Qwen 3.8 Max Prime vs Kimi K3.1 Pro vs Ember-1
Kimi K3.1 Pro comes out ahead, 46 to 39 and 36 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen 3.8 Max Prime
39/100- ECI—
- Price$4.00 / $12.00
- Context1M
- Our pick
Moonshot AIKimi K3.1 Pro
46/100- ECI—
- Price$2.00 / $10.00
- Context1.05M
Fireworks AIEmber-1
36/100- ECI—
- Price$3.00 / $15.00
- Context1.05M
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 Ember-1 (36). It leads on price and 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 priceKimi K3.1 ProKimi K3.1 Pro $4.00 · Qwen 3.8 Max Prime $6.00 · Ember-1 $6.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextKimi K3.1 Pro and Ember-1Kimi K3.1 Pro 1,048,576 · Ember-1 1,048,576 · Qwen 3.8 Max Prime 1,000,000 tokens
- Widest inputsQwen 3.8 Max Prime and Kimi K3.1 ProQwen 3.8 Max Prime: Text, Images, Video · Kimi K3.1 Pro: Text, Images, Video · Ember-1: Text, Images
- Self-hostingNo open weightsAll three are available only through APIs
| Measure | Weight | Qwen 3.8 Max Prime | Kimi K3.1 Pro | Ember-1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 12 | 20 | 12 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 70 | 80 | 60 |
| Context window | 20% | 60 | 61 | 61 |
| Overall | 100% | 39/100 | 46/100 | 36/100 |
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 | Qwen 3.8 Max PrimeAlibaba (Qwen) | Kimi K3.1 ProMoonshot AI | Ember-1Fireworks AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $4.00 | $2.00 (best) | $3.00 |
| Output | $12.00 | $10.00 (best) | $15.00 |
| Cached input | — | $0.20 | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $6.00 | $4.00 (best) | $6.00 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 5 providers | Official Moonshot AI API | Median of 7 providers |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 1,000,000 tokens | 1,048,576 tokens (best) | 1,048,576 tokens (best) |
| 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 | Yes | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yeslow · high · max | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | Yes | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | — | kimi-k3.1-pro | — |
| API providers | 5 | 17 (best) | 7 |
| Released | Sep 23, 2026 | Oct 23, 2026 | Sep 22, 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.
- Qwen 3.8 Max Prime$64.00
- Kimi K3.1 Pro$40.00
- Ember-1$60.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Qwen 3.8 Max Prime, Kimi K3.1 Pro or Ember-1?
Kimi K3.1 Pro is the better all-round choice, scoring 46/100 against Qwen 3.8 Max Prime (39) and Ember-1 (36). It leads on price and 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, Qwen 3.8 Max Prime, Kimi K3.1 Pro or Ember-1?
Kimi K3.1 Pro is cheaper at $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); Ember-1 costs $3.00 input / $15.00 output per million tokens (median across 7 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $4.00 per million tokens for Kimi K3.1 Pro versus $6.00 for Qwen 3.8 Max Prime (1.5× as much) and $6.00 for Ember-1 (1.5× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Qwen 3.8 Max Prime has not been scored yet, Kimi K3.1 Pro has not been scored yet and Ember-1 has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen 3.8 Max Prime, Kimi K3.1 Pro and Ember-1 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 and Ember-1 have the largest context windows (1,048,576 and 1,048,576 tokens), against 1,000,000 for Qwen 3.8 Max Prime. Maximum output per response: Qwen 3.8 Max Prime up to 131,072, Kimi K3.1 Pro up to 131,072, Ember-1 up to 131,072 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Qwen 3.8 Max Prime accepts text, images and video; Kimi K3.1 Pro accepts text, images and video; Ember-1 accepts text and images. Qwen 3.8 Max Prime handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
No. Qwen 3.8 Max Prime, Kimi K3.1 Pro and Ember-1 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; Ember-1 came out Sep 22, 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.
