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Head-to-head comparison

Mistral Medium 3.5 vs Kimi K3

Mistral Medium 3.5 (Mistral AI) and Kimi K3 (Moonshot AI) compared on the ModelCap Index, API price, context window, provider availability, weight access and every public benchmark board they share. Figures are the same ones shown on the live rankings; nothing here is a hidden score.

Snapshot as of 18 August 2026

As of 18 August 2026, Kimi K3 holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#3 vs #38); Mistral Medium 3.5 is 2× cheaper per output token ($7.50/1M vs $15.00/1M); and Kimi K3 offers the longer context window (1M vs 262K tokens).

Which should you choose?

Choose Mistral Medium 3.5 if…

  • API cost matters — $7.50/1M output tokens against $15.00/1M, about 2× cheaper.
  • your workload is prompt-heavy — input tokens cost $1.50/1M against $3.00/1M.

Choose Kimi K3 if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #3 against #38 (81.2 vs 53.9 points).
  • you need the longer context window — 1M tokens against 262K.
  • you want provider choice — 12 listed API providers against 1.
  • Arena coding is your yardstick — 1543 against 1479.
  • LMArena Agent is your yardstick — 10.6% against -7.0%.
  • Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index is your yardstick — 59.7 against 30.4.
  • you want the more recently listed model — Kimi K3 was listed 16 July 2026, Mistral Medium 3.5 30 April 2026.

Mistral Medium 3.5 vs Kimi K3: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of Mistral Medium 3.5 and Kimi K3
FieldMistral Medium 3.5Mistral AIKimi K3Moonshot AI
ModelCap Index position#38#3
Index score53.981.2
EvidenceMeasuredMeasured
Input price / 1M tokens$1.50$3.00
Output price / 1M tokens$7.50$15.00
Context window262K tokens1M tokens
Max output tokens—1M
API providers listed112
Weight accessAPI onlyRestricted license
Input modalitiesText, Image, FileText, Image, Video
First listed30 April 202616 July 2026
PublisherMistral AIMoonshot AI

Evidence: 4 public benchmark observations across 4 boards · 6 public benchmark observations across 6 boards. Prices are the lowest listed API offer per million tokens observed on the OpenRouter catalogue.

Benchmark scores: Mistral Medium 3.5 vs Kimi K3

Public benchmark boards where Mistral Medium 3.5 or Kimi K3 has a published result
BoardMistral Medium 3.5Kimi K3Leads
Arena codingArena (LMArena)14791468–149015431532–1554MaxKimi K3
LMArena AgentLMArena-7.0%-9.0%–-5.0%10.6%9.6%–11.6%MaxKimi K3
ARC-AGI-2ARC Prize Foundation—60.4%MaxOnly one result
Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexArtificial Analysis30.4intelligence-index59.7intelligence-indexKimi K3
WildClawBench OpenClawWildClawBench—54.5Only one result

Scores are the sources' own published figures for each model's best evaluated configuration; ModelCap never re-runs a benchmark.

Want a different pairing? Open the interactive comparison tool to swap either model for any current ranked language model.

Mistral Medium 3.5 vs Kimi K3: common questions

Is Mistral Medium 3.5 better than Kimi K3?

Kimi K3 ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 18 August 2026: #3 against #38. That is a capability ranking built from public benchmark evidence with published uncertainty; whether it is "better" for you also depends on price, context and where you can run it.

Is Mistral Medium 3.5 cheaper than Kimi K3?

Mistral Medium 3.5 is cheaper on output tokens: $7.50/1M against $15.00/1M. Input tokens are $1.50/1M for Mistral Medium 3.5 and $3.00/1M for Kimi K3. Prices are the lowest listed API offer ModelCap observed, in USD per million tokens.

Which has the bigger context window, Mistral Medium 3.5 or Kimi K3?

Kimi K3 has the larger context window: 1M tokens against 262K.

Which is better for coding, Mistral Medium 3.5 or Kimi K3?

Arena coding: Mistral Medium 3.5 1479, Kimi K3 1543 — Kimi K3 leads.

Are Mistral Medium 3.5 and Kimi K3 open-weight models?

Mistral Medium 3.5: API only. Kimi K3: Restricted license. Open weights mean the checkpoint can be downloaded and self-hosted under its licence; API-only models are available solely through hosted endpoints.

Where can I run Mistral Medium 3.5 and Kimi K3?

ModelCap currently lists 1 API provider for Mistral Medium 3.5 and 12 for Kimi K3, from the OpenRouter catalogue snapshot the site serves; each model page lists the providers and their prices.

How current is this Mistral Medium 3.5 vs Kimi K3 comparison?

Every figure comes from the sealed ModelCap dataset published 18 August 2026; the page re-renders within a minute of each data refresh, and the ModelCap Index positions are the same ones shown on the live rankings.

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