Head-to-head
MiniMax M3 vs Kimi K3
A 4.2-point composite gap — but the real story is the dimension mix. Same weights, unpacked: who leads where, and whether the premium is justified.
#2 / 56
Kimi K3
Moonshot AI
A do-everything flagship in the same top band as Qwen3.8-Max
Full dossierThe short answer
The composites differ by 4.2 points, and their strengths do not overlap.
Stronger overall: Kimi K3. If you only run one workload, read the dimension table instead.
Overlaid radar
Same weights, same scale; overlap means parity
- MiniMax M391.1
- Kimi K395.3
Dimension deltas
A on the left, B on the right; 100 max per row
MiniMax M3 leads 0, Kimi K3 leads 8.
Spec sheet
Hard specs in one table
| Item | MiniMax M3 | Kimi K3 |
|---|---|---|
| Composite | 91.1 | 95.3 |
| Tier | A+ | S+ |
| Visual perception & grounding | 94 | 97WIN |
| Document parsing & Chinese OCR | 92 | 97WIN |
| Chart & document reasoning | 90 | 96WIN |
| Video & long-horizon reasoning | 89 | 92WIN |
| GUI agents & tool use | 93 | 96WIN |
| Generation & editing | 84 | 90WIN |
| Chinese context & culture | 88 | 95WIN |
| Ecosystem, cost & availability | 92 | 95WIN |
| Output price | ¥4 / M | ¥16 / M |
| Context | 1M | 1M |
| Parameters | 428B total / 23B active (MoE) | 2.8T total / 104B active (MoE, open weights) |
| Licence | Open weights (MiniMax community licence) | Open weights (community license) |
| Native multimodal | Yes | Yes |
| Evidence grade | B | A |
How to choose
Choose MiniMax M3 if…
- Long-context agent workflows
- Tool-heavy automation
- Self-hosted long-document analysis
- You cannot accept its limitation: Chinese 88: idioms, memes and official register clearly trail Qwen and Doubao.
How to choose
Choose Kimi K3 if…
- Engineering manuals and API docs QA
- Paper-figure reproduction and code screenshots
- Very long multimodal knowledge bases
- Complex agent and tool-orchestration flows
- You cannot accept its limitation: Generation 90 — level with Qwen3.8-Max and Qwen3.5 but not the board’s best; creative-design pipelines should look elsewhere.
Scenario check
Five scenarios, who holds up
| Scenario | MiniMax M3 | Kimi K3 | Better |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese receipt OCR | 90 | 90 | Tie |
| Chart data extraction | 89 | 95 | Kimi K3 |
| 30-min video QA | 88 | 88 | Tie |
| Mobile GUI control | 92 | 94 | Kimi K3 |
| Chinese cultural context | 86 | 92 | Kimi K3 |
Comparison FAQ
MiniMax M3 vs Kimi K3: which is stronger?
Composite: MiniMax M3 91.1, Kimi K3 95.3. MiniMax M3 leads on none; Kimi K3 leads on Visual perception & grounding, Document parsing & Chinese OCR, Chart & document reasoning, Video & long-horizon reasoning, GUI agents & tool use, Generation & editing, Chinese context & culture, Ecosystem, cost & availability. The stronger overall is Kimi K3.
How much more expensive is MiniMax M3 than Kimi K3?
MiniMax M3 is ¥4/1M output tokens; Kimi K3 is ¥16/1M. On output price, Kimi K3 is pricier; real cost also depends on image tokens and input share.
Can Kimi K3 replace MiniMax M3?
It depends on your primary workload. If it sits in Kimi K3’s strengths (Engineering manuals and API docs QA, Paper-figure reproduction and code screenshots, Very long multimodal knowledge bases, Complex agent and tool-orchestration flows), yes. If you need Long-context agent workflows, switching will cost quality.
Personal ranking · Not an official score
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