Pairwise benchmark snapshot · Aug 16, 2026

Grok 4 vs Kimi K3 benchmark

Name: Grok 4 vs Kimi K3 AI benchmark comparison
Creator: CompareLLM
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

This page compares Grok 4 (xAI) and Kimi K3 (Moonshot) using the latest snapshots we have as of Aug 16, 2026. On preference Elo, Kimi K3 is ahead by 40 points (1,528 vs 1,488; seed-bootstrap (Aug 1, 2026)). On SWE-bench coding, Kimi K3 resolves 73.8% versus 58.6% (seed-bootstrap (Aug 1, 2026)). Grok 4 streams faster (98 tok/s) while Grok 4 is the cheaper output token ($15/1M). Kimi K3 has the larger context window (1M tokens). Every cell below is a dated snapshot from a named public source — we do not invent missing scores, and we do not run SWE-bench ourselves.

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xAI

Grok 4

Previous xAI flagship.

Elo 1,488$15/1M out

Moonshot

Kimi K3

Moonshot AI frontier flagship reasoning and agent swarm model with 256k context and top-tier SWE-bench coding capability.

Elo 1,528$15/1M out

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Model B

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Interactive Comparison Diagram

Matchup Breakdown

Tug-of-War Matchup Matrix

Category wins across intelligence, speed, and pricing efficiency.

Grok 4 (2)vsKimi K3 (6)

Grok 4: 2W (25%)Overall: Kimi K3Kimi K3: 6W (75%)

← Grok 42 tiesKimi K3 →

Kimi K3 (5/5)

Intelligence & Reasoning

Preference Elo, Coding proficiency, SWE-bench & LiveBench accuracy

Preference Elo

1,488vs1,528

Coding Elo

—vs1,535

SWE-bench

58.6%vs73.8%

LiveBench

64.1%vs69.5%

GPQA Diamond

79%vs88.4%

Grok 4: 0WKimi K3: 5W

Grok 4 (2/2)

Speed & Latency

Generation throughput and time to first token responsiveness

Output speed

98 tok/svs68 tok/s

Time to first token

230 msvs290 ms

Grok 4: 2WKimi K3: 0W

Kimi K3 (1/3)

Pricing & Capacity

Cost per million tokens and max context window length

Output price

$15/1Mvs$15/1M

Input price

$3/1Mvs$3/1M

Context window

256kvs1M

Grok 4: 0WKimi K3: 1W

Capability Matchup Radar

Multi-Dimensional Capability Radar

Each spoke is a skill. Farther from the center is better (0–100th percentile). Tap any dot to inspect details.

Tap any node to inspect

Percentile 0–100

Dimensional AdvantageKimi K3 4/6

Preference Elo

Kimi K3

40 pts advantage

Throughput Speed

Grok 4

30 tok/s faster

Price Efficiency

Grok 4

Same token price

Full Benchmark Score Matrix

—

Elo

High is better

1,488

EloHigh is better

1,528+3%

Code Elo

High is better

—

Code EloHigh is better

1,535

LiveBench

High is better

64.1%

LiveBenchHigh is better

69.5%+8%

SWE-bench

High is better

58.6%

SWE-benchHigh is better

73.8%+26%

GPQA

High is better

79%

GPQAHigh is better

88.4%+12%

TTFT

Low is better

+26%230 ms

TTFTLow is better

290 ms

Speed

High is better

+44%98 tok/s

SpeedHigh is better

68 tok/s

In $

Low is better

$3/1M

In $Low is better

$3/1M

Out $

Low is better

$15/1M

Out $Low is better

$15/1M

Context

High is better

256k

ContextHigh is better

1M+310%

Interactive Simulator

Workload Cost & Savings Calculator

Simulate monthly production API costs based on published $/1M tokens.

Monthly Volume50M tokens/mo

Quick Presets:

Token Ratio (In vs Out)70% In / 30% Out

RAG / Search (10% out)Coding / Chat (50% out)

Grok 4$330.00 / mo

In: $105.00Out: $225.00

Kimi K3$330.00 / mo

In: $105.00Out: $225.00

Key Selection Recommendations

1
Kimi K3:Pick Kimi K3 when repo-level coding accuracy is the constraint.
2
Grok 4:Pick Grok 4 when you are optimizing output cost.
3
Grok 4:Pick Grok 4 when time-to-first-token matters more than peak Elo.

Recommended Workload Routing

Repo / coding agentsKimi K3

Higher SWE-bench (73.8%).

High-volume chatGrok 4

Lower output list price ($15/1M).

Voice / low-latency UIGrok 4

Lower TTFT (230 ms).

Long-document RAGKimi K3

Larger window (1M).

Screenshots / visionKimi K3

Both accept images. Defaulting to the higher-Elo side (Kimi K3).

Target Workload	Recommended Pick	Evaluation Rationale
Repo / coding agents	Kimi K3	Higher SWE-bench (73.8%).
High-volume chat	Grok 4	Lower output list price ($15/1M).
Voice / low-latency UI	Grok 4	Lower TTFT (230 ms).
Long-document RAG	Kimi K3	Larger window (1M).
Screenshots / vision	Kimi K3	Both accept images. Defaulting to the higher-Elo side (Kimi K3).

Related Editorial Dispatches & Benchmark Notes

View all news

launchJun 8, 2026

Kimi K3: Moonshot’s long-context open-weight competitive row

Jun 2026. The Kimi vs GPT hub remaps to the top Moonshot Elo vs top OpenAI Elo.

launchJul 10, 2025

Grok 4 remains the previous xAI flagship on this catalog

2025-07 row. 4.6 is the buy. We keep 4 so upgrade pairs and old inbound links resolve.

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LIVE

xAI

Grok 4

Elo 1,488

LiveBench64.1%

SWE-bench58.6%

Speed98 tok/s

Output cost$15/1M

Moonshot

Kimi K3

Elo 1,528

LiveBench69.5%

SWE-bench73.8%

Speed68 tok/s

Output cost$15/1M

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better overall, Grok 4 or Kimi K3?: Kimi K3 has the higher preference Elo in our latest snapshot (1,528). “Better” still depends on coding, price, and latency — see the table.
Which is better at coding, Grok 4 or Kimi K3?: Kimi K3 leads SWE-bench at 73.8% vs 58.6%. SWE-bench is one harness, not your repo.
Which is cheaper to run in production?: Grok 4 output tokens are $15/1M versus $15/1M. Input prices and retry rates still move the real bill.
Which is faster, Grok 4 or Kimi K3?: Grok 4 has the lower time-to-first-token (230 ms vs 290 ms). Tokens/sec is a separate column if you care about long completions.
Which has the larger context window?: Kimi K3 accepts 1M tokens versus 256k.
Can I self-host either model?: Neither model is marked open-weights here. You are comparing hosted APIs.
Are these scores from CompareLLM’s own evals?: No. V1 aggregates public leaderboards (and optional first-party latency pings). Each cell names its source and date. Read /methodology.
What does preference Elo mean on this page?: Preference Elo is a crowd vote from LMArena / Arena. People see two hidden answers and pick the one they like more. The model that wins more often gets a higher Elo. That means people preferred it — not that it passed a school test. It is not SWE-bench, not accuracy, and not a number we invent. Grok 4 and Kimi K3 Elo cells are dated snapshots from the named source — we do not compute Arena ourselves.

Similar Head-to-Head Comparisons

All Grok 4 matchups →|All Kimi K3 matchups →

Grok 4 vs Grok 3 (previous grok)Grok 4 vs Grok 4.6 (next grok)Kimi K3 vs MoonshotAI: Kimi K2.5 (previous kimi)Grok 4.6 vs Kimi K3 MoonshotAI: Kimi K2 0711 vs Grok 4 Kimi Chat 1.5 vs Grok 4

Grok 4 vs Kimi K3 benchmark

Interactive Comparison Diagram

Matchup Breakdown

Tug-of-War Matchup Matrix

Category wins across intelligence, speed, and pricing efficiency.

Grok 4 (2)vsKimi K3 (6)

Grok 4: 2W (25%)Overall: Kimi K3Kimi K3: 6W (75%)

← Grok 42 tiesKimi K3 →

Kimi K3 (5/5)

Intelligence & Reasoning

Preference Elo, Coding proficiency, SWE-bench & LiveBench accuracy

Preference Elo

1,488vs1,528

Coding Elo

—vs1,535

SWE-bench

58.6%vs73.8%

LiveBench

64.1%vs69.5%

GPQA Diamond

79%vs88.4%

Grok 4: 0WKimi K3: 5W

Grok 4 (2/2)

Speed & Latency

Generation throughput and time to first token responsiveness

Output speed

98 tok/svs68 tok/s

Time to first token

230 msvs290 ms

Grok 4: 2WKimi K3: 0W

Kimi K3 (1/3)

Pricing & Capacity

Cost per million tokens and max context window length

Output price

$15/1Mvs$15/1M

Input price

$3/1Mvs$3/1M

Context window

256kvs1M

Grok 4: 0WKimi K3: 1W

Recommended Workload Routing

Repo / coding agentsKimi K3

Higher SWE-bench (73.8%).

High-volume chatGrok 4

Lower output list price ($15/1M).

Voice / low-latency UIGrok 4

Lower TTFT (230 ms).

Long-document RAGKimi K3

Larger window (1M).

Screenshots / visionKimi K3

Both accept images. Defaulting to the higher-Elo side (Kimi K3).

Target Workload	Recommended Pick	Evaluation Rationale
Repo / coding agents	Kimi K3	Higher SWE-bench (73.8%).
High-volume chat	Grok 4	Lower output list price ($15/1M).
Voice / low-latency UI	Grok 4	Lower TTFT (230 ms).
Long-document RAG	Kimi K3	Larger window (1M).
Screenshots / vision	Kimi K3	Both accept images. Defaulting to the higher-Elo side (Kimi K3).

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better overall, Grok 4 or Kimi K3?

Kimi K3 has the higher preference Elo in our latest snapshot (1,528). “Better” still depends on coding, price, and latency — see the table.

Which is better at coding, Grok 4 or Kimi K3?

Kimi K3 leads SWE-bench at 73.8% vs 58.6%. SWE-bench is one harness, not your repo.

Which is cheaper to run in production?

Grok 4 output tokens are $15/1M versus $15/1M. Input prices and retry rates still move the real bill.

Which is faster, Grok 4 or Kimi K3?

Grok 4 has the lower time-to-first-token (230 ms vs 290 ms). Tokens/sec is a separate column if you care about long completions.

Which has the larger context window?

Kimi K3 accepts 1M tokens versus 256k.

Can I self-host either model?

Neither model is marked open-weights here. You are comparing hosted APIs.

Are these scores from CompareLLM’s own evals?

No. V1 aggregates public leaderboards (and optional first-party latency pings). Each cell names its source and date. Read /methodology.

What does preference Elo mean on this page?

Preference Elo is a crowd vote from LMArena / Arena. People see two hidden answers and pick the one they like more. The model that wins more often gets a higher Elo. That means people preferred it — not that it passed a school test. It is not SWE-bench, not accuracy, and not a number we invent. Grok 4 and Kimi K3 Elo cells are dated snapshots from the named source — we do not compute Arena ourselves.

Swap or Add Any Model to this Matchup

Interactive Comparison Diagram

Tug-of-War Matchup Matrix

Intelligence & Reasoning

Speed & Latency

Pricing & Capacity

Multi-Dimensional Capability Radar

Kimi K3

Grok 4

Grok 4

Full Benchmark Score Matrix

Workload Cost & Savings Calculator

Key Selection Recommendations

Recommended Workload Routing

Related Editorial Dispatches & Benchmark Notes

Kimi K3: Moonshot’s long-context open-weight competitive row

Grok 4 remains the previous xAI flagship on this catalog

Cast Your Matchup Vote

Community Discussions (0)

Share card

CompareLLM Matrix

Grok 4

Kimi K3

Frequently Asked Questions

Related news

Similar Head-to-Head Comparisons

Swap or Add Any Model to this Matchup

Interactive Comparison Diagram

Tug-of-War Matchup Matrix

Intelligence & Reasoning

Speed & Latency

Pricing & Capacity

Multi-Dimensional Capability Radar

Kimi K3

Grok 4

Grok 4

Full Benchmark Score Matrix

Workload Cost & Savings Calculator

Key Selection Recommendations

Recommended Workload Routing

Related Editorial Dispatches & Benchmark Notes

Kimi K3: Moonshot’s long-context open-weight competitive row

Grok 4 remains the previous xAI flagship on this catalog

Cast Your Matchup Vote

Community Discussions (0)

Share card

CompareLLM Matrix

Grok 4

Kimi K3

Frequently Asked Questions

Related news

Similar Head-to-Head Comparisons