Pairwise benchmark snapshot · Aug 17, 2026
In this head-to-head showdown, Kimi K3 delivers higher overall intelligence and human-preferred responses (Elo 1,528 vs 1,495), while Gemini 3 Flash leads in SWE-bench software engineering benchmarks (75.8%), while Gemini 3 Flash is more budget-friendly at $3/1M per 1M output tokens. Review the complete breakdown below to determine which model best fits your performance and budget requirements.
9 direct benchmark disciplines evaluated across capability, speed, and cost
Fast Google frontier-adjacent model. Near-top official SWE-bench at a fraction of Opus price.
Moonshot AI frontier flagship reasoning and agent swarm model with 256k context and top-tier SWE-bench coding capability.
Currently comparing Gemini 3 Flash vs Kimi K3. Alternative family tiers available.
Simulate accuracy gains vs added response time & token cost
Reasoning models “think before answering” by generating internal reasoning tokens. Higher effort improves math, coding, and logic accuracy, but increases response delay and token costs.
Δ 33 Arena Elo pts
190 tok/s
$3 / 1M output
Relative percentile scores computed across all active models in the benchmark catalog.
Comparing top Western standard models with China's leading frontier rival across 6 skill dimensions. Tap any spoke or dot to inspect.
Category wins across reasoning intelligence, generation speed, and token cost.
Preference Elo, Coding proficiency, SWE-bench & LiveBench accuracy
Generation throughput and time to first token responsiveness
Cost per million tokens and max context window length
| Benchmark | Gemini 3 Flash | Kimi K3 | Advantage Delta |
|---|---|---|---|
| Preference Elo | +33 | ||
| Coding Elo | +25 | ||
| LiveBench | +2.7% | ||
| SWE-bench | +2% | ||
| GPQA Diamond | +10% | ||
| Time to first token | +195 ms | ||
| Output speed | 190 tok/s | 68 tok/s | +122 tok/s |
| Input price | $0.5/1M | +$2.5/1M | |
| Output price | +$12/1M | ||
| Context window | — |
Simulate monthly production API costs in USD (US Dollar).
Gemini 3 Flash is estimated to save $267.50/month ($3,210/year).
Higher SWE-bench (75.8%).
Lower output list price ($3/1M).
Lower TTFT (95 ms).
Larger window (1M).
Both accept images. Defaulting to the higher-Elo side (Kimi K3).
| Target Workload | Recommended Pick | Evaluation Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Repo / coding agents | Gemini 3 Flash | Higher SWE-bench (75.8%). |
| High-volume chat | Gemini 3 Flash | Lower output list price ($3/1M). |
| Voice / low-latency UI | Gemini 3 Flash | Lower TTFT (95 ms). |
| Long-document RAG | Gemini 3 Flash | Larger window (1M). |
| Screenshots / vision | Kimi K3 | Both accept images. Defaulting to the higher-Elo side (Kimi K3). |
Jun 2026. The Kimi vs GPT hub remaps to the top Moonshot Elo vs top OpenAI Elo.
March 2026 speed SKU. Still a useful cheap-coding compare even after 3.6/3.7 Flash.
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