Model Comparison

Claude 3 Sonnet vs Kimi K2 Base

Kimi K2 Base significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

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Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

5 benchmarks

Claude 3 Sonnet outperforms in 1 benchmarks (GSM8k), while Kimi K2 Base is better at 4 benchmarks (GPQA, MATH, MMLU, MMLU-Pro).

Kimi K2 Base significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Thu May 14 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only Claude 3 Sonnet specifies input context (200,000 tokens). Only Claude 3 Sonnet specifies output context (200,000 tokens).

Anthropic
Claude 3 Sonnet
Input200,000 tokens
Output200,000 tokens
Moonshot AI
Kimi K2 Base
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Thu May 14 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Claude 3 Sonnet supports multimodal inputs, whereas Kimi K2 Base does not.

Claude 3 Sonnet can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

Claude 3 Sonnet

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Kimi K2 Base

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Claude 3 Sonnet is licensed under a proprietary license, while Kimi K2 Base uses MIT.

License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.

Claude 3 Sonnet

Proprietary

Closed source

Kimi K2 Base

MIT

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Claude 3 Sonnet was released on 2024-02-29, while Kimi K2 Base was released on 2025-07-11.

Kimi K2 Base is 17 months newer than Claude 3 Sonnet.

Claude 3 Sonnet

Feb 29, 2024

2.2 years ago

Kimi K2 Base

Jul 11, 2025

10 months ago

1.4yr newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.

Unable to compare the recency of their training data.

No cutoff dates available

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Key Takeaways

Anthropic
Larger context window (200,000 tokens)
Supports multimodal inputs
Higher GSM8k score (92.3% vs 92.1%)
Moonshot AI
Has open weights
Higher GPQA score (48.1% vs 40.4%)
Higher MATH score (70.2% vs 43.1%)
Higher MMLU score (87.8% vs 79.0%)
Higher MMLU-Pro score (69.2% vs 56.8%)

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Anthropic
Claude 3 Sonnet
Moonshot AI
Kimi K2 Base

FAQ

Common questions about Claude 3 Sonnet vs Kimi K2 Base.

Which is better, Claude 3 Sonnet or Kimi K2 Base?

Kimi K2 Base significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Claude 3 Sonnet is made by Anthropic and Kimi K2 Base is made by Moonshot AI. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does Claude 3 Sonnet compare to Kimi K2 Base in benchmarks?

Claude 3 Sonnet scores ARC-C: 93.2%, GSM8k: 92.3%, HellaSwag: 89.0%, MGSM: 83.5%, BIG-Bench Hard: 82.9%. Kimi K2 Base scores C-Eval: 92.5%, GSM8k: 92.1%, MMLU-redux-2.0: 90.2%, MMLU: 87.8%, TriviaQA: 85.1%.

What are the context window sizes for Claude 3 Sonnet and Kimi K2 Base?

Claude 3 Sonnet supports 200K tokens and Kimi K2 Base supports an unknown number of tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between Claude 3 Sonnet and Kimi K2 Base?

Key differences include multimodal support (yes vs no), licensing (Proprietary vs MIT). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Claude 3 Sonnet and Kimi K2 Base?

Claude 3 Sonnet is developed by Anthropic and Kimi K2 Base is developed by Moonshot AI.