Kimi K3 vs Qwen3.8 Max Prime
API pricing, context, and independently measured performance, side by side. Kimi K3 starts 65% cheaper on input than Qwen3.8 Max Prime at list prices.
Kimi K3
Moonshot AI · released Jul 16, 2026
Best input$1.40 / MTok
Best output$10.50 / MTok
Context1.05M
Providers22
Fastest measured0.63s° TTFT · 102 tok/s
Open weightsVisionToolsReasoningStructured outputPrompt caching
Qwen3.8 Max Prime
Qwen · released Sep 23, 2026
Best input$4.00 / MTok
Best output$12.00 / MTok
Context1M
Providers1
Fastest measured—
VisionToolsReasoningStructured outputPrompt caching
Cheapest providers, measuredUSD / MTOK
| MODEL | PROVIDER | INPUT | OUTPUT | TTFT | TPS | SMOKE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kimi K3 |  InferenceNet | $1.40 | $10.75 | 57.9s° | 7° tok/s | — |
| Kimi K3 | SRSail Research | $1.50 | $11.50 | 1.6s° | 142° tok/s | 2/5 |
| Kimi K3 |  Wafer | $1.99 | $14.50 | 29.3s° | 89° tok/s | 0/5 |
| Qwen3.8 Max Prime |  Alibaba | $4.00 | $12.00 | — | — | — |
TTFT/TPS: ModelIndex-measured medians (P50, trailing 21d) · chat10k profile (~10K in / 200 out) · ° = measured via OpenRouter routing (adds a hop) · SMOKE: of 5 programmatic capability probes passed · methodology v1.1 — full details on each model page