Model Comparison

Kimi K3 vs QvQ-72B-PreviewWhich is better in 2026?

Kimi K3 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Verdict: Kimi K3 vs QvQ-72B-Preview — which is better?

Kimi K3 (by Moonshot AI) and QvQ-72B-Preview (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 K3 outperforms in 1 benchmarks (MathVision), while QvQ-72B-Preview is better at 0 benchmarks. Kimi K3 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Choose Kimi K3 if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 1 of 1 shared benchmarks
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jul 2026

Choose QvQ-72B-Preview if…

  • you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

1 benchmarks

Kimi K3 outperforms in 1 benchmarks (MathVision), while QvQ-72B-Preview is better at 0 benchmarks.

Kimi K3 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Sat Jul 18 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

2726.6B diff

Kimi K3 has 2726.6B more parameters than QvQ-72B-Preview, making it 3714.7% larger.

Moonshot AI
Kimi K3
2.8Tparameters
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
QvQ-72B-Preview
73.4Bparameters
2800.0B
Kimi K3
73.4B
QvQ-72B-Preview

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only Kimi K3 specifies input context (1,048,576 tokens). Only Kimi K3 specifies output context (1,048,576 tokens).

Moonshot AI
Kimi K3
Input1,048,576 tokens
Output1,048,576 tokens
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
QvQ-72B-Preview
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Sat Jul 18 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Both Kimi K3 and QvQ-72B-Preview support multimodal inputs.

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

Kimi K3

Text
Images
Audio
Video

QvQ-72B-Preview

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Kimi K3 was released on 2026-07-16, while QvQ-72B-Preview was released on 2024-12-25.

Kimi K3 is 19 months newer than QvQ-72B-Preview.

Kimi K3

Jul 16, 2026

2 days ago

1.6yr newer
QvQ-72B-Preview

Dec 25, 2024

1.6 years ago

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
Larger context window (1,048,576 tokens)
Higher MathVision score (97.8% vs 35.9%)
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team

QvQ-72B-Preview

View details

Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team

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

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Kimi K3 and QvQ-72B-Preview side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Kimi K3
✓ Preferred
QvQ-72B-Preview
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Moonshot AI
Kimi K3
Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
QvQ-72B-Preview

FAQ

Common questions about Kimi K3 vs QvQ-72B-Preview.

Which is better, Kimi K3 or QvQ-72B-Preview?

Kimi K3 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Kimi K3 is made by Moonshot AI and QvQ-72B-Preview 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 K3 compare to QvQ-72B-Preview in benchmarks?

Kimi K3 scores MathVision: 97.8%, DeepSearchQA: 95.0%, GPQA: 93.5%, CharXiv-R: 91.3%, BrowseComp: 91.2%. QvQ-72B-Preview scores MathVista: 71.4%, MMMU: 70.3%, MathVision: 35.9%, OlympiadBench: 20.4%.

What are the context window sizes for Kimi K3 and QvQ-72B-Preview?

Kimi K3 supports 1.0M tokens and QvQ-72B-Preview supports an unknown number of tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between Kimi K3 and QvQ-72B-Preview?

Key differences include licensing (Unknown vs Qwen). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Kimi K3 and QvQ-72B-Preview?

Kimi K3 is developed by Moonshot AI and QvQ-72B-Preview is developed by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team.

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