Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs Kimi K3
Side-by-side benchmark comparison across coding, math, reasoning, speed, and pricing.
Kimi K3 by Moonshot AI wins on 9 of 11 benchmarks against Claude Sonnet 4.6 by Anthropic, which leads on 2. This head-to-head comparison covers coding, math, reasoning, speed, and pricing metrics from our benchmark data.
Category-by-Category Breakdown
General Intelligence: In general intelligence, Kimi K3 scores 43.8 on AA Intelligence Index compared to Claude Sonnet 4.6's 30.5.
Coding: In coding, Kimi K3 scores 76.2 on AA Coding Index compared to Claude Sonnet 4.6's 63, while Kimi K3 scores 1377 on Design Arena ELO compared to Claude Sonnet 4.6's 1274, while Kimi K3 scores 1352 on Website Arena ELO compared to Claude Sonnet 4.6's 1297.
Reasoning: In reasoning, Kimi K3 scores 91.5% on GPQA Diamond compared to Claude Sonnet 4.6's 54.3%, while Kimi K3 scores 50.6 on AA Agentic Index compared to Claude Sonnet 4.6's 33.1, while Claude Sonnet 4.6 scores 75.3% on τ²-Bench Airline compared to Kimi K3's 70.9%.
Context: In context, Kimi K3 scores 1.0M on Context Length compared to Claude Sonnet 4.6's 1.0M.
Pricing Comparison
Claude Sonnet 4.6 costs $3.0/1M input tokens and $15.0/1M output tokens, while Kimi K3 costs $2.6/1M input and $13.3/1M output. Kimi K3 is the more affordable option for API usage.
Verdict
Kimi K3 leads across the board in affordability, making it the stronger overall choice in this comparison.
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Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs Kimi K3 — FAQ
Which is better, Claude Sonnet 4.6 or Kimi K3?
Kimi K3 wins on more benchmarks overall (9 vs 2). However, the best choice depends on your specific needs — each model excels in different areas.
How does Claude Sonnet 4.6 compare to Kimi K3 for coding?
SWE-bench Verified data is not available for both models. Check the detailed comparison charts above for other coding-related metrics.
Is Claude Sonnet 4.6 cheaper than Kimi K3?
Yes, Kimi K3 is cheaper. Claude Sonnet 4.6 costs $3.0/1M input and $15.0/1M output tokens. Kimi K3 costs $2.6/1M input and $13.3/1M output tokens.
Which is faster, Claude Sonnet 4.6 or Kimi K3?
Output speed data is not available for both models. Check the speed section of the comparison above for available performance data.
What benchmarks does the Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs Kimi K3 comparison cover?
This comparison covers 11 benchmarks including GPQA Diamond, Input Cost, Output Cost, Context Length, AA Intelligence Index, AA Coding Index, AA Agentic Index, Cached Input Cost, and more. Metrics span general intelligence, coding, math, reasoning, speed, and cost categories.