Kimi K2.6 vs MiniMax M3: Specs & Benchmark Comparison
| Characteristic | Kimi K2.6 | MiniMax M3 |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Moonshot AI | MiniMax |
| Release Date | April 20, 2026 | June 1, 2026 |
| Parameters | 1.0T | 428B |
| Multimodal | Yes | Yes |
| Context (input) | 262K | 1.0M |
| Context (output) | 131K | 131K |
| Input Price / 1M | $1.20 | $0.30 |
| Output Price / 1M | $4.50 | $1.20 |
| Average Score | 0.9 | 0.9 |
Verdict
MiniMax M3 leads in 3 out of 4 comparison categories.
Overall Performance
Both models show comparable average scores: Kimi K2.6 — 0.9, MiniMax M3 — 0.9.
API Cost
MiniMax M3 is 3.8x cheaper: input $0.30/1M vs $1.20/1M tokens.
Context Window
MiniMax M3 supports a larger context: 1M vs 262K tokens.
Recency
MiniMax M3 is newer: released 6/1/2026 vs 4/20/2026.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Which is better for coding — Kimi K2.6 or MiniMax M3?
Direct comparison on the SWE-Bench benchmark is not available. We recommend reviewing other metrics on the comparison page.
Which model is cheaper — Kimi K2.6 or MiniMax M3?
MiniMax M3 is cheaper for input: $0.30 per 1M tokens vs $1.20.
Which has a larger context window — Kimi K2.6 or MiniMax M3?
MiniMax M3 supports a larger context: 1,000,000 tokens vs 262,144.
The Kimi K2.6 and MiniMax M3 comparison is updated for 2026. Data includes benchmark results, API pricing, context window size and other specifications. For more detailed information, visit the Kimi K2.6 or MiniMax M3 page. See also the complete list of AI model comparisons.