Model Comparison
Mistral Medium 3.5 vs Kimi K3Which is better in 2026?
Kimi K3 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Mistral Medium 3.5 is 2.0x cheaper per token.
Verdict: Mistral Medium 3.5 vs Kimi K3 — which is better?
Mistral Medium 3.5 (by Mistral AI) and Kimi K3 (by Moonshot AI) 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.
Mistral Medium 3.5 outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Kimi K3 is better at 2 benchmarks (BrowseComp, GDPval-AA). Kimi K3 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
On price, Mistral Medium 3.5 is roughly 2.0x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Kimi K3 also accepts a larger context window (1,048,576 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.
Choose Mistral Medium 3.5 if…
- cost matters — it's about 2.0x cheaper per token
- you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
Choose Kimi K3 if…
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 2 of 2 shared benchmarks
- you process long inputs — it offers a 1,048,576 token context window
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jul 2026
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
Mistral Medium 3.5 outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Kimi K3 is better at 2 benchmarks (BrowseComp, GDPval-AA).
Kimi K3 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Human preference votes
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Mistral Medium 3.5 ($1.50/1M tokens) is 2.0x cheaper than Kimi K3 ($3.00/1M tokens).
For output processing, Mistral Medium 3.5 ($7.50/1M tokens) is 2.0x cheaper than Kimi K3 ($15.00/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Kimi K3 is more expensive than Mistral Medium 3.5.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
Kimi K3 has 2672.0B more parameters than Mistral Medium 3.5, making it 2087.5% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Kimi K3 accepts 1,048,576 input tokens compared to Mistral Medium 3.5's 256,000 tokens. Kimi K3 can generate longer responses up to 1,048,576 tokens, while Mistral Medium 3.5 is limited to 256,000 tokens.
Input Capabilities
Supported data types and modalities
Both Mistral Medium 3.5 and Kimi K3 support multimodal inputs.
They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.
Mistral Medium 3.5
Kimi K3
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Mistral Medium 3.5 was released on 2026-04-29, while Kimi K3 was released on 2026-07-16.
Kimi K3 is 3 months newer than Mistral Medium 3.5.
Apr 29, 2026
2 months ago
Jul 16, 2026
1 days ago
2mo newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.
Unable to compare the recency of their training data.
Provider Availability
Mistral Medium 3.5 is available from Mistral AI. Kimi K3 is available from Moonshot AI.
Mistral Medium 3.5
Kimi K3
Outputs Comparison
Key Takeaways
Mistral Medium 3.5
View detailsMistral AI
Kimi K3
View detailsMoonshot AI
Detailed Comparison
Interactive Arena
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Mistral Medium 3.5 and Kimi K3 side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
| Feature | | |
|---|
FAQ
Common questions about Mistral Medium 3.5 vs Kimi K3.