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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

GPT-6 Astra vs Kimi K3

Too close to call on our weighted score (GPT-6 Astra 68, Kimi K3 65). The right pick depends on what you value most.

  1. OpenAI

    GPT-6 Astra

    Released Sep 4, 2026

    68/100
    • ECI166.5
    • Price$10.00 / $50.00
    • Context1.05M
  2. Moonshot AI

    Kimi K3

    Released Jul 16, 2026

    65/100
    • ECI157.6
    • Price$3.00 / $15.00
    • Context1.05M
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01 — Verdict

Too close to call

It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 2 points (GPT-6 Astra 68/100, Kimi K3 65/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: GPT-6 Astra for raw capability and Kimi K3 on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityGPT-6 AstraCapabilities Index (ECI): GPT-6 Astra 166.5 · Kimi K3 157.6
  • Lowest priceKimi K3Kimi K3 $6.00 · GPT-6 Astra $20.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextAbout the sameGPT-6 Astra 1,050,000 · Kimi K3 1,048,576 tokens
  • Widest inputsSame inputsGPT-6 Astra: Text, Images, PDFs · Kimi K3: Text, Images, Video
  • Self-hostingKimi K3Publishes downloadable weights
How the score is built
MeasureWeightGPT-6 AstraKimi K3
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%9988
Price25%013
Inputs & features15%8080
Context window10%6161
Overall100%68/10065/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.

GPT-6 Astra vs Kimi K3 specifications side by side
SpecificationGPT-6 AstraOpenAIKimi K3Moonshot AI
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)166.5 (best)157.6
ECI rank#2 of 148 (best)#13 of 148
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions95.8% (best)93.1%
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics93.7% (best)72.2%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics100% (best)97.2%
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions75.6% (best)50.6%
Price per million tokens
Input$10.00$3.00 (best)
Output$50.00$15.00 (best)
Cached input$1.00$0.30 (best)
Blended (3:1)$20.00$6.00 (best)
Long-context rateOver 272K: $20.00 / $75.00Same rate
Price sourceOfficial OpenAI APIOfficial Moonshot AI API
Limits
Context window1,050,000 tokens (best)1,048,576 tokens
Max output128,000 tokens131,072 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesYes
PDFsYesNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoYes
ReasoningYeslow · medium · high · xhigh · maxYeslow · high · max
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputYesYes
Availability
WeightsProprietaryOpen
API model IDgpt-6-astrakimi-k3
API providers2668 (best)
ReleasedSep 4, 2026Jul 16, 2026
Knowledge cutoffApr 30, 2026—
03 — Cost

What would a month cost?

Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.

  • GPT-6 Astra$200.00
  • Kimi K3$60.00
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: GPT-6 Astra or Kimi K3?

It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 2 points (GPT-6 Astra 68/100, Kimi K3 65/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: GPT-6 Astra for raw capability and Kimi K3 on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, GPT-6 Astra or Kimi K3?

Kimi K3 is cheaper at $3.00 input / $15.00 output per million tokens (official Moonshot AI API price). GPT-6 Astra costs $10.00 input / $50.00 output per million tokens (official OpenAI API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $6.00 per million tokens for Kimi K3 versus $20.00 for GPT-6 Astra (3.3× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

GPT-6 Astra scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): GPT-6 Astra 166.5 (#2 of 148) and Kimi K3 157.6 (#13 of 148). Their confidence ranges do not overlap (163.1–171.1 vs 154.9–160.4), so the gap is a real one. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — GPT-6 Astra 95.8%, Kimi K3 93.1%; FrontierMath Tiers 1–3 — GPT-6 Astra 93.7%, Kimi K3 72.2%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — GPT-6 Astra 100%, Kimi K3 97.2%; SimpleQA Verified — GPT-6 Astra 75.6%, Kimi K3 50.6%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for GPT-6 Astra and Kimi K3 yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, GPT-6 Astra leads, which tends to carry over to coding, but test on your own codebase. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.

Which has the bigger context window?

Their context windows are effectively the same size: GPT-6 Astra 1,050,000 and Kimi K3 1,048,576 tokens. Maximum output per response: GPT-6 Astra up to 128,000, Kimi K3 up to 131,072 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

GPT-6 Astra accepts text, images and PDFs; Kimi K3 accepts text, images and video. They handle the same number of input types.

Are any of these open source?

Kimi K3 publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; GPT-6 Astra is proprietary.

Which is newer?

GPT-6 Astra is the newest, released Sep 4, 2026. Kimi K3 came out Jul 16, 2026. Knowledge cutoff: GPT-6 Astra Apr 30, 2026.

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.