Model Comparison

Grok-3 vs Kimi K2 Instruct

Grok-3 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Kimi K2 Instruct is 12.0x cheaper per token.

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Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

3 benchmarks

Grok-3 outperforms in 3 benchmarks (AIME 2024, AIME 2025, GPQA), while Kimi K2 Instruct is better at 0 benchmarks.

Grok-3 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Wed Jun 03 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

Kimi K2 Instruct costs less

For input processing, Grok-3 ($3.00/1M tokens) is 6.0x more expensive than Kimi K2 Instruct ($0.50/1M tokens).

For output processing, Grok-3 ($15.00/1M tokens) is 30.0x more expensive than Kimi K2 Instruct ($0.50/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Grok-3 is more expensive than Kimi K2 Instruct.*

* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens

Lowest available price from all providers
Wed Jun 03 2026 • llm-stats.com
xAI
Grok-3
Input tokens$3.00
Output tokens$15.00
Best providerxAI
Moonshot AI
Kimi K2 Instruct
Input tokens$0.50
Output tokens$0.50
Best providerFireworks
Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue→

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Kimi K2 Instruct accepts 200,000 input tokens compared to Grok-3's 128,000 tokens. Kimi K2 Instruct can generate longer responses up to 200,000 tokens, while Grok-3 is limited to 8,000 tokens.

xAI
Grok-3
Input128,000 tokens
Output8,000 tokens
Moonshot AI
Kimi K2 Instruct
Input200,000 tokens
Output200,000 tokens
Wed Jun 03 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Grok-3 supports multimodal inputs, whereas Kimi K2 Instruct does not.

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

Grok-3

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Kimi K2 Instruct

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Grok-3 is licensed under a proprietary license, while Kimi K2 Instruct uses MIT.

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

Grok-3

Proprietary

Closed source

Kimi K2 Instruct

MIT

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Grok-3 was released on 2025-02-17, while Kimi K2 Instruct was released on 2025-07-11.

Kimi K2 Instruct is 5 months newer than Grok-3.

Grok-3

Feb 17, 2025

1.3 years ago

Kimi K2 Instruct

Jul 11, 2025

10 months ago

4mo newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Grok-3 has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2024-11-17, while Kimi K2 Instruct's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm Grok-3's training data extends to 2024-11-17, but cannot make a direct comparison without Kimi K2 Instruct's cutoff date.

Grok-3

Nov 2024

Kimi K2 Instruct

—

Provider Availability

Grok-3 is available from xAI. Kimi K2 Instruct is available from Fireworks, Novita.

Grok-3

xai logo
xAI
Input Price:Input: $3.00/1MOutput Price:Output: $15.00/1M

Kimi K2 Instruct

fireworks logo
Fireworks
Input Price:Input: $0.50/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.50/1M
novita logo
Novita
Input Price:Input: $0.57/1MOutput Price:Output: $2.30/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

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Key Takeaways

xAI
Supports multimodal inputs
Higher AIME 2024 score (93.3% vs 69.6%)
Higher AIME 2025 score (93.3% vs 49.5%)
Higher GPQA score (84.6% vs 75.1%)
Moonshot AI
Larger context window (200,000 tokens)
Less expensive input tokens
Less expensive output tokens
Has open weights
xAIGrok-3
Moonshot AIKimi K2 Instruct
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Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
xAI
Grok-3
Moonshot AI
Kimi K2 Instruct

FAQ

Common questions about Grok-3 vs Kimi K2 Instruct.

Which is better, Grok-3 or Kimi K2 Instruct?

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

How does Grok-3 compare to Kimi K2 Instruct in benchmarks?

Grok-3 scores AIME 2024: 93.3%, AIME 2025: 93.3%, GPQA: 84.6%, LiveCodeBench: 79.4%, MMMU: 78.0%. Kimi K2 Instruct scores MATH-500: 97.4%, GSM8k: 97.3%, CBNSL: 95.6%, HumanEval: 93.3%, MMLU-Redux: 92.7%.

Is Grok-3 cheaper than Kimi K2 Instruct?

Kimi K2 Instruct is 6.0x cheaper for input tokens. Grok-3 costs $3.00/M input and $15.00/M output via xai. Kimi K2 Instruct costs $0.50/M input and $0.50/M output via fireworks.

What are the context window sizes for Grok-3 and Kimi K2 Instruct?

Grok-3 supports 128K tokens and Kimi K2 Instruct supports 200K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between Grok-3 and Kimi K2 Instruct?

Key differences include context window (128K vs 200K), input pricing ($3.00 vs $0.50/M), multimodal support (yes vs no), licensing (Proprietary vs MIT). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Grok-3 and Kimi K2 Instruct?

Grok-3 is developed by xAI and Kimi K2 Instruct is developed by Moonshot AI.