Skip to main content
Watch: I Built an AI App Without Leaving Databricks

Model comparison - Same provider, successor

Kimi K2.6 vs Kimi K3

Kimi K2.6 and Kimi K3 are both Moonshot AI models. On list price, Kimi K3 charges 3.2x Kimi K2.6's input price ($3 vs $0.95 per 1M tokens), and Kimi K3 charges 3.8x Kimi K2.6's output price ($15 vs $4 per 1M tokens). Kimi K2.6 has a 262,144-token context window and Kimi K3 1,048,576 tokens; Kimi K3 returns up to 1,048,576 output tokens per response, and no primary source states a max output for Kimi K2.6. Both publish open weights.

Last verified from each provider's pricing page. All sources

Moonshot AI - Open

Kimi K2.6
Input / 1M
$0.95
Output / 1M
$4
Context
262K

Moonshot AI - Open

Kimi K3
Input / 1M
$3
Output / 1M
$15
Context
1.05M

Side-by-side specs

SpecKimi K2.6Kimi K3
ProviderMoonshot AIMoonshot AI
Input / 1M tokens$0.95$3
Output / 1M tokens$4$15
Cache read / 1M$0.16$0.30
Cache write / 1M-$3
Batch input / 1M$0.57-
Batch output / 1M$2.40-
Context window262,1441,048,576
Max output-1,048,576
WeightsOpenOpen
LicenseModified MIT License (Hugging Face license tag: other)Kimi K3 License (Hugging Face license tag: other)
API model idkimi-k2.6kimi-k3
AI Gateway idmoonshotai/kimi-k2.6moonshotai/kimi-k3
Last verified

Prices in USD per 1M tokens at each provider's standard first-party rate. A dash means the provider does not bill that item separately or no primary page states it.

What each costs in practice

The same three workloads every model page uses, worked from each model's standard list rates. Swap in your own token counts with the math on each model's page.

WorkloadKimi K2.6Kimi K3
One agent session1M input tokens and 100K output tokens, no caching.$1.35$4.50
A chat app10,000 requests a day at 2K input and 500 output tokens each.$39.00$1,170.00 per 30-day month$135.00$4,050.00 per 30-day month
The same session at a 90% cache hit90% of the input is read from the prompt cache. The one-time cache write premium is not included.$0.639$2.07
Show the math

Kimi K2.6

  • One agent sessionInput: 1M x $0.95 = $0.95Output: 0.1M x $4 = $0.40
  • A chat appInput: 20M x $0.95 = $19.00Output: 5M x $4 = $20.00
  • The same session at a 90% cache hitCached input: 0.9M x $0.16 = $0.144Uncached input: 0.1M x $0.95 = $0.095Output: 0.1M x $4 = $0.40

Kimi K3

  • One agent sessionInput: 1M x $3 = $3.00Output: 0.1M x $15 = $1.50
  • A chat appInput: 20M x $3 = $60.00Output: 5M x $15 = $75.00
  • The same session at a 90% cache hitCached input: 0.9M x $0.30 = $0.27Uncached input: 0.1M x $3 = $0.30Output: 0.1M x $15 = $1.50

Benchmarks under the same setting

Only boards that list both models under the same run setting appear here, one row per board and setting, with each score exactly as the board shows it. Scores on different boards use different scales and are never combined.

Board and settingKimi K2.6Kimi K3
AIME 2026 (MathArena)MathArena harness, 4 runs per problem, thinking modeOfficial leaderboard - matharena.ai95.83%96.67%

Set them up in your tools

Step-by-step guides whose official docs list Kimi K2.6 or Kimi K3 by model id.

Model pages

Moonshot AIKimi K2.6 pricing and specsFull rate card, worked cost examples and sources. Open weights.Moonshot AIKimi K3 pricing and specsFull rate card, worked cost examples and sources. Open weights.

FAQ

How do Kimi K2.6 and Kimi K3 compare on price?

On list price, Kimi K3 charges 3.2x Kimi K2.6's input price ($3 vs $0.95 per 1M tokens), and Kimi K3 charges 3.8x Kimi K2.6's output price ($15 vs $4 per 1M tokens). For one agent session of 1M input and 100K output tokens with no caching, that is $1.35 on Kimi K2.6 and $4.50 on Kimi K3. Prices are each provider's first-party list rates, verified October 17, 2026 and October 17, 2026.

What are the context windows of Kimi K2.6 and Kimi K3?

Kimi K2.6 has a 262,144-token context window and Kimi K3 1,048,576 tokens; Kimi K3 returns up to 1,048,576 output tokens per response, and no primary source states a max output for Kimi K2.6.

Are Kimi K2.6 and Kimi K3 open weights?

Kimi K2.6's weights are published at huggingface.co under the Modified MIT License (Hugging Face license tag: other). Kimi K3's weights are published at huggingface.co under the Kimi K3 License (Hugging Face license tag: other).

More comparisons

Sources

Kimi K2.6 verified from platform.kimi.ai; Kimi K3 verified from platform.kimi.ai. This page is as current as the older of the two: .

Newsletter

Get model price changes as they ship

One email per week. New model releases, price cuts and what they mean for your bill.