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Model comparison

Kimi K3 vs MAI-Thinking-1

Data verified

Head-to-head evidence from 3 shared benchmark results across 2 categories. Overall scores shown here use the public BenchAlign v5 ranking lane.

Kimi K3
Moonshot AI
80.96/100
No comparison
N/A
1 category wins1 category wins

Public leaderboard positions: Kimi K3 #4 (Supported); MAI-Thinking-1 unranked (Not scored). Intervals and evidence labels describe ranking uncertainty, not a guarantee for a specific workload.

Evidence parity. Kimi K3 and MAI-Thinking-1 share 3 comparable benchmark results. 2 of 8 categories are comparable. 54 results are unique to Kimi K3; 10 to MAI-Thinking-1.

Updated July 23, 2026
Shared results
3
Kimi K3 only
54
MAI-Thinking-1 only
10
Comparable categories
2 / 8

Treat this as a split decision. Kimi K3 makes more sense if agentic is the priority or you need the larger 1.05M context window; MAI-Thinking-1 is the better fit if knowledge is the priority.

Confidence note. This is a partial-evidence comparison with 3 shared benchmark results across 2 evidence categories; 2 of 8 categories currently have scoreable aggregates for both models. Treat the verdict as directional until coverage is more balanced.

Why this result

Kimi K3 and MAI-Thinking-1 finish on the same BenchAlign overall score, so this is less about a single winner and more about where the edge shows up. The BenchAlign headline says tie; the benchmark table is where the real choice happens.

Kimi K3 gives you the larger context window at 1.05M, compared with 256K for MAI-Thinking-1.

Category breakdown

Exact category averages are shown below. Not measured means BenchLM does not have enough sourced public coverage for that model and category.

Category scores and score margins for Kimi K3 and MAI-Thinking-1
CategoryKimi K3ΔMAI-Thinking-1
AgenticKimi K389.5Margin← 43.5MAI-Thinking-146.0
KnowledgeKimi K361.0Margin→ 11.5MAI-Thinking-172.5
CodingKimi K3Not measuredMarginNo overlapMAI-Thinking-165.5
MathKimi K3Not measuredMarginNo overlapMAI-Thinking-189.7
MultimodalKimi K378.5MarginNo overlapMAI-Thinking-1Not measured
Inst. FollowingKimi K3Not measuredMarginNo overlapMAI-Thinking-185.0

Decisive benchmark drivers

The largest measured benchmark gaps in this matchup, with exact reported values.

More
A · Kimi K3B · MAI-Thinking-1

  1. Terminal-Bench 2.0

    Agentic
    Source ↗
    A 88.3%B 46%
    Winner: Kimi K3Δ 42.3
    Terminal-Bench 2.0: Kimi K3 scored 88.3%; MAI-Thinking-1 scored 46%. Kimi K3 wins this benchmark.

  2. GPQA

    Knowledge
    Source ↗
    A 93.5%B 84.2%
    Winner: Kimi K3Δ 9.3
    GPQA: Kimi K3 scored 93.5%; MAI-Thinking-1 scored 84.2%. Kimi K3 wins this benchmark.

Operational comparison

Runtime and commercial metrics are compared only when both models have a complete sourced value.

MetricKimi K3MAI-Thinking-1Comparison
Input / output priceUSD per 1M tokensKimi K3$3 input / $15 outputMAI-Thinking-1Not availableA complete price comparison is not available.
Generation speedtokens per secondKimi K3Not availableMAI-Thinking-1Not availableA complete speed comparison is not available.
First-answer latencyseconds to first tokenKimi K3Not availableMAI-Thinking-1Not availableA complete latency comparison is not available.
Context windowmaximum listed tokensKimi K31.05MMAI-Thinking-1256KKimi K3 lists the larger context window.

Benchmark Deep Dive

AgenticKimi K3 wins
BenchmarkKimi K3MAI-Thinking-1Result
Terminal-Bench 2.0Source 88.3%46%Kimi K3 leads
BrowseCompSource 91.2%—Not comparable
DeepSearchQASource 95.0%—Not comparable
Toolathlon-VerifiedSource 73.2%—Not comparable
MCP AtlasSource 84.2%—Not comparable
AutomationBenchSource 30.8%—Not comparable
JobBenchSource 52.9%—Not comparable
APEX-AgentsSource 37.6%—Not comparable
SpreadsheetBench 2Source 34.8%—Not comparable
DECK-BenchSource 73.5%—Not comparable
AA Agentic IndexSource 50.1%—Not comparable
GDPval-AASource 59.0%—Not comparable
GDPval-AASource 1679—Not comparable
AA BriefcaseSource 1543—Not comparable
AA AutomationBenchSource 52.7%—Not comparable
AA EnterpriseOps-GymSource 45.3%—Not comparable
AA Harvey LABSource 94.6%—Not comparable
AA Tau3 BankingSource 33.4%—Not comparable
aaTerminalBench21Source 85%—Not comparable
APEX-Agents-AASource 41.3%—Not comparable
AA ITBenchSource 47.7%—Not comparable
Coding
BenchmarkKimi K3MAI-Thinking-1Result
deepSweSource 67.5%—Not comparable
FrontierSWESource 81.2%—Not comparable
ProgramBenchSource 77.8%—Not comparable
Kimi Code Bench v2Source 72.9%—Not comparable
sweMarathonSource 42%—Not comparable
PostTrain BenchSource 36.6%—Not comparable
MLS-Bench LiteSource 48.3%—Not comparable
AA Coding IndexSource 76.2%—Not comparable
AA-SciCodeSource 58.7%—Not comparable
SWE-bench VerifiedSource —73.5%Not comparable
SWE-bench ProSource —52.8%Not comparable
Terminal-Bench 2.0Source —46.0%Not comparable
Reasoning
BenchmarkKimi K3MAI-Thinking-1Result
AA-LCRSource 74.7%—Not comparable
CritPtSource 23.4%—Not comparable
Graphwalks BFS 128KSource —90%Not comparable
KnowledgeMAI-Thinking-1 wins
BenchmarkKimi K3MAI-Thinking-1Result
GPQASource 93.5%84.2%Kimi K3 leads
GPQA-DSource 93.5%84.2%Kimi K3 leads
HLESource 56%—Not comparable
HLE w/o toolsSource 43.5%—Not comparable
Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexSource 57.1%—Not comparable
AA-GPQA DiamondSource 93.5%—Not comparable
AA-HLESource 44.3%—Not comparable
AA-Omniscience IndexSource 18.4%—Not comparable
AA-Omniscience AccuracySource 46.0%—Not comparable
AA-Omniscience Hallucination RateSource 50.9%—Not comparable
MMLU-ProSource —85%Not comparable
SimpleQASource —31%Not comparable
Math
BenchmarkKimi K3MAI-Thinking-1Result
AIME 2025Source —97%Not comparable
AIME26Source —94.5%Not comparable
HMMT Feb 2026Source —84.9%Not comparable
Multimodal
BenchmarkKimi K3MAI-Thinking-1Result
OfficeQA ProSource 63.3%—Not comparable
MMMU-ProSource 81.6%—Not comparable
MMMU-Pro w/ PythonSource 83.4%—Not comparable
CharXiv w/o toolsSource 84.8%—Not comparable
CharXivSource 91.3%—Not comparable
MathVisionSource 94.3%—Not comparable
MathVision w/ PythonSource 97.8%—Not comparable
BabyVision w/ PythonSource 85.7%—Not comparable
ZeroBenchSource 23.0%—Not comparable
ZeroBench w/ PythonSource 41.0%—Not comparable
WorldVQA ForceAnswerSource 51.0%—Not comparable
OmniDocBenchSource 91.1%—Not comparable
PerceptionBenchSource 58.5%—Not comparable
AA-MMMU-ProSource 80.5%—Not comparable
Design Arena WebsiteSource 1386—Not comparable
Inst. Following
BenchmarkKimi K3MAI-Thinking-1Result
IFBenchSource —85%Not comparable
Frequently Asked Questions (3)

Which is better, Kimi K3 or MAI-Thinking-1?

Kimi K3 and MAI-Thinking-1 are tied on the BenchAlign overall score, so the right pick depends on which category matters most for your use case.

Which is better for knowledge tasks, Kimi K3 or MAI-Thinking-1?

MAI-Thinking-1 has the edge for knowledge tasks in this comparison, averaging 72.5 versus 61. Inside this category, GPQA is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.

Which is better for agentic tasks, Kimi K3 or MAI-Thinking-1?

Kimi K3 has the edge for agentic tasks in this comparison, averaging 89.5 versus 46. Inside this category, Terminal-Bench 2.0 is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.

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