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Model comparison

Gemini 3 Flash vs Kimi K2.6

Data verified

Head-to-head evidence from 19 shared benchmark results across 7 categories. Overall scores shown here use BenchLM's provisional ranking lane.

54/100
Margin
20.0pts
winning →
Moonshot AI
74/100
0 category wins1 category wins

Verified leaderboard positions: Gemini 3 Flash unranked; Kimi K2.6 #13

Evidence parity. Gemini 3 Flash and Kimi K2.6 share 19 comparable benchmark results. 1 of 8 categories are comparable. 1 result is unique to Gemini 3 Flash; 41 to Kimi K2.6.

Updated July 13, 2026
Shared results
19
Gemini 3 Flash only
1
Kimi K2.6 only
41
Comparable categories
1 / 8

Pick Kimi K2.6 if you want the stronger benchmark profile. Gemini 3 Flash only becomes the better choice if you want the cheaper token bill or you need the larger 1M context window.

Confidence note. This is a partial-evidence comparison with 19 shared benchmark results across 7 evidence categories; 1 of 8 categories currently have scoreable aggregates for both models. Treat the verdict as directional until coverage is more balanced.

Why this result

Kimi K2.6 is clearly ahead on the provisional aggregate, 74 to 54. The gap is large enough that you do not need to squint at the spreadsheet to see the difference.

Kimi K2.6's sharpest advantage is in mathematics, where it averages 67.1 against 27.8. The single biggest benchmark swing on the page is FrontierMath v2 (Tier 4), 4.167% to 14.580%.

Kimi K2.6 is also the more expensive model on tokens at $0.95 input / $4.00 output per 1M tokens, versus $0.50 input / $3.00 output per 1M tokens for Gemini 3 Flash. Kimi K2.6 is the reasoning model in the pair, while Gemini 3 Flash is not. That usually helps on harder chain-of-thought-heavy tests, but it can also mean more latency and more token spend in real use. Gemini 3 Flash gives you the larger context window at 1M, compared with 256K for Kimi K2.6.

Category breakdown

Exact category averages are shown below. Not measured means BenchLM does not have enough sourced public coverage for that model and category.

Category scores and score margins for Gemini 3 Flash and Kimi K2.6
CategoryGemini 3 FlashΔKimi K2.6
MathGemini 3 Flash27.8Margin 39.3Kimi K2.667.1
AgenticGemini 3 FlashNot measuredMarginNo overlapKimi K2.673.5
CodingGemini 3 FlashNot measuredMarginNo overlapKimi K2.672.6
KnowledgeGemini 3 FlashNot measuredMarginNo overlapKimi K2.642.2
MultimodalGemini 3 FlashNot measuredMarginNo overlapKimi K2.679.8

Decisive benchmark drivers

The largest measured benchmark gaps in this matchup, with exact reported values.

More
A · Gemini 3 FlashB · Kimi K2.6
  1. FrontierMath v2 (Tier 4)

    Math
    Source ↗
    A 4.167%B 14.580%
    Winner: Kimi K2.6Δ 10.4
    FrontierMath v2 (Tier 4): Gemini 3 Flash scored 4.167%; Kimi K2.6 scored 14.580%. Kimi K2.6 wins this benchmark.
  2. FrontierMath v2 (Tiers 1-3)

    Math
    Source ↗
    A 35.640%B 38.966%
    Winner: Kimi K2.6Δ 3.3
    FrontierMath v2 (Tiers 1-3): Gemini 3 Flash scored 35.640%; Kimi K2.6 scored 38.966%. Kimi K2.6 wins this benchmark.

Operational comparison

Runtime and commercial metrics are compared only when both models have a complete sourced value.

MetricGemini 3 FlashKimi K2.6Comparison
Input / output priceUSD per 1M tokensGemini 3 Flash$0.5 input / $3 outputKimi K2.6$0.95 input / $4 outputGemini 3 Flash has the lower combined listed price.
Generation speedtokens per secondGemini 3 Flash159 tok/sKimi K2.6Not availableA complete speed comparison is not available.
First-answer latencyseconds to first tokenGemini 3 Flash1.19 sKimi K2.6Not availableA complete latency comparison is not available.
Context windowmaximum listed tokensGemini 3 Flash1MKimi K2.6256KGemini 3 Flash lists the larger context window.

Benchmark Deep Dive

Agentic
BenchmarkGemini 3 FlashKimi K2.6Result
Claw-EvalSource 49.2%62.3%Kimi K2.6 leads
Tau2-TelecomSource 43.3%95.9%Kimi K2.6 leads
Gert LabsSource 56.63%56.82%Kimi K2.6 leads
JobBenchSource 11.4%Not comparable
Terminal-Bench 2.0Source 66.7%Not comparable
BrowseCompSource 83.2%Not comparable
OSWorld-VerifiedSource 73.1%Not comparable
ToolathlonSource 50%Not comparable
MCP AtlasSource 55.9%Not comparable
DeepSearchQASource 92.5%Not comparable
WideResearchSource 80.8%Not comparable
AA Agentic IndexSource 30.3%Not comparable
GDPval-AASource 34.5%Not comparable
GDPval-AASource 1190Not comparable
APEX-Agents-AASource 28.5%Not comparable
ResearchClawBenchSource 18.0%Not comparable
OSWorld 2.0Source 4.6%Not comparable
AA BriefcaseSource 809Not comparable
AA AutomationBenchSource 19.6%Not comparable
AA EnterpriseOps-GymSource 38.5%Not comparable
AA Harvey LABSource 0.0%Not comparable
AA ITBenchSource 31.2%Not comparable
AA Tau3 BankingSource 20.6%Not comparable
Coding
BenchmarkGemini 3 FlashKimi K2.6Result
Vibe Code BenchSource 20.20%37.89%Kimi K2.6 leads
Terminal-Bench HardSource 31.8%43.9%Kimi K2.6 leads
AA-SciCodeSource 49.9%53.5%Kimi K2.6 leads
SWE-bench VerifiedSource 80.2%Not comparable
LiveCodeBenchSource 89.6%Not comparable
LiveCodeBench v6Source 89.6%Not comparable
SWE-bench ProSource 58.6%Not comparable
SWE MultilingualSource 76.7%Not comparable
SciCodeSource 52.2%Not comparable
Terminal-Bench 2.0Source 66.7%Not comparable
cursorBench31Source 47.6%Not comparable
AA Coding IndexSource 61.8%Not comparable
AA Terminal-Bench 2.1Source 65.9%Not comparable
Reasoning
BenchmarkGemini 3 FlashKimi K2.6Result
AA-LCRSource 48.0%69.7%Kimi K2.6 leads
CritPtSource 1.4%8.0%Kimi K2.6 leads
Knowledge
BenchmarkGemini 3 FlashKimi K2.6Result
Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexSource 27.4%44.2%Kimi K2.6 leads
AA-GPQA DiamondSource 81.2%91.1%Kimi K2.6 leads
AA-HLESource 14.1%35.9%Kimi K2.6 leads
AA-Omniscience IndexSource -3.6%6.4%Kimi K2.6 leads
AA-Omniscience AccuracySource 45.5%32.8%Gemini 3 Flash leads
AA-Omniscience Hallucination RateSource 90.2%39.3%Kimi K2.6 leads
GPQASource 90.5%Not comparable
GPQA-DSource 90.5%Not comparable
HLESource 34.7%Not comparable
AA Openness IndexSource 33.3%Not comparable
MathKimi K2.6 wins
BenchmarkGemini 3 FlashKimi K2.6Result
FrontierMath v2 (Tiers 1-3)Source 35.640%38.966%Kimi K2.6 leads
FrontierMath v2 (Tier 4)Source 4.167%14.580%Kimi K2.6 leads
AIME26Source 96.4%Not comparable
HMMT Feb 2026Source 92.7%Not comparable
MMAnswerBenchSource 86.0%Not comparable
Multimodal
BenchmarkGemini 3 FlashKimi K2.6Result
AA-MMMU-ProSource 78.6%79.4%Kimi K2.6 leads
Design Arena WebsiteSource 12391318Kimi K2.6 leads
MMMU-ProSource 79.4%Not comparable
MMMU-Pro w/ PythonSource 80.1%Not comparable
CharXivSource 80.4%Not comparable
MathVisionSource 87.4%Not comparable
V*Source 96.9%Not comparable
Inst. Following
BenchmarkGemini 3 FlashKimi K2.6Result
AA-IFBenchSource 55.1%76.0%Kimi K2.6 leads
Frequently Asked Questions (2)

Which is better, Gemini 3 Flash or Kimi K2.6?

Kimi K2.6 is ahead on BenchLM's provisional leaderboard, 74 to 54. The biggest single separator in this matchup is FrontierMath v2 (Tier 4), where the scores are 4.167% and 14.580%.

Which is better for math, Gemini 3 Flash or Kimi K2.6?

Kimi K2.6 has the edge for math in this comparison, averaging 67.1 versus 27.8. Inside this category, FrontierMath v2 (Tier 4) is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.

Self-host vs API cost

Estimates at 50,000 req/day · 1000 tokens/req average.

Gemini 3 Flash
API / mo$2,625
Self-host / moNot listed
Break-even
Proprietary model — self-hosting not applicable.
Kimi K2.6
API / mo$3,713
Self-host / mo$18,221
Break-even326M/day
Model the full break-even

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Last updated: July 13, 2026

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