Kimi K2.6 vs Qwen3.8 Max 0902: price, scores, context

Side-by-side comparison

Criterion	Kimi K2.6	Qwen3.8 Max 0902
Developer	Moonshot AI	Alibaba Cloud (Qwen)
Released	April 20, 2026	September 2, 2026
Capability index	84.4 / 100	88.4 / 100
Input price	$0.95	$2
Output price	$4	$6
Cost of a typical task	$0.027	$0.052
Context window	262,144 tokens	1,000,000 tokens
Maximum output	262,144 tokens	50,000 tokens
Reasoning mode	Yes	Yes
Tool calling	Yes	Yes
Accepted inputs	text, image, video	text, image, video, PDF
Open weights	Yes	No
Knowledge cutoff	January 2025	Not disclosed

The match-up at a glance

This comparison pits the flagship models of two major developers against each other: Kimi K2.6 and Qwen3.8 Max 0902, one from Moonshot AI, the other from Alibaba Cloud (Qwen). The first dates from April 20, 2026, the second from September 2, 2026.

All figures below come from public sources checked on October 22, 2026: models.dev and OpenRouter for prices and capabilities, Epoch AI for scores.

Performance

On our capability index, Kimi K2.6 scores 84.4 out of 100 and Qwen3.8 Max 0902 88.4. Qwen3.8 Max 0902 leads by 4 points.

On the 3 benchmarks reported for both, Kimi K2.6 wins 0 times and Qwen3.8 Max 0902 3:

GPQA Diamond (PhD-level science questions): Kimi K2.6 90.8%, Qwen3.8 Max 0902 92.3%
OTIS Mock AIME (competition mathematics problems): Kimi K2.6 96.1%, Qwen3.8 Max 0902 100%
FrontierMath (very hard research-level mathematics): Kimi K2.6 57.2%, Qwen3.8 Max 0902 65.6%

Which one costs less?

Kimi K2.6 costs $0.95 per million input tokens and $4 per million output tokens; Qwen3.8 Max 0902 costs $2 and $6.

For a typical agent task (read 20,000 tokens, write 2,000), expect $0.027 with Kimi K2.6 versus $0.052 with Qwen3.8 Max 0902. Kimi K2.6 is 1.9 times cheaper, a gap that adds up quickly over 1,000 tasks: $25 difference.

Run the numbers with your own volumes in the agent cost calculator.

Under the hood

Qwen3.8 Max 0902 reads more in one go: 1,000,000 tokens of context (roughly 1,500 pages), versus 262,144 for Kimi K2.6.

Reasoning mode: Kimi K2.6 yes, Qwen3.8 Max 0902 yes. Tool calling: Kimi K2.6 yes, Qwen3.8 Max 0902 yes. Image input: Kimi K2.6 yes, Qwen3.8 Max 0902 yes.

Kimi K2.6 publishes its weights and can run on your servers; Qwen3.8 Max 0902 is a closed model, available only through an API.

In short

Our reading of the data:

Choose Kimi K2.6 for a lower cost and open weights (you can host it yourself).
Choose Qwen3.8 Max 0902 for a higher capability index, a larger context window and a more recent release.

This verdict relies on public figures; it does not replace a trial on your own tasks.

Frequently asked questions

Kimi K2.6 or Qwen3.8 Max 0902: which is better?

On our index (Epoch AI data), Kimi K2.6 scores 84.4 and Qwen3.8 Max 0902 88.4 out of 100. The best choice also depends on price and on your use case.

Which one is cheaper?

Kimi K2.6. To read 20,000 tokens and write 2,000, expect $0.027 with Kimi K2.6 and $0.052 with Qwen3.8 Max 0902 (prices as of October 22, 2026).

Which one has the larger context window?

Qwen3.8 Max 0902, with 1,000,000 tokens versus 262,144.

Can I run Kimi K2.6 or Qwen3.8 Max 0902 on my own servers?

Only Kimi K2.6, whose weights are published. Qwen3.8 Max 0902 is used through an API.

Kimi K2.6 versus Qwen3.8 Max 0902