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Kimi K3 vs DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
Of the 6 public leaderboards that rate both, Kimi K3 scores higher on 3 and DeepSeek V4.1 Flash on 3. On the ArtificialWatch Index, which takes the median of each model's percentile across the boards that score it, Kimi K3 is at 54.1 and DeepSeek V4.1 Flash at 49.2 (out of 100).
Scores as published by each board; table composed September 28, 2026.
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Leaderboard by leaderboard
| Board | Kimi K3 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash | Higher |
|---|---|---|---|
| LMArena Elo (community votes) | 1,659.9 | 1,620.7 | Kimi K3 |
| LiveBench global average (0-100) | 79.2 | 81.1 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
| SimpleBench AVG@5 % (private set) | 60.7 | 66.7 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
| LLM Stats LLM Stats Score · composite (0-100), their rendered top 15 | 52.5 | 51.4 | Kimi K3 |
| Vals AI Vals Index accuracy % · weighted finance + coding tasks | 57.8 | 57.9 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
| Artificial Analysis intelligence index · measured runs only | 43.6 | 39.5 | Kimi K3 |
Raw scores are each board's own scale, so compare within a row, not across rows. Full table: the bench index.
For coding
On the ArtificialWatch coding index, Kimi K3 is at 80 (#7 of 31) and DeepSeek V4.1 Flash at 72.4 (#8). Kimi K3 scores higher on 2 of the 3 coding boards that rate both and DeepSeek V4.1 Flash on 1.
| Coding board | Kimi K3 | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena · Coding | 1,540.5 | 1,532.2 |
| LiveBench · Coding | 71.8 | 78.7 |
| Vals Vibe Code Bench | 85 | 84.7 |
Kimi K3 at a glance
- Developer
- Moonshot
- Status
- Live since July 15, 2026
- API price
- $3 input / $15 output per 1M tokens · Moonshot AI, kimi-k3
- Context window
- 1.05M tokens
Live — dropped Jul 15 · 2.8T · open weights landed Jul 27 (1.56 TB, MXFP4).
Kimi K3, day one: impressive, expensive, and a little slow
2026-07-16 · Kimi K3 has been live for a day, and the picture forming is more interesting than the launch-night hype. Here's everything we're seeing so far.
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash at a glance
- Developer
- DeepSeek
- Status
- Live since September 10, 2026
Live — Sep 10 · 1M ctx · $0.15/$0.60 per 1M as our sweep read it · DeepSeek serves it under the unversioned id deepseek-flash, so the id itself never carries the version.
Kimi K3 vs DeepSeek V4.1 Flash: quick answers
Which is better, Kimi K3 or DeepSeek V4.1 Flash?
It depends on what you measure. Of the 6 public leaderboards that rate both, Kimi K3 scores higher on 3 and DeepSeek V4.1 Flash on 3. Kimi K3's widest lead is on LLM Stats; DeepSeek V4.1 Flash's widest lead is on LiveBench. On the ArtificialWatch Index, which takes the median of each model's percentile across the boards that score it, Kimi K3 is at 54.1 and DeepSeek V4.1 Flash at 49.2 (out of 100).
Which is newer, Kimi K3 or DeepSeek V4.1 Flash?
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash. It went live on September 10, 2026, 57 days after Kimi K3 (July 15, 2026).
How do Kimi K3 and DeepSeek V4.1 Flash compare for coding?
On the ArtificialWatch coding index, Kimi K3 is at 80 (#7 of 31) and DeepSeek V4.1 Flash at 72.4 (#8). Kimi K3 scores higher on 2 of the 3 coding boards that rate both and DeepSeek V4.1 Flash on 1.
Who makes Kimi K3 and DeepSeek V4.1 Flash?
Kimi K3 is from Moonshot; DeepSeek V4.1 Flash is from DeepSeek.
Where do these numbers come from?
Each score is the leaderboard's own published figure, read by ArtificialWatch (table composed September 28, 2026). Boards measure different things, so raw scores are only comparable within a row.
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