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Kimi K2.6 vs MiniMax M3

Kimi K2.6 leads MiniMax M3 on coding, 52.1 to 39.2 on the Vibe Coding Index, and MiniMax M3 costs 3.3x less per output token ($1.20 vs $4.00 per million). Updated October 22, 2026; 99 benchmarks have a result for both.

Replace Kimi K2.6 Replace MiniMax M3
Kimi K2.6Moonshot AI
Coding
52.1
Overall
60.5
Output $/M
$4.00
72
MiniMax M3MiniMax
Coding
39.2
Overall
51.7
Output $/M
$1.20
25
vs boards won of 99 shared, 2 tied

Kimi K2.6 or MiniMax M3: which to pick

Pick Kimi K2.6 for coding: it scores 52.1 on the Vibe Coding Index against 39.2 for MiniMax M3, though on 3 benchmarks against 6.

Pick MiniMax M3 for output tokens 3.3x cheaper ($1.20 vs $4.00 per million) and a larger context window (1.05M against 262K tokens).

Model AKimi K2.6Moonshot AI52.1/1003 independent benchmarks$0.35 per solved taskModel BMiniMax M3MiniMax39.2/1006 independent benchmarks$0.56 per solved task
Shared results
99
Kimi K2.6 only
10
MiniMax M3 only
17
Like-for-like categories
8 of 9

Only benchmarks that tested both models count toward a pick; a result only one model has is shown but not compared.

Which one for your work

Each card is decided by one number both models carry. Where only one has it, the card says so and makes no call.

At a glance

Coding index
Kimi K2.6 52.1 from 3 benchmarks, MiniMax M3 39.2 from 6 benchmarks.
Widest category
Math, 9.9 points apart on average over 4 shared benchmarks.
Widest single gap
Design Arena: spreadsheets: Kimi K2.6 1276 against MiniMax M3 1028, 31.0 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
Output price
Kimi K2.6 $4.00 against MiniMax M3 $1.20 per million output tokens, 3.3x apart.
Context window
Kimi K2.6 takes 262K tokens, MiniMax M3 1.05M.

Benchmark by benchmark

First the score: boards each model leads, per category, where both have a result. Then every board, a category to a fold; bars are each result on a 0 to 100 scale, so compare the two in a row, not one row with another.

Boards won, where both have a result
CategoryKimi K2.6BarsMiniMax M3Ties
Coding1311 tie
Intelligence11
Agentic work781 tie
Reasoning84
Math31
Knowledge64
Web design80
General266
All shared boards72252 ties
CodingLike-for-likeSix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index131
Coding benchmarks for Kimi K2.6 and MiniMax M3
BenchmarkKimi K2.6MiniMax M3Leader
LiveBench codingNot measured70.9%Only MiniMax M3 measured
LMArena WebDev15091482Kimi K2.6
AA Coding Index61.858.6Kimi K2.6
LiveCodeBench (Vals AI)86.8%82.2%Kimi K2.6
SWE-bench Verified (Vals AI)76.2%75.0%Kimi K2.6
Terminal-Bench 4 (Vals AI)Not measured1.0%Only MiniMax M3 measured
Vibe Code Bench (Vals AI)37.9%47.6%MiniMax M3
Code migration (Vals AI)27.8%19.9%Kimi K2.6
ProgramBench (Vals AI)0.0%Not measuredOnly Kimi K2.6 measured
Terminal-Bench 2.1 (Vals AI)53.6%53.6%Tie
SWE-bench Multimodal (Vals AI)Not measured33.3%Only MiniMax M3 measured
Vibe Code Bench 1-100 (Vals AI)Not measured9.2%Only MiniMax M3 measured
SkillsBench (Vals AI)Not measured51.5%Only MiniMax M3 measured
CyberBench (Vals AI)Not measured65.0%Only MiniMax M3 measured
SciCode51.5%47.1%Kimi K2.6
Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run)43.9%42.4%Kimi K2.6
FrontierCodeNot measured14.7%Only MiniMax M3 measured
WeirdML55.9%Not measuredOnly Kimi K2.6 measured
ALE-Bench1092.7640.0Kimi K2.6
LMArena Text: coding14891470Kimi K2.6
LMArena Text: software and IT14841466Kimi K2.6
LMArena WebDev: React15051478Kimi K2.6
LMArena WebDev: HTML14851455Kimi K2.6
LMArena WebDev: from an image15211470Kimi K2.6
Neither model has a result on the other 15 boards here
IntelligenceLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index11
Intelligence benchmarks for Kimi K2.6 and MiniMax M3
BenchmarkKimi K2.6MiniMax M3Leader
AA Intelligence Index27.029.2MiniMax M3
Epoch Capabilities Index150.9146.9Kimi K2.6
Agentic workLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index78
Agentic work benchmarks for Kimi K2.6 and MiniMax M3
BenchmarkKimi K2.6MiniMax M3Leader
AA Agentic Index20.529.5MiniMax M3
Design Arena: agents building web apps12681200Kimi K2.6
Design Arena: agents building full-stack apps11551197MiniMax M3
Design Arena: agents building mobile apps11561169MiniMax M3
Design Arena: agents building Android apps11611159Kimi K2.6
Design Arena: agents building Godot games1120Not measuredOnly Kimi K2.6 measured
Design Arena: agents building games11411158MiniMax M3
Design Arena: HTML slides11351130Kimi K2.6
Design Arena: PowerPoint slides11031181MiniMax M3
Design Arena: spreadsheets12761028Kimi K2.6
LiveBench researchNot measured68.0%Only MiniMax M3 measured
LiveBench browserNot measured8.0%Only MiniMax M3 measured
LiveBench long agenticNot measured12.4%Only MiniMax M3 measured
Finance Agent (Vals AI)44.9%48.3%MiniMax M3
Tax Agent Bench (Vals AI)12.4%20.6%MiniMax M3
Legal Research Bench (Vals AI)15.9%29.8%MiniMax M3
Excel Modeling Benchmark (Vals AI)57.9%47.8%Kimi K2.6
τ²-Bench Telecom95.9%88.9%Kimi K2.6
APEX-AgentsNot measured37.7%Only MiniMax M3 measured
OSWorld 2.04.6%4.6%Tie
Vending-Bench 2$6,205$2,158Kimi K2.6
Neither model has a result on the other 20 boards here
ReasoningLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index84
Reasoning benchmarks for Kimi K2.6 and MiniMax M3
BenchmarkKimi K2.6MiniMax M3Leader
GPQA Diamond89.1%92.7%MiniMax M3
LiveBench reasoningNot measured74.5%Only MiniMax M3 measured
MMMU Pro (Vals AI)86.3%81.2%Kimi K2.6
GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run)91.1%92.9%MiniMax M3
Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run)37.5%39.0%MiniMax M3
GPQA Diamond (Epoch AI run)90.8%90.9%MiniMax M3
SimpleBenchNot measured45.8%Only MiniMax M3 measured
Chess puzzles20.0%13.0%Kimi K2.6
Mystery game puzzles18.0%8.0%Kimi K2.6
EBR-bench2.4%Not measuredOnly Kimi K2.6 measured
LMArena Text: hard prompts14701447Kimi K2.6
LMArena Text: expert14911461Kimi K2.6
LMArena Text: hard prompts in English14711455Kimi K2.6
LMArena Vision: diagrams12981266Kimi K2.6
LMArena Vision: homework13101268Kimi K2.6
Neither model has a result on the other 7 boards here
MathLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index31
Math benchmarks for Kimi K2.6 and MiniMax M3
BenchmarkKimi K2.6MiniMax M3Leader
OTIS Mock AIME96.1%71.1%Kimi K2.6
FrontierMath, tiers 1 to 357.2%Not measuredOnly Kimi K2.6 measured
FrontierMath, tier 425.6%Not measuredOnly Kimi K2.6 measured
ProofBench16.0%18.0%MiniMax M3
LMArena Text: math14741429Kimi K2.6
LMArena Text: mathematical work14801448Kimi K2.6
Neither model has a result on the other 7 boards here
KnowledgeLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index64
Knowledge benchmarks for Kimi K2.6 and MiniMax M3
BenchmarkKimi K2.6MiniMax M3Leader
MMLU Pro87.6%84.2%Kimi K2.6
LegalBench (Vals AI)84.7%85.4%MiniMax M3
CaseLaw (Vals AI)61.2%Not measuredOnly Kimi K2.6 measured
CorpFin (Vals AI)66.7%68.1%MiniMax M3
TaxEval (Vals AI)74.7%72.7%Kimi K2.6
MortgageTax (Vals AI)65.8%68.4%MiniMax M3
MedCode (Vals AI)40.1%46.3%MiniMax M3
SimpleQA Verified34.9%Not measuredOnly Kimi K2.6 measured
LMArena Text: science14681452Kimi K2.6
LMArena Text: medicine and healthcare14571441Kimi K2.6
LMArena Text: legal and government14621437Kimi K2.6
LMArena Text: business and finance14451434Kimi K2.6
Neither model has a result on the other 6 boards here
Web designLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index80
Web design benchmarks for Kimi K2.6 and MiniMax M3
BenchmarkKimi K2.6MiniMax M3Leader
Design Arena: websites12681257Kimi K2.6
Design Arena: UI components12631242Kimi K2.6
Design Arena: game dev12501210Kimi K2.6
Design Arena: data viz12491236Kimi K2.6
Design Arena: 3D12671208Kimi K2.6
Design Arena: all code categories12711247Kimi K2.6
Design Arena: SVG11811161Kimi K2.6
Design Arena: ASCII art11651161Kimi K2.6
LiveBench designNot measured66.2%Only MiniMax M3 measured
GeneralLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index266
General benchmarks for Kimi K2.6 and MiniMax M3
BenchmarkKimi K2.6MiniMax M3Leader
LiveBench data analysisNot measured76.2%Only MiniMax M3 measured
Public Benefits Bench (Vals AI)56.6%64.1%MiniMax M3
SAGE (Vals AI)50.2%50.6%MiniMax M3
MedScribe (Vals AI)78.2%87.3%MiniMax M3
Vals Multimodal Index56.4%60.0%MiniMax M3
IFBench76.0%82.9%MiniMax M3
Long context reasoning (AA-LCR)81.0%83.0%MiniMax M3
DTBench90.9%78.9%Kimi K2.6
LMCA37.3%33.7%Kimi K2.6
Surface Evolver BenchNot measured55.0%Only MiniMax M3 measured
Furniture assembly21.7%Not measuredOnly Kimi K2.6 measured
ExploitBench18.4%Not measuredOnly Kimi K2.6 measured
LMArena Text14551433Kimi K2.6
LMArena Text: instruction following14511433Kimi K2.6
LMArena Text: creative writing14341404Kimi K2.6
LMArena Vision12821251Kimi K2.6
LMArena Text: English14601443Kimi K2.6
LMArena Text: non-English14461420Kimi K2.6
LMArena Text: Chinese15201466Kimi K2.6
LMArena Text: German14511428Kimi K2.6
LMArena Text: Japanese14431380Kimi K2.6
LMArena Text: Korean14271373Kimi K2.6
LMArena Text: French14711444Kimi K2.6
LMArena Text: Spanish14641433Kimi K2.6
LMArena Text: Russian14461426Kimi K2.6
LMArena Text: Polish14381423Kimi K2.6
LMArena Text: multi-turn14531443Kimi K2.6
LMArena Text: longer queries14681446Kimi K2.6
LMArena Text: writing and language14391419Kimi K2.6
LMArena Text: entertainment and media14281403Kimi K2.6
LMArena Vision: English12871263Kimi K2.6
LMArena Vision: Chinese13461311Kimi K2.6
LMArena Vision: reading text12911259Kimi K2.6
LMArena Vision: humor12801235Kimi K2.6
LMArena Vision: recognizing thingsNot measured1197Only MiniMax M3 measured
LMArena Vision: creative writing12731234Kimi K2.6
LMArena Document14511435Kimi K2.6
Neither model has a result on the other 9 boards here
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
Image generation benchmarks for Kimi K2.6 and MiniMax M3
BenchmarkKimi K2.6MiniMax M3Leader
Neither model has a result on 5 boards here

What each workload costs

Three fixed token mixes at each model's listed price, so per-token rates become a bill.

Chat turn

1K input + 500 output tokens

Kimi K2.6$0.0029Fits in one request
MiniMax M3$0.0009Fits in one request

MiniMax M3 costs less

Repository review

50K input + 3K output tokens

Kimi K2.6$0.059Fits in one request
MiniMax M3$0.019Fits in one request

MiniMax M3 costs less

Agent loop

200K input + 10K output tokens

Kimi K2.6$0.230Fits in one request
MiniMax M3$0.072Fits in one request

MiniMax M3 costs less

Listed OpenRouter rates, without cache or batch discounts. A workload that does not fit a model's context window would need splitting.

Specification differences

The leading value in a row is marked; a row with a missing value names no leader. Our two rows are marked in red.

Specifications of Kimi K2.6 and MiniMax M3
SpecificationMoonshotAI Kimi K2.6MiniMax M3
MakerMoonshot AIMiniMax
WeightsOpen weightsOpen weights
ReleasedApril 20, 2026May 31, 2026
Context window262K1.05M
Input $/Mtok$0.95$0.30
Output $/Mtok$4.00$1.20
Coding index52.139.2
Independent measurements behind it36
Cost per solved task$0.35$0.56
SourceOpenRouter listingOpenRouter listing

Questions

Is Kimi K2.6 better than MiniMax M3 for coding?

Pick Kimi K2.6 for coding: it scores 52.1 on the Vibe Coding Index against 39.2 for MiniMax M3, though on 3 benchmarks against 6. Pick MiniMax M3 for output tokens 3.3x cheaper ($1.20 vs $4.00 per million) and a larger context window (1.05M against 262K tokens).

Which is cheaper, Kimi K2.6 or MiniMax M3?

Kimi K2.6 costs $0.95 per million input tokens and $4.00 per million output tokens; MiniMax M3 costs $0.30 and $1.20. Per solved SWE-bench Verified task, Kimi K2.6 costs $0.35 and MiniMax M3 $0.56.

Which has the bigger context window, Kimi K2.6 or MiniMax M3?

MiniMax M3, with 1.05M tokens against 262K.

How many benchmarks is the Kimi K2.6 vs MiniMax M3 comparison based on?

99 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 22, 2026. Kimi K2.6's coding index rests on 3 independent benchmarks and MiniMax M3's on 6. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.

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