Gemini 3.5 Flash vs Kimi K2.6 vs Qwen3.7 Max
Gemini 3.5 Flash comes out ahead, 69 to 65 and 58 on our weighted score, though Kimi K2.6 is 2× cheaper per token.
- Our pick
GoogleGemini 3.5 Flash
69/100- ECI154.5
- Price$1.50 / $9.00
- Context1.05M
Moonshot AIKimi K2.6
65/100- ECI151.1
- Price$0.95 / $4.00
- Context262K
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen3.7 Max
58/100- ECI153.7
- Price$2.50 / $7.50
- Context1M
Gemini 3.5 Flash is our pick
Gemini 3.5 Flash is the better all-round choice, scoring 69/100 against Kimi K2.6 (65) and Qwen3.7 Max (58). It leads on inputs & features. Kimi K2.6 wins on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
- CapabilityGemini 3.5 FlashCapabilities Index (ECI): Gemini 3.5 Flash 154.5 · Qwen3.7 Max 153.7 · Kimi K2.6 151.1
- Lowest priceKimi K2.6Kimi K2.6 $1.71 · Gemini 3.5 Flash $3.38 · Qwen3.7 Max $3.75 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextGemini 3.5 FlashGemini 3.5 Flash 1,048,576 · Qwen3.7 Max 1,000,000 · Kimi K2.6 262,144 tokens
- Widest inputsGemini 3.5 FlashGemini 3.5 Flash: Text, Images, PDFs, Audio, Video · Kimi K2.6: Text, Images, Video · Qwen3.7 Max: Text
- Self-hostingKimi K2.6Publishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | Gemini 3.5 Flash | Kimi K2.6 | Qwen3.7 Max |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI) | 50% | 84 | 79 | 83 |
| Price | 25% | 25 | 39 | 23 |
| Inputs & features | 15% | 100 | 80 | 35 |
| Context window | 10% | 61 | 37 | 60 |
| Overall | 100% | 69/100 | 65/100 | 58/100 |
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | Gemini 3.5 FlashGoogle | Kimi K2.6Moonshot AI | Qwen3.7 MaxAlibaba (Qwen) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 154.5 (best) | 151.1 | 153.7 |
| ECI rank | #33 of 148 (best) | #45 of 148 | #37 of 148 |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | 92.8% (best) | 90.8% | 90.9% |
| FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics | 62.8% | 57.2% | 64.6% (best) |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | 95.6% | 96.1% (best) | 95.6% |
| SWE-bench VerifiedFixing real GitHub issues | 79.3% (best) | 76.7% | 77.3% |
| SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions | 66.2% (best) | 34.9% | 55.8% |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $1.50 | $0.95 (best) | $2.50 |
| Output | $9.00 | $4.00 (best) | $7.50 |
| Cached input | $0.15 (best) | $0.16 | $0.50 |
| Blended (3:1) | $3.38 | $1.71 (best) | $3.75 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Google API | Official Moonshot AI API | Official Alibaba API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 1,048,576 tokens (best) | 262,144 tokens | 1,000,000 tokens |
| Max output | 65,536 tokens | 262,144 tokens (best) | 65,536 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | Yes | No |
| PDFs | Yes | No | No |
| Audio | Yes | No | No |
| Video | Yes | Yes | No |
| Reasoning | Yesminimal · low · medium · high | Yes | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | Yes | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Open | Proprietary |
| API model ID | gemini-3.5-flash | kimi-k2.6 | qwen3.7-max |
| API providers | 32 | 46 (best) | 26 |
| Released | May 19, 2026 | Apr 21, 2026 | May 21, 2026 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Jan 2025 | Jan 2025 | — |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Gemini 3.5 Flash$33.00
- Kimi K2.6$17.50
- Qwen3.7 Max$40.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Gemini 3.5 Flash, Kimi K2.6 or Qwen3.7 Max?
Gemini 3.5 Flash is the better all-round choice, scoring 69/100 against Kimi K2.6 (65) and Qwen3.7 Max (58). It leads on inputs & features. Kimi K2.6 wins on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
Which is cheaper, Gemini 3.5 Flash, Kimi K2.6 or Qwen3.7 Max?
Kimi K2.6 is cheaper at $0.95 input / $4.00 output per million tokens (official Moonshot AI API price). Gemini 3.5 Flash costs $1.50 input / $9.00 output per million tokens (official Google API price); Qwen3.7 Max costs $2.50 input / $7.50 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $1.71 per million tokens for Kimi K2.6 versus $3.38 for Gemini 3.5 Flash (2× as much) and $3.75 for Qwen3.7 Max (2.2× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
Gemini 3.5 Flash scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): Gemini 3.5 Flash 154.5 (#33 of 148), Qwen3.7 Max 153.7 (#37 of 148) and Kimi K2.6 151.1 (#45 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (152.5–156.6 vs 151.9–156.0), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — Gemini 3.5 Flash 92.8%, Qwen3.7 Max 90.9%, Kimi K2.6 90.8%; FrontierMath Tiers 1–3 — Qwen3.7 Max 64.6%, Gemini 3.5 Flash 62.8%, Kimi K2.6 57.2%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — Kimi K2.6 96.1%, Gemini 3.5 Flash 95.6%, Qwen3.7 Max 95.6%; SWE-bench Verified — Gemini 3.5 Flash 79.3%, Qwen3.7 Max 77.3%, Kimi K2.6 76.7%; SimpleQA Verified — Gemini 3.5 Flash 66.2%, Qwen3.7 Max 55.8%, Kimi K2.6 34.9%.
Which is better for coding?
Gemini 3.5 Flash resolves more real GitHub issues on SWE-bench Verified: Gemini 3.5 Flash 79.3%, Qwen3.7 Max 77.3% and Kimi K2.6 76.7%. All three support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
Gemini 3.5 Flash has the largest context window at 1,048,576 tokens, against 1,000,000 for Qwen3.7 Max and 262,144 for Kimi K2.6. Maximum output per response: Gemini 3.5 Flash up to 65,536, Kimi K2.6 up to 262,144, Qwen3.7 Max up to 65,536 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Gemini 3.5 Flash accepts text, images, PDFs, audio and video; Kimi K2.6 accepts text, images and video; Qwen3.7 Max accepts text. Gemini 3.5 Flash handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Kimi K2.6 publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Gemini 3.5 Flash and Qwen3.7 Max is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Qwen3.7 Max is the newest, released May 21, 2026. Gemini 3.5 Flash came out May 19, 2026; Kimi K2.6 came out Apr 21, 2026. Knowledge cutoff: Gemini 3.5 Flash Jan 2025, Kimi K2.6 Jan 2025.
How do you decide the winner?
Each model gets a 0–100 score on capability (50%, independent benchmark results); price (25%, blended price per million tokens (3 input : 1 output), log scale); inputs & features (15%, image, PDF, audio and video input, tool calling, structured output and reasoning); context window (10%, maximum tokens per request, log scale). Dimensions missing for any model are dropped and the remaining weights rescaled, so every model is judged on the same evidence. Specs and prices come from public model listings and the labs’ own API pages; capability scores come from independent benchmark runs. Data updated Oct 4, 2026.
