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© 2026 CompareLLM. Public benchmark data aggregated from Arena Elo, LiveBench, SWE-bench & OpenRouter.

Every score has a dated snapshot.

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  3. GPT-5.6 Luna vs Kimi K3

Pairwise benchmark snapshot · Aug 16, 2026

GPT-5.6 Luna vs Kimi K3 benchmark

In this head-to-head showdown, Kimi K3 delivers higher overall intelligence and human-preferred responses (Elo 1,528 vs 1,466), while Kimi K3 leads in SWE-bench software engineering benchmarks (73.8%), while GPT-5.6 Luna is more budget-friendly at $1.2/1M per 1M output tokens. Review the complete breakdown below to determine which model best fits your performance and budget requirements.

Executive Comparison Verdict

Bottom Line: Choose Kimi K3 if your priority is peak reasoning, complex code generation, and top preference Elo. Choose GPT-5.6 Luna if you are optimizing for low latency, high throughput, and cost-efficient API deployment.
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Verified Head-to-Head Advantage Breakdown

10 direct benchmark disciplines evaluated across capability, speed, and cost

GPT-5.6 Luna (5)Kimi K3 (5)
GPT-5.6 Luna
5 of 10 Wins
✓Time to first token✓Output speed✓Input price✓Output price✓Context window
Kimi K3
5 of 10 Wins
✓Preference Elo✓Coding Elo✓LiveBench✓SWE-bench✓GPQA Diamond
OpenAI
Leads 5 of 10 metrics
GPT-5.6 Luna

OpenAI 5.6 fast/cheap tier. Official API $0.20/$1.20 per 1M after the Jul 30 80% Luna cut.

Luna Fast / VolumeElo 1,466$1.2/1M out
Moonshot
Leads 5 of 10 metrics
Kimi K3

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

Elo 1,528$2.5/1M out

GPT-5.6 Series Lineage & Sibling Variants

3 models

Currently comparing GPT-5.6 Luna vs Kimi K3. Alternative family tiers available.

Active: GPT-5.6 Luna
GPT-5.6 Sol$30GPT-5.6 Terra$12

Kimi K3 Thinking Depth & Cost Scaler

Model B

Simulate accuracy gains vs added response time & token cost

Mode: Medium (Deep Reasoning)

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.

Thinking Delay
290 ms
Standard speed
Reasoning Depth
~2,500
Internal tokens
Cost / 1k Calls
$7.30
7.0× standard bill
Accuracy Boost
+5.5% accuracy
STEM & SWE-bench
Top Rival Showdowns for GPT-5.6 Luna
All Matchups
Compare vs:vs Claude Opus 4.5vs Gemini 3 Provs Grok 4.6vs DeepSeek V4 Provs Qwen 3 Max
Preference LeaderKimi K3 Wins

Kimi K3

Δ 62 Arena Elo pts

Throughput LeaderGPT-5.6 Luna Wins

GPT-5.6 Luna

188 tok/s

Value per Dollar LeaderGPT-5.6 Luna Wins

GPT-5.6 Luna

$1.2 / 1M output

Capability Percentiles

Relative percentile scores computed across all active models in the benchmark catalog.

Multi-Dimensional Capability Radar

Leaders Matchup Capability Radar

Comparing top Western standard models with China's leading frontier rival across 6 skill dimensions. Tap any spoke or dot to inspect.

Tap any node to inspect
Percentile 0–100
Head-to-Head Comparison

Overall Matchup Breakdown

Category wins across reasoning intelligence, generation speed, and token cost.

GPT-5.6 Luna (5)vsKimi K3 (5)
GPT-5.6 Luna: 5W (50%)Overall: Even matchupKimi K3: 5W (50%)
← GPT-5.6 LunaKimi K3 →
🏆Kimi K3(5/5)

Intelligence & Reasoning

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

Benchmark
GPT-5.6 LunavsKimi K3
Preference Elo
1,466vs1,528+62
Coding Elo
1,458vs1,535+77
SWE-bench
61.8%vs73.8%+12%
LiveBench
64.2%vs69.5%+5.3%
GPQA Diamond
75.4%vs88.4%+13%
GPT-5.6 Luna: 0WKimi K3: 5W
🏆GPT-5.6 Luna(2/2)

Speed & Latency

Generation throughput and time to first token responsiveness

Benchmark
GPT-5.6 LunavsKimi K3
Output speed
188 tok/svs68 tok/s+120 tok/s
Time to first token
88 msvs290 ms+202 ms
GPT-5.6 Luna: 2WKimi K3: 0W
🏆GPT-5.6 Luna(3/3)

Pricing & Capacity

Cost per million tokens and max context window length

Benchmark
GPT-5.6 LunavsKimi K3
Output price
$1.2/1Mvs$2.5/1M+$1.3/1M
Input price
$0.2/1Mvs$0.6/1M+$0.4/1M
Context window
1Mvs262k+738k
GPT-5.6 Luna: 3WKimi K3: 0W

Side-by-Side Benchmark Matrix

Preference Elo+62
GPT-5.6 Luna1,466
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
Kimi K31,528
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Coding Elo+77
GPT-5.6 Luna1,458
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
Kimi K31,535
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
LiveBench+5.3%
GPT-5.6 Luna64.2%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
Kimi K369.5%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
SWE-bench+12%
GPT-5.6 Luna61.8%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
Kimi K373.8%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
GPQA Diamond+13%
GPT-5.6 Luna75.4%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
Kimi K388.4%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Time to first token+202 ms
GPT-5.6 Luna88 ms
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
Kimi K3290 ms
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Output speed+120 tok/s
GPT-5.6 Luna188 tok/s
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
Kimi K368 tok/s
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Input price+$0.4/1M
GPT-5.6 Luna$0.2/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
Kimi K3$0.6/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Output price+$1.3/1M
GPT-5.6 Luna$1.2/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
Kimi K3$2.5/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Context window+738k
GPT-5.6 Luna1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
Kimi K3262k
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
BenchmarkGPT-5.6 LunaKimi K3Advantage Delta
Preference Elo
1,466
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
1,528
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+62
Coding Elo
1,458
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
1,535
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+77
LiveBench
64.2%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
69.5%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+5.3%
SWE-bench
61.8%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
73.8%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+12%
GPQA Diamond
75.4%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
88.4%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+13%
Time to first token
88 ms
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
290 ms
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+202 ms
Output speed
188 tok/s
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
68 tok/s
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+120 tok/s
Input price
$0.2/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
$0.6/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+$0.4/1M
Output price
$1.2/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
$2.5/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+$1.3/1M
Context window
1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 16, 2026
262k
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+738k
Interactive Simulator (USD)

Workload Cost & Savings Calculator

Simulate monthly production API costs in USD (US Dollar).

Save up to 57% with GPT-5.6 Luna
Monthly Volume50M tokens/mo
Quick Presets:
Token Ratio (In vs Out)70% In / 30% Out
RAG / Search (10% out)Coding / Chat (50% out)
GPT-5.6 Luna$25.00 / mo
In: $7Out: $18
Kimi K3$58.50 / mo
In: $21Out: $37.5
Estimated Cost Delta

GPT-5.6 Luna is estimated to save $33.50/month ($402/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
    GPT-5.6 Luna:Pick GPT-5.6 Luna when you are optimizing output cost.
  • 3
    GPT-5.6 Luna:Pick GPT-5.6 Luna when time-to-first-token matters more than peak Elo.

Recommended Workload Routing

Repo / coding agentsKimi K3

Higher SWE-bench (73.8%).

High-volume chatGPT-5.6 Luna

Lower output list price ($1.2/1M).

Voice / low-latency UIGPT-5.6 Luna

Lower TTFT (88 ms).

Long-document RAGGPT-5.6 Luna

Larger window (1M).

Screenshots / visionKimi K3

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

Target WorkloadRecommended PickEvaluation Rationale
Repo / coding agentsKimi K3Higher SWE-bench (73.8%).
High-volume chatGPT-5.6 LunaLower output list price ($1.2/1M).
Voice / low-latency UIGPT-5.6 LunaLower TTFT (88 ms).
Long-document RAGGPT-5.6 LunaLarger window (1M).
Screenshots / visionKimi K3Both accept images. Defaulting to the higher-Elo side (Kimi K3).

Related Editorial Dispatches & Benchmark Notes

View all news
priceJul 30, 2026

GPT-5.6 Luna’s 80% cut: $0.20/$1.20 for volume chat

Luna is the OpenAI fast/cheap 5.6 SKU after Jul 30. It is not Sol. Sort by price and TTFT, not Elo.

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.

launchAug 8, 2025

GPT-5 mini: the 2025 distill still useful as a cheap OpenAI baseline

High-volume agents that cannot pay Sol. Compare to Luna before you assume the new cheap SKU wins.

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CompareLLM AI Matrix

Verified Head-to-Head Telemetry

LIVE BENCHMARK
VS
OpenAI

GPT-5.6 Luna

Elo 1,466
SWE-bench61.8%
Speed (tok/s)188 tok/s
Input / 1M Tokens$0.2/1M
Output / 1M Tokens$1.2/1M
Moonshot

Kimi K3

Elo 1,528
SWE-bench73.8%
Speed (tok/s)68 tok/s
Input / 1M Tokens$0.6/1M
Output / 1M Tokens$2.5/1M

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better overall, GPT-5.6 Luna 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, GPT-5.6 Luna or Kimi K3?
Kimi K3 leads SWE-bench at 73.8% vs 61.8%. SWE-bench is one harness, not your repo.
Which is cheaper to run in production?
GPT-5.6 Luna output tokens are $1.2/1M versus $2.5/1M. Input prices and retry rates still move the real bill.
Which is faster, GPT-5.6 Luna or Kimi K3?
GPT-5.6 Luna has the lower time-to-first-token (88 ms vs 290 ms). Tokens/sec is a separate column if you care about long completions.
Which has the larger context window?
GPT-5.6 Luna accepts 1M tokens versus 262k.
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. GPT-5.6 Luna and Kimi K3 Elo cells are dated snapshots from the named source — we do not compute Arena ourselves.

Related news

  • price · Jul 30, 2026

    GPT-5.6 Luna’s 80% cut: $0.20/$1.20 for volume chat

  • launch · Jun 8, 2026

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

  • launch · Aug 8, 2025

    GPT-5 mini: the 2025 distill still useful as a cheap OpenAI baseline

Similar Head-to-Head Comparisons

All GPT-5.6 Luna matchups →|All Kimi K3 matchups →
GPT-5.6 Luna vs GPT-5 mini (previous gpt-mini)Kimi K3 vs Kimi K2.5 Max (previous kimi)GPT-4.5 Orion vs Kimi K3GPT-5.6 Terra vs Kimi K3GPT-5 vs Kimi K3OpenAI o3-mini vs Kimi K3