Kimi K3 vs Claude Sonnet 4.6: Release Comparison

Comparison of the Kimi K3 and Claude Sonnet 4.6 releases: 2 and 3 models respectively, each with different intelligence, performance, and pricing characteristics. Below is a comparison of the key metrics across all 5 models.

  • For intelligence, Kimi K3 scores highest: Kimi K3 (max) at 60, against Claude Sonnet 4.6 (Adaptive Reasoning, Max Effort) at 48 for Claude Sonnet 4.6.
  • For output speed, Claude Sonnet 4.6 is fastest: Claude Sonnet 4.6 (Adaptive Reasoning, Max Effort) at 46 t/s, against Kimi K3 (max) at 38 t/s for Kimi K3.
  • For cost per task, Kimi K3 is cheapest: Kimi K3 (low) at $0.24, against Claude Sonnet 4.6 (Adaptive Reasoning, Max Effort) at $1.22 for Claude Sonnet 4.6.

Releases compared

KimiKimi K3AnthropicClaude Sonnet 4.6

Intelligence

Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index

Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index v4.1.1 incorporates 9 evaluations: GDPval-AA v2, 饾湉鲁-Banking, Terminal-Bench v2.1, SciCode, Humanity's Last Exam, GPQA Diamond, CritPt, AA-Omniscience, AA-LCR
Estimate (independent evaluation forthcoming)

Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index v4.1.1 includes: GDPval-AA v2, 饾湉鲁-Banking, Terminal-Bench v2.1, SciCode, Humanity's Last Exam, GPQA Diamond, CritPt, AA-Omniscience, AA-LCR. See Intelligence Index methodology for further details, including a breakdown of each evaluation and how we run them.

Intelligence Index vs. Cost per Intelligence Index Task

Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index 路 Weighted average cost (USD) per Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index task
Most attractive quadrant
Kimi K3
Pareto line

Weighted average cost per Intelligence Index task. Each evaluation鈥檚 cost is calculated from input, cache hit, cache write, reasoning, and answer token prices, divided by task count, and weighted by its Intelligence Index weight.

Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index v4.1.1 includes: GDPval-AA v2, 饾湉鲁-Banking, Terminal-Bench v2.1, SciCode, Humanity's Last Exam, GPQA Diamond, CritPt, AA-Omniscience, AA-LCR. See Intelligence Index methodology for further details, including a breakdown of each evaluation and how we run them.

Cost

Cost per Intelligence Index Task

Weighted average cost (USD) per Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index task, segmented by token type. Lower is better

Weighted average cost per Intelligence Index task. Each evaluation鈥檚 cost is calculated from input, cache hit, cache write, reasoning, and answer token prices, divided by task count, and weighted by its Intelligence Index weight.

Speed & Latency

Output Speed

Output tokens per second 路 Higher is better

Tokens per second received while the model is generating tokens (ie. after first chunk has been received from the API for models which support streaming).

Figures represent performance of the model's first-party API (e.g. OpenAI for o1) or the median across providers where a first-party API is not available (e.g. Meta's Llama models).

Capability Scores

Capability Indices

Measures the performance of models on specific capabilities and industries
Agentic Index

Measures performance in agentic workflows, focusing on behaviors like tool use, planning, autonomy, and complex problem solving.

Finance & Accounting Index

Incorporates 5 evaluations: AA-Omniscience, GDPval-AA v2, Humanity's Last Exam, 饾湉鲁-Banking, AA-LCR 路 Higher is better

Strategy & Ops Index

Incorporates 4 evaluations: AA-Omniscience, GDPval-AA v2, 饾湉鲁-Banking, AA-LCR 路 Higher is better

Legal Index

Incorporates 5 evaluations: AA-Omniscience, GDPval-AA v2, AA-LCR, 饾湉鲁-Banking, Humanity's Last Exam 路 Higher is better

Healthcare & Medical Index

Incorporates 5 evaluations: AA-Omniscience, GDPval-AA v2, MLCR-AA, Humanity's Last Exam, 饾湉鲁-Banking 路 Higher is better

Engineering Index

Incorporates 6 evaluations: AA-Omniscience, Humanity's Last Exam, GPQA Diamond, CritPt, GDPval-AA v2, Terminal-Bench v2.1 路 Higher is better

Economics Index

Incorporates 4 evaluations: AA-Omniscience, Humanity's Last Exam, GDPval-AA v2, AA-LCR 路 Higher is better

Further details

Weights
Provider Benchmarks
Kimi K3 (max)
Kimi logoKimi
60
2.8T
104B active at inference time
1M
$2.3
38
馃
KimiFireworksModal
+8
View
Claude Sonnet 4.6 (Adaptive Reasoning, Max Effort)
Anthropic logoAnthropic
48
-
1M
$2.3
46
Not available
AnthropicMicrosoft AzureAmazon BedrockGoogle
View
Kimi K3 (low)
Kimi logoKimi
48
2.8T
104B active at inference time
1M
$2.3
37
馃
KimiBaseten
View
Claude Sonnet 4.6 (Non-reasoning, High Effort)
Anthropic logoAnthropic
37
-
1M
$2.3
44
Not available
Amazon BedrockMicrosoft AzureGoogleAnthropic
View
Claude Sonnet 4.6 (Non-reasoning, Low Effort)
Anthropic logoAnthropic
35
-
1M
$2.3
43
Not available
Anthropic
View