Model Comparison

Kimi K2 Base vs Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-ThinkingWhich is better in 2026?

Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Verdict: Kimi K2 Base vs Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking — which is better?

Kimi K2 Base (by Moonshot AI) and Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking (by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team) 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.

Kimi K2 Base outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking is better at 4 benchmarks (GPQA, LiveCodeBench v6, MMLU-Pro, SuperGPQA). Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Choose Kimi K2 Base if…

  • you are already invested in the Moonshot AI ecosystem

Choose Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 4 of 4 shared benchmarks
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Sep 2025

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

4 benchmarks

Kimi K2 Base outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking is better at 4 benchmarks (GPQA, LiveCodeBench v6, MMLU-Pro, SuperGPQA).

Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Mon Jul 27 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

920.0B diff

Kimi K2 Base has 920.0B more parameters than Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking, making it 1150.0% larger.

Moonshot AI
Kimi K2 Base
1.0Tparameters
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking
80.0Bparameters
1000.0B
Kimi K2 Base
80.0B
Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking specifies input context (65,536 tokens). Only Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking specifies output context (65,536 tokens).

Moonshot AI
Kimi K2 Base
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking
Input65,536 tokens
Output65,536 tokens
Mon Jul 27 2026 • llm-stats.com

License

Usage and distribution terms

Kimi K2 Base is licensed under MIT, while Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking uses Apache 2.0.

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

Kimi K2 Base

MIT

Open weights

Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Kimi K2 Base was released on 2025-07-11, while Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking was released on 2025-09-10.

Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking is 2 months newer than Kimi K2 Base.

Kimi K2 Base

Jul 11, 2025

1.0 years ago

Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking

Sep 10, 2025

10 months ago

2mo 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

Moonshot AI

No standout differentiators in the data we have for this pair.

Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Larger context window (65,536 tokens)
Higher GPQA score (77.2% vs 48.1%)
Higher LiveCodeBench v6 score (68.7% vs 26.3%)
Higher MMLU-Pro score (82.7% vs 69.2%)
Higher SuperGPQA score (60.8% vs 44.7%)

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Kimi K2 Base and Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Kimi K2 Base
✓ Preferred
Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Moonshot AI
Kimi K2 Base
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking

FAQ

Common questions about Kimi K2 Base vs Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking.

Which is better, Kimi K2 Base or Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking?

Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Kimi K2 Base is made by Moonshot AI and Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking is made by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does Kimi K2 Base compare to Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking in benchmarks?

Kimi K2 Base scores C-Eval: 92.5%, GSM8k: 92.1%, MMLU-redux-2.0: 90.2%, MMLU: 87.8%, TriviaQA: 85.1%. Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking scores MMLU-Redux: 92.5%, IFEval: 88.9%, AIME 2025: 87.8%, WritingBench: 84.6%, MMLU-Pro: 82.7%.

What are the context window sizes for Kimi K2 Base and Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking?

Kimi K2 Base supports an unknown number of tokens and Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking supports 66K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between Kimi K2 Base and Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking?

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

Who makes Kimi K2 Base and Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking?

Kimi K2 Base is developed by Moonshot AI and Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B-Thinking is developed by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team.

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