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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Qwen3.6 Max Preview vs Kimi K2.6

Kimi K2.6 comes out ahead, 65 to 54 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3.6 Max Preview

    Released Apr 20, 2026

    54/100
    • ECI149.2
    • Price$1.30 / $7.80
    • Context262K
    Full specs Remove Qwen3.6 Max Preview
  2. Our pick

    Moonshot AI

    Kimi K2.6

    Released Apr 21, 2026

    65/100
    • ECI151.1
    • Price$0.95 / $4.00
    • Context262K
    Full specs Remove Kimi K2.6

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Kimi K2.6 is our pick

Kimi K2.6 is the better all-round choice, scoring 65/100 against Qwen3.6 Max Preview (54). It leads on capability, price and inputs & features. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityKimi K2.6Capabilities Index (ECI): Kimi K2.6 151.1 · Qwen3.6 Max Preview 149.2
  • Lowest priceKimi K2.6Kimi K2.6 $1.71 · Qwen3.6 Max Preview $2.92 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextAbout the sameQwen3.6 Max Preview 262,144 · Kimi K2.6 262,144 tokens
  • Widest inputsKimi K2.6Qwen3.6 Max Preview: Text · Kimi K2.6: Text, Images, Video
  • Self-hostingKimi K2.6Publishes downloadable weights
How the score is built
MeasureWeightQwen3.6 Max PreviewKimi K2.6
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%7779
Price25%2839
Inputs & features15%3580
Context window10%3737
Overall100%54/10065/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

Qwen3.6 Max Preview vs Kimi K2.6 specifications side by side
SpecificationQwen3.6 Max PreviewAlibaba (Qwen)Kimi K2.6Moonshot AI
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)149.2151.1 (best)
ECI rank#54 of 148#45 of 148 (best)
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions87.4%90.8% (best)
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics—57.2%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics91.1%96.1% (best)
SWE-bench VerifiedFixing real GitHub issues76.7%76.7%
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions52.0% (best)34.9%
Price per million tokens
Input$1.30$0.95 (best)
Output$7.80$4.00 (best)
Cached input$0.13 (best)$0.16
Blended (3:1)$2.92$1.71 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Alibaba APIOfficial Moonshot AI API
Limits
Context window262,144 tokens262,144 tokens
Max output65,536 tokens262,144 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoYes
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoYes
ReasoningYesYes
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoYes
Availability
WeightsProprietaryOpen
API model IDqwen3.6-max-previewkimi-k2.6
API providers1046 (best)
ReleasedApr 20, 2026Apr 21, 2026
Knowledge cutoffApr 2025Jan 2025
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.

  • Qwen3.6 Max Preview$28.60
  • Kimi K2.6$17.50
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Qwen3.6 Max Preview or Kimi K2.6?

Kimi K2.6 is the better all-round choice, scoring 65/100 against Qwen3.6 Max Preview (54). It leads on capability, price and inputs & features. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, Qwen3.6 Max Preview or Kimi K2.6?

Kimi K2.6 is cheaper at $0.95 input / $4.00 output per million tokens (official Moonshot AI API price). Qwen3.6 Max Preview costs $1.30 input / $7.80 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 $2.92 for Qwen3.6 Max Preview (1.7× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

Kimi K2.6 scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): Kimi K2.6 151.1 (#45 of 148) and Qwen3.6 Max Preview 149.2 (#54 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (149.1–152.8 vs 147.6–152.0), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — Kimi K2.6 90.8%, Qwen3.6 Max Preview 87.4%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — Kimi K2.6 96.1%, Qwen3.6 Max Preview 91.1%; SWE-bench Verified — Qwen3.6 Max Preview 76.7%, Kimi K2.6 76.7%; SimpleQA Verified — Qwen3.6 Max Preview 52.0%, Kimi K2.6 34.9%.

Which is better for coding?

Qwen3.6 Max Preview resolves more real GitHub issues on SWE-bench Verified: Qwen3.6 Max Preview 76.7% and Kimi K2.6 76.7%. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.

Which has the bigger context window?

Qwen3.6 Max Preview and Kimi K2.6 share the same 262,144-token context window. Maximum output per response: Qwen3.6 Max Preview up to 65,536, Kimi K2.6 up to 262,144 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Qwen3.6 Max Preview accepts text; Kimi K2.6 accepts text, images and video. Kimi K2.6 handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

Kimi K2.6 publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Qwen3.6 Max Preview is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Kimi K2.6 is the newest, released Apr 21, 2026. Qwen3.6 Max Preview came out Apr 20, 2026. Knowledge cutoff: Qwen3.6 Max Preview Apr 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.

05 — Keep comparing

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