Model comparison
Kimi K2.6 vs o3-mini
Head-to-head evidence from 8 shared benchmark results across 3 categories. Overall scores shown here use BenchLM's provisional ranking lane.
Verified leaderboard positions: Kimi K2.6 #13; o3-mini unranked
Evidence parity. Kimi K2.6 and o3-mini share 8 comparable benchmark results. 2 of 8 categories are comparable. 52 results are unique to Kimi K2.6; 3 to o3-mini.
Updated July 13, 2026- Shared results
- 8
- Kimi K2.6 only
- 52
- o3-mini only
- 3
- Comparable categories
- 2 / 8
Pick Kimi K2.6 if you want the stronger benchmark profile. o3-mini only becomes the better choice if knowledge is the priority.
Confidence note. This is a partial-evidence comparison with 8 shared benchmark results across 3 evidence categories; 2 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 53. 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 coding, where it averages 72.6 against 49.3. The single biggest benchmark swing on the page is SWE-bench Verified, 80.2% to 49.3%. o3-mini does hit back in knowledge, so the answer changes if that is the part of the workload you care about most.
o3-mini is also the more expensive model on tokens at $1.10 input / $4.40 output per 1M tokens, versus $0.95 input / $4.00 output per 1M tokens for Kimi K2.6. Kimi K2.6 gives you the larger context window at 256K, compared with 200K for o3-mini.
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 | Kimi K2.6 | Δ | o3-mini |
|---|---|---|---|
| Knowledge | Kimi K2.642.2 | Margin→ 35.0 | o3-mini77.2 |
| Coding | Kimi K2.672.6 | Margin← 23.3 | o3-mini49.3 |
| Agentic | Kimi K2.673.5 | MarginNo overlap | o3-miniNot measured |
| Math | Kimi K2.667.1 | MarginNo overlap | o3-miniNot measured |
| Multimodal | Kimi K2.679.8 | MarginNo overlap | o3-miniNot measured |
| Inst. Following | Kimi K2.6Not measured | MarginNo overlap | o3-mini93.9 |
Decisive benchmark drivers
The largest measured benchmark gaps in this matchup, with exact reported values.
More
- Source ↗
SWE-bench Verified
CodingA 80.2%B 49.3%Winner: Kimi K2.6Δ 30.9SWE-bench Verified: Kimi K2.6 scored 80.2%; o3-mini scored 49.3%. Kimi K2.6 wins this benchmark. - Source ↗
GPQA
KnowledgeA 90.5%B 77.2%Winner: Kimi K2.6Δ 13.3GPQA: Kimi K2.6 scored 90.5%; o3-mini scored 77.2%. Kimi K2.6 wins this benchmark.
Operational comparison
Runtime and commercial metrics are compared only when both models have a complete sourced value.
| Metric | Kimi K2.6 | o3-mini | Comparison |
|---|---|---|---|
| Input / output priceUSD per 1M tokens | Kimi K2.6$0.95 input / $4 output | o3-mini$1.1 input / $4.4 output | Kimi K2.6 has the lower combined listed price. |
| Generation speedtokens per second | Kimi K2.6Not available | o3-mini160 tok/s | A complete speed comparison is not available. |
| First-answer latencyseconds to first token | Kimi K2.6Not available | o3-mini7.12 s | A complete latency comparison is not available. |
| Context windowmaximum listed tokens | Kimi K2.6256K | o3-mini200K | Kimi K2.6 lists the larger context window. |
Benchmark Deep Dive
Agentic22 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Kimi K2.6 | o3-mini | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| Claw-EvalSource | 62.3% | — | Not comparable |
| DeepSearchQASource | 92.5% | — | Not comparable |
| WideResearchSource | 80.8% | — | Not comparable |
| AA Agentic IndexSource | 30.3% | — | Not comparable |
| Tau2-TelecomSource | 95.9% | 28.7% | Kimi K2.6 leads |
| GDPval-AASource | 34.5% | — | Not comparable |
| GDPval-AASource | 1190 | — | Not comparable |
| APEX-Agents-AASource | 28.5% | — | Not comparable |
| Gert LabsSource | 56.82% | — | Not comparable |
| ResearchClawBenchSource | 18.0% | — | Not comparable |
| OSWorld 2.0Source | 4.6% | — | Not comparable |
| AA BriefcaseSource | 809 | — | Not 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 |
CodingKimi K2.6 wins13 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Kimi K2.6 | o3-mini | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| SWE-bench VerifiedSource | 80.2% | 49.3% | Kimi K2.6 leads |
| 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 |
| Vibe Code BenchSource | 37.89% | — | Not comparable |
| cursorBench31Source | 47.6% | — | Not comparable |
| AA Coding IndexSource | 61.8% | — | Not comparable |
| Terminal-Bench HardSource | 43.9% | 6.8% | Kimi K2.6 leads |
| AA-SciCodeSource | 53.5% | 39.9% | Kimi K2.6 leads |
| AA Terminal-Bench 2.1Source | 65.9% | — | Not comparable |
Reasoning2 benchmarks
Knowledgeo3-mini wins11 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Kimi K2.6 | o3-mini | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQASource | 90.5% | 77.2% | Kimi K2.6 leads |
| GPQA-DSource | 90.5% | — | Not comparable |
| HLESource | 34.7% | — | Not comparable |
| Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexSource | 44.2% | 19.0% | Kimi K2.6 leads |
| AA-GPQA DiamondSource | 91.1% | 74.8% | Kimi K2.6 leads |
| AA-HLESource | 35.9% | 8.7% | Kimi K2.6 leads |
| AA-Omniscience IndexSource | 6.4% | — | Not comparable |
| AA-Omniscience AccuracySource | 32.8% | — | Not comparable |
| AA-Omniscience Hallucination RateSource | 39.3% | — | Not comparable |
| AA Openness IndexSource | 33.3% | — | Not comparable |
| MMLUSource | — | 86.9% | Not comparable |
Math6 benchmarks
Multimodal7 benchmarks
Frequently Asked Questions (3)
Which is better, Kimi K2.6 or o3-mini?
Kimi K2.6 is ahead on BenchLM's provisional leaderboard, 74 to 53. The biggest single separator in this matchup is SWE-bench Verified, where the scores are 80.2% and 49.3%.
Which is better for knowledge tasks, Kimi K2.6 or o3-mini?
o3-mini has the edge for knowledge tasks in this comparison, averaging 77.2 versus 42.2. Inside this category, AA-HLE is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.
Which is better for coding, Kimi K2.6 or o3-mini?
Kimi K2.6 has the edge for coding in this comparison, averaging 72.6 versus 49.3. Inside this category, Terminal-Bench Hard 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.
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