Model Comparison

Kimi K3 vs Seed 2.1 TurboWhich is better in 2026?

Kimi K3 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Verdict: Kimi K3 vs Seed 2.1 Turbo — which is better?

Kimi K3 (by Moonshot AI) and Seed 2.1 Turbo (by ByteDance) 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 14 benchmarks (APEX-Agents, BabyVision, BrowseComp, CharXiv-R, DeepSWE, Humanity's Last Exam, MathVision, MCP Atlas, PostTrainBench, Program Bench, Terminal-Bench 2.1, Toolathlon, WorldVQA, ZEROBench), while Seed 2.1 Turbo is better at 2 benchmarks (MMMU-Pro, OfficeQA Pro). Kimi K3 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Choose Kimi K3 if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 14 of 16 shared benchmarks
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jul 2026
  • you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune

Choose Seed 2.1 Turbo if…

  • you are already invested in the ByteDance ecosystem

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

16 benchmarks

Kimi K3 outperforms in 14 benchmarks (APEX-Agents, BabyVision, BrowseComp, CharXiv-R, DeepSWE, Humanity's Last Exam, MathVision, MCP Atlas, PostTrainBench, Program Bench, Terminal-Bench 2.1, Toolathlon, WorldVQA, ZEROBench), while Seed 2.1 Turbo is better at 2 benchmarks (MMMU-Pro, OfficeQA Pro).

Kimi K3 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Tue Jul 28 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

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
ByteDance
Seed 2.1 Turbo
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Tue Jul 28 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Both Kimi K3 and Seed 2.1 Turbo support multimodal inputs.

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

Kimi K3

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Seed 2.1 Turbo

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Kimi K3 is licensed under Kimi K3 License, while Seed 2.1 Turbo uses a proprietary license.

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

Kimi K3

Kimi K3 License

Open weights

Seed 2.1 Turbo

Proprietary

Closed source

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Kimi K3 was released on 2026-07-16, while Seed 2.1 Turbo was released on 2026-06-24.

Kimi K3 is 1 month newer than Seed 2.1 Turbo.

Kimi K3

Jul 16, 2026

1 weeks ago

3w newer
Seed 2.1 Turbo

Jun 24, 2026

1 months 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)
Has open weights
Higher APEX-Agents score (37.6% vs 29.2%)
Higher BabyVision score (85.7% vs 62.9%)
Higher BrowseComp score (91.2% vs 84.9%)
Higher CharXiv-R score (91.3% vs 83.6%)
Higher DeepSWE score (67.5% vs 23.0%)
Higher Humanity's Last Exam score (56.0% vs 54.6%)
Higher MathVision score (97.8% vs 92.7%)
Higher MCP Atlas score (84.2% vs 80.3%)
Higher PostTrainBench score (36.6% vs 18.3%)
Higher Program Bench score (77.8% vs 49.4%)
Higher Terminal-Bench 2.1 score (88.3% vs 67.6%)
Higher Toolathlon score (73.2% vs 49.1%)
Higher WorldVQA score (51.0% vs 48.6%)
Higher ZEROBench score (41.0% vs 11.0%)
ByteDance
Higher MMMU-Pro score (82.2% vs 81.6%)
Higher OfficeQA Pro score (71.1% vs 63.3%)

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Kimi K3 and Seed 2.1 Turbo side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Kimi K3
✓ Preferred
Seed 2.1 Turbo
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Moonshot AI
Kimi K3
ByteDance
Seed 2.1 Turbo

FAQ

Common questions about Kimi K3 vs Seed 2.1 Turbo.

Which is better, Kimi K3 or Seed 2.1 Turbo?

Kimi K3 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Kimi K3 is made by Moonshot AI and Seed 2.1 Turbo is made by ByteDance. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does Kimi K3 compare to Seed 2.1 Turbo in benchmarks?

Kimi K3 scores MathVision: 97.8%, DeepSearchQA: 95.0%, GPQA: 93.5%, CharXiv-R: 91.3%, BrowseComp: 91.2%. Seed 2.1 Turbo scores CharXiv-D: 94.6%, MathVision: 92.7%, MathVista: 90.5%, MathVerse: 89.2%, Video-MME: 89.0%.

What are the context window sizes for Kimi K3 and Seed 2.1 Turbo?

Kimi K3 supports 1.0M tokens and Seed 2.1 Turbo 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 Seed 2.1 Turbo?

Key differences include licensing (Kimi K3 License vs Proprietary). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Kimi K3 and Seed 2.1 Turbo?

Kimi K3 is developed by Moonshot AI and Seed 2.1 Turbo is developed by ByteDance.

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