3MiniMax | vs | cross-developer peersimage, text |
Primary Evidence
Sources and Freshness
Questions
MiniMax-M3 vs Kimi-K3 FAQs
Is MiniMax-M3 or Kimi-K3 better for coding?+
This comparison does not currently contain a protocol-matched coding benchmark for both MiniMax-M3 and Kimi-K3, so Model Markets cannot name a coding leader from pricing, context size, or capability labels alone.
Which is cheaper, MiniMax-M3 or Kimi-K3?+
MiniMax-M3 is $0.28 and Kimi-K3 is $2.85 per million tokens, so MiniMax-M3 is cheaper on this metric. MiniMax-M3 is $1.10 and Kimi-K3 is $14.25 per million tokens, so MiniMax-M3 is cheaper on this metric.
Which has a larger context window, MiniMax-M3 or Kimi-K3?+
Neither model has a larger sourced context window in this comparison. MiniMax-M3 is 1,048,576 and Kimi-K3 is 1,048,576.
Which performs better in benchmarks, MiniMax-M3 or Kimi-K3?+
Kimi-K3 leads the current overall benchmark count. The result uses 2 protocol-matched benchmarks from 2 publishers; it is not a universal quality score.
Can MiniMax-M3 or Kimi-K3 be self-hosted?+
Both models have the same recorded self-hosting status: supported. MiniMax-M3 is open weight; Kimi-K3 is open weight.
Can MiniMax-M3 and Kimi-K3 understand images?+
MiniMax-M3 is documented with image input; Kimi-K3 is documented with image input. This reflects supported input modalities, not vision quality.
Which can generate longer answers, MiniMax-M3 or Kimi-K3?+
Neither has a larger sourced maximum output. MiniMax-M3 is — and Kimi-K3 is —.
Do MiniMax-M3 and Kimi-K3 support reasoning and tool use?+
MiniMax-M3: reasoning, tool calling, and image input. Kimi-K3: reasoning and image input. Feature support does not establish relative quality.
Which is available from more inference providers, MiniMax-M3 or Kimi-K3?+
MiniMax-M3 has 5 sourced provider routes; Kimi-K3 has 5, a tie.
Which offers better value, MiniMax-M3 or Kimi-K3?+
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.