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Kimi-k1.5 vs Qwen3.8-27B

Comparing Kimi-k1.5 and Qwen3.8-27B across benchmarks, pricing, and capabilities.

Moonshot AI · Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team · Updated for 2026

Which is better?

Kimi-k1.5 and Qwen3.8-27B trade strengths across price, capabilities, and technical limits. The better choice depends on the workload.

Based on current benchmark, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.

Choose Kimi-k1.5

  • you are already invested in the Moonshot AI ecosystem

Choose Qwen3.8-27B

  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Aug 2026
  • you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune

At a glance

The differences that matter most.

Benchmark wins
Input price
— / M
— / M
Output price
— / M
— / M
Context window
Released
Jan 2025
Aug 2026
License
Proprietary
Apache 2.0

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

No common benchmarks found

Kimi-k1.5 and Qwen3.8-27Bdon't have any common benchmark datasets to compare. They may have been evaluated on different testing suites.

Arena Performance

Playground indexes and blind preference scores

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Both Kimi-k1.5 and Qwen3.8-27B support multimodal inputs.

They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.

Kimi-k1.5

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Qwen3.8-27B

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Kimi-k1.5 is licensed under a proprietary license, while Qwen3.8-27B uses Apache 2.0.

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

Kimi-k1.5

Proprietary

Closed source

Qwen3.8-27B

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Kimi-k1.5 was released on 2025-01-20, while Qwen3.8-27B was released on 2026-08-14.

Qwen3.8-27B is 19 months newer than Kimi-k1.5.

Kimi-k1.5

Jan 20, 2025

1.6 years ago

Qwen3.8-27B

Aug 14, 2026

1 weeks ago

1.6yr 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

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Kimi-k1.5 and Qwen3.8-27B side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Kimi-k1.5
✓ Preferred
Qwen3.8-27B
Open in Playground

FAQ

Common questions about Kimi-k1.5 vs Qwen3.8-27B.

Which is better, Kimi-k1.5 or Qwen3.8-27B?

Kimi-k1.5 (Moonshot AI) and Qwen3.8-27B (Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team) each have strengths in different areas. Compare their benchmark scores, pricing, context windows, and capabilities above to determine which fits your needs.

How does Kimi-k1.5 compare to Qwen3.8-27B in benchmarks?

Kimi-k1.5 scores MATH-500: 96.2%, CLUEWSC: 91.4%, C-Eval: 88.3%, MMLU: 87.4%, IFEval: 87.2%. Qwen3.8-27B scores MathVision: 94.6%, OmniDocBench 1.5: 91.1%, LiveCodeBench v6: 90.3%, CharXiv-R: 90.2%, GPQA: 89.2%.

What are the main differences between Kimi-k1.5 and Qwen3.8-27B?

Key differences include licensing (Proprietary vs Apache 2.0). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Kimi-k1.5 and Qwen3.8-27B?

Kimi-k1.5 is developed by Moonshot AI and Qwen3.8-27B is developed by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team.