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Every score has a dated snapshot.

  1. Home
  2. Comparisons
  3. Kimi Chat 1.5 vs Kimi K3

Pairwise benchmark snapshot · Aug 16, 2026

Kimi Chat 1.5 vs Kimi K3 benchmark

This page compares Kimi Chat 1.5 (Moonshot) and Kimi K3 (Moonshot) using the latest snapshots we have as of Aug 16, 2026. On preference Elo, Kimi K3 is ahead by 108 points (1,528 vs 1,420; seed-bootstrap (Aug 1, 2026)). On SWE-bench coding, Kimi K3 resolves 73.8% versus 51% (seed-bootstrap (Aug 1, 2026)). Kimi Chat 1.5 streams faster (95 tok/s) while Kimi Chat 1.5 is the cheaper output token ($0.8/1M). Kimi Chat 1.5 has the larger context window (2M 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.

Quick answer

Kimi Chat 1.5 vs Kimi K3 is a dated snapshot, not a lab score. Kimi K3 leads preference Elo (1,528 vs 1,420). Kimi K3 leads SWE-bench coding. Kimi Chat 1.5 is the cheaper output token. Elo is crowd preference, not an exam. Pick the column that matches the job.
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Moonshot

Kimi Chat 1.5

Moonshot ultra-long context model supporting up to 2 million tokens per request.

Elo 1,420$0.8/1M 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

Swap or Add Any Model to this Matchup

Instant pairwise benchmark recalculation across 400+ LLMs

Model A
Model B
Quick vs:vs Claude Opus 4.5vs Claude Opus 4.6vs Claude Sonnet 4.5vs Claude 3.7 Sonnet

Interactive Comparison Diagram

Matchup Breakdown

Tug-of-War Matchup Matrix

Category wins across intelligence, speed, and pricing efficiency.

Kimi Chat 1.5 (5)vsKimi K3 (5)
Kimi Chat 1.5: 5W (50%)Overall: Even matchupKimi K3: 5W (50%)
← Kimi Chat 1.5Kimi K3 →
Kimi K3 (5/5)

Intelligence & Reasoning

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

Preference Elo
1,420vs1,528
Coding Elo
1,390vs1,535
SWE-bench
51%vs73.8%
LiveBench
58%vs69.5%
GPQA Diamond
71.5%vs88.4%
Kimi Chat 1.5: 0WKimi K3: 5W
Kimi Chat 1.5 (2/2)

Speed & Latency

Generation throughput and time to first token responsiveness

Output speed
95 tok/svs68 tok/s
Time to first token
210 msvs290 ms
Kimi Chat 1.5: 2WKimi K3: 0W
Kimi Chat 1.5 (3/3)

Pricing & Capacity

Cost per million tokens and max context window length

Output price
$0.8/1Mvs$15/1M
Input price
$0.2/1Mvs$3/1M
Context window
2Mvs1M
Kimi Chat 1.5: 3WKimi K3: 0W
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 AdvantageEven 3–3
Preference Elo

Kimi K3

108 pts advantage

Throughput Speed

Kimi Chat 1.5

27 tok/s faster

Price Efficiency

Kimi Chat 1.5

$14.20/1M cheaper

Full Benchmark Score Matrix

—
Elo
High is better
1,420
EloHigh is better
1,528+8%
Code Elo
High is better
1,390
Code EloHigh is better
1,535+10%
LiveBench
High is better
58%
LiveBenchHigh is better
69.5%+20%
SWE-bench
High is better
51%
SWE-benchHigh is better
73.8%+45%
GPQA
High is better
71.5%
GPQAHigh is better
88.4%+24%
TTFT
Low is better
+38%210 ms
TTFTLow is better
290 ms
Speed
High is better
+40%95 tok/s
SpeedHigh is better
68 tok/s
In $
Low is better
+1400%$0.2/1M
In $Low is better
$3/1M
Out $
Low is better
+1775%$0.8/1M
Out $Low is better
$15/1M
Context
High is better
+91%2M
ContextHigh is better
1M
Interactive Simulator

Workload Cost & Savings Calculator

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

Save up to 94% with Kimi Chat 1.5
Monthly Volume50M tokens/mo
Quick Presets:
Token Ratio (In vs Out)70% In / 30% Out
RAG / Search (10% out)Coding / Chat (50% out)
Kimi Chat 1.5$19.00 / mo
In: $7.00Out: $12.00
Kimi K3$330.00 / mo
In: $105.00Out: $225.00
Estimated Cost Delta

Kimi Chat 1.5 is estimated to save $311.00/month ($3,732/year).

Based on 50M tokens (30% gen)

Key Selection Recommendations

  • 1
    Kimi K3:Pick Kimi K3 when repo-level coding accuracy is the constraint.
  • 2
    Kimi Chat 1.5:Pick Kimi Chat 1.5 when you are optimizing output cost.
  • 3
    Kimi Chat 1.5:Pick Kimi Chat 1.5 when time-to-first-token matters more than peak Elo.

Recommended Workload Routing

Repo / coding agentsKimi K3

Higher SWE-bench (73.8%).

High-volume chatKimi Chat 1.5

Lower output list price ($0.8/1M).

Voice / low-latency UIKimi Chat 1.5

Lower TTFT (210 ms).

Long-document RAGKimi Chat 1.5

Larger window (2M).

Screenshots / visionKimi K3

Kimi K3 is the side marked multimodal in the catalog.

Target WorkloadRecommended PickEvaluation Rationale
Repo / coding agentsKimi K3Higher SWE-bench (73.8%).
High-volume chatKimi Chat 1.5Lower output list price ($0.8/1M).
Voice / low-latency UIKimi Chat 1.5Lower TTFT (210 ms).
Long-document RAGKimi Chat 1.5Larger window (2M).
Screenshots / visionKimi K3Kimi K3 is the side marked multimodal in the catalog.

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.

Community Sentiment

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CompareLLM Matrix

Verified head-to-head card

LIVE
VS
Moonshot

Kimi Chat 1.5

Elo 1,420
LiveBench58%
SWE-bench51%
Speed95 tok/s
Output cost$0.8/1M
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, Kimi Chat 1.5 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, Kimi Chat 1.5 or Kimi K3?
Kimi K3 leads SWE-bench at 73.8% vs 51%. SWE-bench is one harness, not your repo.
Which is cheaper to run in production?
Kimi Chat 1.5 output tokens are $0.8/1M versus $15/1M. Input prices and retry rates still move the real bill.
Which is faster, Kimi Chat 1.5 or Kimi K3?
Kimi Chat 1.5 has the lower time-to-first-token (210 ms vs 290 ms). Tokens/sec is a separate column if you care about long completions.
Which has the larger context window?
Kimi Chat 1.5 accepts 2M tokens versus 1M.
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. Kimi Chat 1.5 and Kimi K3 Elo cells are dated snapshots from the named source — we do not compute Arena ourselves.

Related news

  • launch · Jun 8, 2026

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

Similar Head-to-Head Comparisons

All Kimi Chat 1.5 matchups →|All Kimi K3 matchups →
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