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Kimi K2-Instruct-0905 vs Qwen3.8 Max

Qwen3.8 Max significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

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

Which is better?

Kimi K2-Instruct-0905 outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Qwen3.8 Max is better at 2 benchmarks (GPQA, Humanity's Last Exam). Qwen3.8 Max significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

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

Choose Kimi K2-Instruct-0905

  • you are already invested in the Moonshot AI ecosystem

Choose Qwen3.8 Max

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 2 of 2 shared benchmarks
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Aug 2026

At a glance

The differences that matter most.

Benchmark wins
0 of 2
2 of 2
Input price
— / M
— / M
Output price
— / M
— / M
Context window
Released
Sep 2025
Aug 2026
License
MIT
Qwen3.8-Max License

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

2 benchmarks

Kimi K2-Instruct-0905 outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Qwen3.8 Max is better at 2 benchmarks (GPQA, Humanity's Last Exam).

Qwen3.8 Max significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Mon Aug 24 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Playground indexes and blind preference scores

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

1400.0B diff

Qwen3.8 Max has 1400.0B more parameters than Kimi K2-Instruct-0905, making it 140.0% larger.

Moonshot AI
Kimi K2-Instruct-0905
1.0Tparameters
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Qwen3.8 Max
2.4Tparameters
1000.0B
Kimi K2-Instruct-0905
2400.0B
Qwen3.8 Max

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Qwen3.8 Max supports multimodal inputs, whereas Kimi K2-Instruct-0905 does not.

Qwen3.8 Max can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

Kimi K2-Instruct-0905

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Qwen3.8 Max

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Kimi K2-Instruct-0905 is licensed under MIT, while Qwen3.8 Max uses Qwen3.8-Max License.

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

Kimi K2-Instruct-0905

MIT

Open weights

Qwen3.8 Max

Qwen3.8-Max License

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Kimi K2-Instruct-0905 was released on 2025-09-05, while Qwen3.8 Max was released on 2026-08-02.

Qwen3.8 Max is 11 months newer than Kimi K2-Instruct-0905.

Kimi K2-Instruct-0905

Sep 5, 2025

11 months ago

Qwen3.8 Max

Aug 2, 2026

3 weeks ago

11mo 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 K2-Instruct-0905 and Qwen3.8 Max side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Kimi K2-Instruct-0905
✓ Preferred
Qwen3.8 Max
Open in Playground

FAQ

Common questions about Kimi K2-Instruct-0905 vs Qwen3.8 Max.

Which is better, Kimi K2-Instruct-0905 or Qwen3.8 Max?

Qwen3.8 Max significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Kimi K2-Instruct-0905 is made by Moonshot AI and Qwen3.8 Max 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-Instruct-0905 compare to Qwen3.8 Max in benchmarks?

Kimi K2-Instruct-0905 scores MATH-500: 97.4%, MMLU-Redux: 92.7%, IFEval: 89.8%, AutoLogi: 89.5%, MMLU: 89.5%. Qwen3.8 Max scores PaperBench: 93.0%, MRCR v2 (8-needle): 92.9%, GPQA: 92.6%, VideoMME w sub.: 90.4%, RealWorldQA: 88.0%.

What are the main differences between Kimi K2-Instruct-0905 and Qwen3.8 Max?

Key differences include multimodal support (no vs yes), licensing (MIT vs Qwen3.8-Max License). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Kimi K2-Instruct-0905 and Qwen3.8 Max?

Kimi K2-Instruct-0905 is developed by Moonshot AI and Qwen3.8 Max is developed by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team.