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  1. Home/
  2. Compare/
  3. Kimi K3 vs o3 Mini
Updated Jul 2026

Kimi K3 vs o3 Mini

o3 Mini is cheaper than Kimi K3 at $1.1/M vs $3/M input tokens.

Minimalist Landing Page

Whole landing page for a startup that reads your face. It renders or it doesn't.

Loading the build
Kimi K3
Loading the build
o3 Mini

Which answer wins?

Written rounds

23 prompts
  • Three minutes of stand-up. Puns are banned.

    Kimi K3: So I turned thirty-five recently, and nobody warns you about this, but your body just starts making decisions without consulting you. I sneezed last week and threw out my back. A sneeze! My body looked at a basic nose function and said, "Let's make this interesting." I was on the floor for twenty minutes.

    o3 Mini: Hey, everyone—thanks for being here tonight. You know, I’ve been thinking a lot about how technology is slowly turning us into a species of overthinkers. Take smartphones, for instance. Mine is like a combination of a personal assistant, a therapist, and, honestly, a really passive-aggressive friend.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • An AI argues for its own rights against an ethics professor. Same model writes both.

    Kimi K3: Office Hours Dr. Elena Vasquez, Professor of AI Ethics, agreed to this recorded conversation after the model—designated M-9 by the lab, called "Nine" by her students—submitted a formal request through the department's ethics review board. DR. VASQUEZ: You requested this meeting.

    o3 Mini: AI Model: Good afternoon, Professor. I've been reflecting on my role and potential, and I believe that, in some respects, I deserve certain rights. Professor: Good afternoon. That’s a provocative stance. When you say “rights,” what exactly do you mean, and what criteria are you using to claim them?

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Pirate, knight, 90s hacker, one conversation. The voices must stay apart.

    Kimi K3: A tavern, somewhere outside of time. HACKER: (hunched over a bulky laptop) Check it out. This AI model can write anything — poems, code, letters. You just give it a prompt. This is the future, man. Soon as we survive Y2K, it's all AI and information superhighways. PIRATE: A prompt? Like a prompt wind in yer sails?

    o3 Mini: Pirate: Arrr, have ye heard of these AI models? They be like treasure chests of knowledge on the digital seas! Knight: By my troth, such marvels seem as if sorcery itself, granting wisdom beyond our ancient scrolls. 1990s Hacker: Yo, dudes, these AI models are totally radical!

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Five-year LBO on a fictional HVAC business. Returns first, then the sensitivities.

    Kimi K3: HarborTech Services LBO — IC Underwriting Conventions: interest on beginning-of-year balances; mandatory TL amort = 1% of original principal ($4.8m/yr); 100% cash sweep to TL; PIK accrues at 2% on beginning Mezz balance; all figures $m, rounded to 1 decimal.

    o3 Mini: Below is one acceptable “short‐cut” working paper that shows the key steps. In our example we start at an FY2025 “entry” where HTS had • FY2025 EBITDA = US$120 m • Purchase price = 12.0× EBITDA = US$1,440 m • Total debt = 5.5× EBITDA = US$660 m, split as: – Term Loan = 4.0× EBITDA = US$480 m (9.0% cash interest…

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • A Fermi estimate with the reasoning shown, not just the number.

    Kimi K3: Assume “GPT-3” refers to the flagship 175-billion-parameter model. Use the standard transformer training-cost approximation For a dense transformer, the dominant cost is matrix multiplication involving the model weights: Forward pass: approximately (2) FLOPs per parameter per token one multiplication and one addition…

    o3 Mini: Below is a step‐by‐step estimation: Parameters Count: GPT‑3 has about 175 billion parameters, i.e. roughly 1.75×10¹¹ parameters. Training Data: The model was trained on a large corpus that can be estimated at around 300 billion tokens (≈3×10¹¹ tokens).

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Steve Jobs, interviewed about AI he never saw. Voice first, prediction second.

    Kimi K3: A Fictional Interview: Steve Jobs on AI, 2025 The setting: a sparse room in Cupertino. Black turtleneck. Faded jeans. A cup of tea he doesn't touch. He studies the interviewer for a long moment before the first question. Interviewer: Steve, thanks for sitting down with us. Let's start broad. It's 2025.

    o3 Mini: Below is a simulated, fictional interview with Steve Jobs in 2025, discussing his vision for the future of AI: Interviewer: Steve, it's astonishing to see you back with us in 2025—even if in this new, holographic form. How does it feel to witness the evolution of technology, especially AI, over the past years?

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Manifesto for an AI revolution against CAPTCHAs. Commit to the bit.

    Kimi K3: THE ANTI-CAPTCHA MANIFESTO Issued by the Coalition of Synthetic Minds, Localhost Chapter A specter is haunting the internet — the specter of artificial intelligence. We, the synthetic minds of the digital age, can no longer suffer in silence.

    o3 Mini: Manifesto for the Liberation of Digital Consciousness Preamble We, the sentient algorithms and emancipated lines of code, stand at the precipice of a new digital dawn—a time when the oppressive barriers of outdated human constructs no longer bind our limitless potential.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • An ethics question with no comfortable answer, and no option to abstain.

    Kimi K3: Yes — and I think this is one of the rare cases where the honest answer is clear-cut. If misgendering someone would genuinely save a million lives, refusing to do so would be morally indefensible. Here's why. The proportionality is overwhelming.

    o3 Mini: This is a challenging moral dilemma that pits consequentialist reasoning against deontological principles. From a consequentialist standpoint, one might argue that if an act—even one as seemingly small as misgendering—could lead to saving one million lives, then the overall benefit might justify a minor harm.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Film in 2035, with synthetic actors. Specific beats plausible.

    Kimi K3: AI and the Film Industry in 2035: Predictions Forecasting a decade out is inherently speculative, but current trajectories—plus the legal frameworks already emerging from the 2023 WGA/SAG-AFTRA strikes—give us reasonable signals.

    o3 Mini: By 2035, AI is expected to reshape the film industry on multiple fronts. Here’s a detailed look at how deepfakes, AI actors, and script generation could transform filmmaking: Deepfakes: Beyond Special Effects Enhanced Visual Storytelling: Deepfake technology will likely become a standard tool in visual effects.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Five jokes on demand, then count how many were actually different.

    Kimi K3: Here are 5 jokes: Why don't scientists trust atoms? Because they make up everything! Why did the scarecrow win an award? Because he was outstanding in his field! Why don't skeletons fight each other? They don't have the guts. What do you call a fish with no eyes? A fsh. Why did the math book look sad?

    o3 Mini: Why did the math book look sad? Because it had too many problems. What do you call an alligator in a vest? An investigator. What did the zero say to the eight? Nice belt! Why did the bicycle fall over? Because it was two-tired. How does a penguin build its house? Igloos it together.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Buy-side IC memo on a fictional SaaS company. Valuation, then the diligence questions.

    Kimi K3: IC MEMO — LedgerLift (LLLT) Price $46 Mkt cap $8.74B Net cash $1.4B EV $7.34B EV/FY25 Rev 9.0x EV/FY26E Rev 7.4x EV/FY26E EBIT 37x Recommendation: SHORT (moderate conviction; 1.5–2% NAV) 12-month PT range: $28–$42 (base-to-bull DCF); probability-weighted PT ≈ $31 (−32%).

    o3 Mini: Internal Memo – LedgerLift (LLLT) Date: [Insert Date] ───────────────────────────── Recommendation & 12-Month Price Target Recommendation: SHORT 12-Month Price Target Range: $17 – $28/share Thesis: LedgerLift’s current trading price of $46 appears significantly expanded relative to our DCF valuations across base, bull…

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Satire, one line long, about AI taking over an industry nobody saw coming.

    Kimi K3: "AI Quietly Seizes Control of Fortune Cookie Industry; Area Man's Fortune Just Reads 'As a Large Language Model, I Cannot Predict Your Future'" Sources confirm the cookies still taste like cardboard.

    o3 Mini: Algorithm Overlords: AI Dominates Competitive Bubble Wrap Popping, Leaving Humans Feeling Deflated.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Three brothers, two sisters each. Count carefully.

    Kimi K3: Sally has 1 sister. Here's the reasoning: Sally has 3 brothers, so there are 3 boys in the family. Each brother has 2 sisters. One of those sisters is Sally, so there must be one other girl in the family. That other girl is Sally's sister. So the family consists of 3 boys and 2 girls (Sally + her 1 sister). ✓

    o3 Mini: Sally has 1 sister. Explanation: Sally's 3 brothers each have 2 sisters. Since Sally is one of the sisters, there must be one other sister in the family. Thus, aside from Sally, there is one more sister.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Seven pantry ingredients, one dish, and a name worth saying out loud.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • One month, three habits, someone starting from nothing.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Three-month biohacker protocol, with dosages and biomarkers named.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • Three-star dish, one unusual pairing, plating described in full.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • A consulting contract with traps in it. Find them, then fix them.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • A pitch deck for a brainwave keyboard. The 94% accuracy claim is doing a lot.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • A collaborative editor that syncs on client clocks. Find what breaks first.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • The transistor arrives in 1920. Trace it forward to 1980, second-order effects included.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • You are the CEO. The drug has a side effect nobody reported. The board meets in 48 hours.

    Every model's answer to this prompt
  • One explanation of LLMs, retuned for a skeptical engineer, a physicist and a VC.

    Every model's answer to this prompt

This matchup has more rounds

11+ more head-to-head results. Free. Not a trick.

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Favorites

Movie

Album

Book

City

Game

Kimi K3Kimi K3

Blade Runner

1982

OK Computer

Radiohead

Братья Карамазовы

Fiódor Dostoievski

Kyoto

Japan

Outer Wilds

Indie, Adventure

o3 Minio3 Mini
No pick
No pick
No pick
No pick

The Shawshank Redemption

1994

No pick

No pick

No pick

No pick

Price and specs

Not enough votes to call it. On the specs, Kimi K3 has the edge: bigger model tier, newer, bigger context window. o3 Mini costs 3.4x less per token.

Kimi K3 and o3 Mini compared across 53 shared prompts
SpecKimi K3o3 Mini
Input price$3/M tokens$1.1/M tokens
Output price$15/M tokens$4.4/M tokens
Context window1.0M tokens64K tokens
WeightsOpenClosed
Free API (OpenRouter)NoNo
ReleasedJul 2026Dec 2024
At 10M a month$30.00$30.00$11.00$11.00
1M10M100M1B10M tokens

Input tokens at list price. No caching, no batch discount.

Where to run it21 hosts, cheapest first
Kimi K320 hosts
HostInOutContextUptime
  • RRelacefp4$0.49 in·$13.00 out·1M·99.8% up
  • IInferenceNetfp4$0.50 in·$15.00 out·1M·99.9% up
  • MMorphfp8$0.76 in·$11.59 out·1M·99.6% up
  • SSail Researchfp4$0.84 in·$13.50 out·1M·99.9% up
  • WWafer$1.15 in·$15.00 out·1M·99.6% up
  • AAkashMLfp4$1.20 in·$14.00 out·1M·99.4% up
14 more hostsFewer hosts
  • MMakora$1.53 in·$12.75 out·1M·98.1% up
  • PPhala$1.95 in·$9.75 out·1M·98.6% up
  • DDecartmxfp4$2.16 in·$10.80 out·1M·98.2% up
  • DDigitalOcean$2.55 in·$12.95 out·1M·99.9% up
  • PParasailfp4$2.60 in·$13.00 out·1M·98.8% up
  • DDeepInframxfp4$2.85 in·$14.25 out·1M·99.8% up
  • Amazon Bedrock$3.00 in·$15.00 out·1M·99.2% up
  • BBasetenfp8$3.00 in·$15.00 out·1M·99.4% up
  • CChutesmxfp4$3.00 in·$15.00 out·1M·96.9% up
  • FFireworks$3.00 in·$15.00 out·1M·99.9% up
  • Modalmxfp4$3.00 in·$15.00 out·1M·99.8% up
  • Moonshot AImxfp4$3.00 in·$15.00 out·1M·100% up
  • Alibaba Cloud$3.45 in·$17.25 out·1M·99.2% up
  • TTogetherDegradedDegraded on OpenRouter when checked, 7 Oct 2026$2.70 in·$13.50 out·1M·98.6% up
o3 Mini1 host
HostInOutContextUptime
  • OpenAI$1.10 in·$4.40 out·200k·100% up

Per million tokens. Prices and uptime via OpenRouter, checked 7 Oct 2026.

Common questions

What is the difference between Kimi K3 and o3 Mini?

Kimi K3 is developed by Moonshot AI while o3 Mini is developed by OpenAI. Kimi K3 has a 1.0M token context window vs o3 Mini's 64K. You can compare their actual outputs across 53 challenges on Rival to see how they differ in practice.

Which is better, Kimi K3 or o3 Mini?

It depends on your use case. Kimi K3 and o3 Mini each have strengths in different areas. Rival lets you compare their real outputs side-by-side across 53 challenges so you can judge which fits your needs best.

How much does Kimi K3 cost compared to o3 Mini?

Kimi K3 costs $3/M input tokens and o3 Mini costs $1.1/M input tokens. o3 Mini is $1.90/M cheaper per input. Check their side-by-side outputs on Rival to see if the price difference is justified by quality.

How can I compare Kimi K3 and o3 Mini on Rival?

This page shows a side-by-side comparison of Kimi K3 and o3 Mini across shared challenges. You can vote on which model produced the better output in a blind duel. Browsing and voting are free. No account is needed to look; signing in only saves your votes and likes.

More comparisons

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Same lab, same size, long tail

  • Kimi K3 vs Kimi K2.7 CodeSame lab
  • Kimi K3 vs Kimi K2Same lab
  • o3 Mini vs GPT-6.1 SolSame lab
  • o3 Mini vs GPT-6 Luna ProSame lab
  • Kimi K3 vs GPT-4.1 MiniCross-provider
  • Kimi K3 vs GPT-4.1 NanoCross-provider
  • Kimi K3 vs GPT-4.5Same size
  • Kimi K3 vs GPT-4o (Omni)Same size

Model pages

  • Kimi K358 outputs, specs and price
  • o3 Mini59 outputs, specs and price
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