Kimi-k1.5 vs Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking
Kimi-k1.5 and Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking are closely matched at 17.3 and 18.3 on the LLM Stats Score.
Moonshot AI · Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Kimi-k1.5 and Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking are closely matched on the overall LLM Stats Score at 17.3 and 18.3.
The models split the 2 individual benchmarks reported for both models evenly.
Based on current LLM Stats indexes, shared benchmarks, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.
Choose Kimi-k1.5
- you are already invested in the Moonshot AI ecosystem
Choose Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Sep 2025
- you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Capability indexes
Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks
Individual benchmarks
9 reported for Kimi-k1.5 · 50 for Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking
Kimi-k1.5 outperforms in 1 benchmarks (IFEval), while Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking is better at 1 benchmark (MMLU).
Both models are evenly matched across the benchmarks.
Human preference
Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Only Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking specifies input context (131,072 tokens). Only Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking specifies output context (32,768 tokens).
Input capabilities
Documented input modalities across available providers
Both Kimi-k1.5 and Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking support multimodal inputs.
They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.
Kimi-k1.5
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking
License
Usage and distribution terms
Kimi-k1.5 is licensed under a proprietary license, while Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking uses Apache 2.0.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
Proprietary
Closed source
Apache 2.0
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Kimi-k1.5 was released on 2025-01-20, while Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking was released on 2025-09-22.
Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking is 8 months newer than Kimi-k1.5.
Jan 20, 2025
1.6 years ago
Sep 22, 2025
11 months ago
8mo newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.
Unable to compare the recency of their training data.
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Kimi-k1.5 and Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Kimi-k1.5 vs Qwen3 VL 30B A3B Thinking.