Model Comparison
Claude Opus 5 vs Kimi K3Which is better in 2026?
Kimi K3 shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks. Kimi K3 is 1.7x cheaper per token.
Verdict: Claude Opus 5 vs Kimi K3 — which is better?
Claude Opus 5 (by Anthropic) and Kimi K3 (by Moonshot AI) are two of the AI models people compare most. Here is how they stack up on benchmarks, price and capabilities, and which one to pick in 2026.
Claude Opus 5 outperforms in 1 benchmarks (Humanity's Last Exam), while Kimi K3 is better at 3 benchmarks (AutomationBench, BrowseComp, DeepSWE 1.1). Kimi K3 shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.
On price, Kimi K3 is roughly 1.7x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Kimi K3 also accepts a larger context window (1,048,576 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.
Choose Claude Opus 5 if…
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jul 2026
Choose Kimi K3 if…
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 3 of 4 shared benchmarks
- cost matters — it's about 1.7x cheaper per token
- you process long inputs — it offers a 1,048,576 token context window
- you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
Claude Opus 5 outperforms in 1 benchmarks (Humanity's Last Exam), while Kimi K3 is better at 3 benchmarks (AutomationBench, BrowseComp, DeepSWE 1.1).
Kimi K3 shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Human preference votes
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Claude Opus 5 ($5.00/1M tokens) is 1.7x more expensive than Kimi K3 ($3.00/1M tokens).
For output processing, Claude Opus 5 ($25.00/1M tokens) is 1.7x more expensive than Kimi K3 ($15.00/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Claude Opus 5 is more expensive than Kimi K3.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Kimi K3 accepts 1,048,576 input tokens compared to Claude Opus 5's 1,000,000 tokens. Kimi K3 can generate longer responses up to 1,048,576 tokens, while Claude Opus 5 is limited to 128,000 tokens.
Input Capabilities
Supported data types and modalities
Both Claude Opus 5 and Kimi K3 support multimodal inputs.
They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.
Claude Opus 5
Kimi K3
License
Usage and distribution terms
Claude Opus 5 is licensed under a proprietary license, while Kimi K3 uses Kimi K3 License.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
Proprietary
Closed source
Kimi K3 License
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Claude Opus 5 was released on 2026-07-24, while Kimi K3 was released on 2026-07-16.
Claude Opus 5 is 0 month newer than Kimi K3.
Jul 24, 2026
2 weeks ago
1w newerJul 16, 2026
3 weeks ago
Knowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.
Unable to compare the recency of their training data.
Provider Availability
Claude Opus 5 is available from Anthropic. Kimi K3 is available from Fireworks, Moonshot AI, Novita, Together.
Claude Opus 5
Kimi K3
Outputs Comparison
Key Takeaways
Claude Opus 5
View detailsAnthropic
Kimi K3
View detailsMoonshot AI
Detailed Comparison
Interactive Arena
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Claude Opus 5 and Kimi K3 side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
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FAQ
Common questions about Claude Opus 5 vs Kimi K3.