Kimi K3.1 Pro vs Pareto vs Qwen 3.8 Max Prime
Kimi K3.1 Pro comes out ahead, 46 to 39 and 33 on our weighted score.
- Our pick
Moonshot AIKimi K3.1 Pro
46/100- ECI—
- Price$2.00 / $10.00
- Context1.05M
Unbiased
Pareto
33/100- ECI—
- Price$2.57 / $7.72
- Context262K
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen 3.8 Max Prime
39/100- ECI—
- Price$4.00 / $12.00
- Context1M
Kimi K3.1 Pro is our pick
Kimi K3.1 Pro is the better all-round choice, scoring 46/100 against Qwen 3.8 Max Prime (39) and Pareto (33). It leads on inputs & features. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
- CapabilityNot enough dataNo independent benchmark covers every model here yet
- Lowest priceParetoPareto $3.86 · Kimi K3.1 Pro $4.00 · Qwen 3.8 Max Prime $6.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextKimi K3.1 ProKimi K3.1 Pro 1,048,576 · Qwen 3.8 Max Prime 1,000,000 · Pareto 262,144 tokens
- Widest inputsKimi K3.1 Pro and Qwen 3.8 Max PrimeKimi K3.1 Pro: Text, Images, Video · Pareto: Text, Images · Qwen 3.8 Max Prime: Text, Images, Video
- Self-hostingNo open weightsAll three are available only through APIs
| Measure | Weight | Kimi K3.1 Pro | Pareto | Qwen 3.8 Max Prime |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 20 | 21 | 12 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 80 | 50 | 70 |
| Context window | 20% | 61 | 37 | 60 |
| Overall | 100% | 46/100 | 33/100 | 39/100 |
Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | Kimi K3.1 ProMoonshot AI | ParetoUnbiased | Qwen 3.8 Max PrimeAlibaba (Qwen) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $2.00 (best) | $2.57 | $4.00 |
| Output | $10.00 | $7.72 (best) | $12.00 |
| Cached input | $0.20 | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $4.00 | $3.86 (best) | $6.00 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Moonshot AI API | Median of 2 providers | Median of 5 providers |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 1,048,576 tokens (best) | 262,144 tokens | 1,000,000 tokens |
| Max output | 131,072 tokens | 131,072 tokens | 131,072 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | Yes | No | Yes |
| Reasoning | Yeslow · high · max | No | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | kimi-k3.1-pro | — | — |
| API providers | 17 (best) | 2 | 5 |
| Released | Oct 23, 2026 | Sep 17, 2026 | Sep 23, 2026 |
| Knowledge cutoff | — | — | — |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Kimi K3.1 Pro$40.00
- Pareto$41.16
- Qwen 3.8 Max Prime$64.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Kimi K3.1 Pro, Pareto or Qwen 3.8 Max Prime?
Kimi K3.1 Pro is the better all-round choice, scoring 46/100 against Qwen 3.8 Max Prime (39) and Pareto (33). It leads on inputs & features. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
Which is cheaper, Kimi K3.1 Pro, Pareto or Qwen 3.8 Max Prime?
Pareto is cheaper at $2.57 input / $7.72 output per million tokens (median across 2 API providers). Kimi K3.1 Pro costs $2.00 input / $10.00 output per million tokens (official Moonshot AI API price); Qwen 3.8 Max Prime costs $4.00 input / $12.00 output per million tokens (median across 5 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $3.86 per million tokens for Pareto versus $4.00 for Kimi K3.1 Pro (1× as much) and $6.00 for Qwen 3.8 Max Prime (1.6× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Kimi K3.1 Pro has not been scored yet, Pareto has not been scored yet and Qwen 3.8 Max Prime has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Kimi K3.1 Pro, Pareto and Qwen 3.8 Max Prime yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. All three support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
Kimi K3.1 Pro has the largest context window at 1,048,576 tokens, against 1,000,000 for Qwen 3.8 Max Prime and 262,144 for Pareto. Maximum output per response: Kimi K3.1 Pro up to 131,072, Pareto up to 131,072, Qwen 3.8 Max Prime up to 131,072 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Kimi K3.1 Pro accepts text, images and video; Pareto accepts text and images; Qwen 3.8 Max Prime accepts text, images and video. Kimi K3.1 Pro handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
No. Kimi K3.1 Pro, Pareto and Qwen 3.8 Max Prime are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.
Which is newer?
Kimi K3.1 Pro is the newest, released Oct 23, 2026. Qwen 3.8 Max Prime came out Sep 23, 2026; Pareto came out Sep 17, 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 Nov 2, 2026.
