AI model APIs · head-to-head
Kimi K3 vs Qwen3-Max
Same usage, official rates, ranked by nothing but price. Both rate cards, the monthly bill at five workloads, and the exact usage mix where the answer flips.
The pricing verdict Qwen3-Max is cheaper than Kimi K3 at every input:output mix — there is no usage pattern where Kimi K3 costs less.
Rate cards
| Per 1M tokens | Kimi K3 | Qwen3-Max |
|---|---|---|
| Input | $3 | $1.2 |
| Cached input | $0.30 | — |
| Output | $15 | $6 |
| Context window | 1M | — |
Monthly cost at five workloads
| Workload | Tokens / month | Kimi K3 | Qwen3-Max |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prototype | 1M in · 0.3M out | $7.50 | $3 |
| Small app | 10M in · 3M out | $75 | $30 |
| Production app | 50M in · 15M out | $375 | $150 |
| High volume | 200M in · 60M out | $1,500 | $600 |
| Heavy platform | 1B in · 300M out | $7,500 | $3,000 |
Standard on-demand rates from each provider's official pricing page, verified July 2026; figures exclude caching and batch discounts and any long-context surcharges. Kimi K3: Cache-hit input bills at $0.30 per 1M. Qwen3-Max: Pricing is tiered by input length: $1.20/$6 up to 32k tokens, $2.40/$12 to 128k, $3/$15 to 256k. Figures here use the ≤32k tier; batch runs at 50%. Price is one input — quality, latency and context limits differ. Confirm live pricing before committing.