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Kimi K3 vs GPT-5.6
Of the 6 public leaderboards that rate both, Kimi K3 scores higher on 1 and GPT-5.6 on 5. On the ArtificialWatch Index, which takes the median of each model's percentile across the boards that score it, Kimi K3 is at 60.4 and GPT-5.6 at 70.7 (out of 100).
Scores as published by each board; table composed September 24, 2026.
Leaderboard by leaderboard
| Board | Kimi K3 | GPT-5.6 | Higher |
|---|---|---|---|
| LMArena Elo (community votes) | 1,659.6 | 1,617.1 | Kimi K3 |
| LiveBench global average (0-100) | 79.2 | 81.1 | GPT-5.6 |
| SimpleBench AVG@5 % (private set) | 60.7 | 71.7 | GPT-5.6 |
| LLM Stats LLM Stats Score · composite (0-100), their rendered top 15 | 52.5 | 54.4 | GPT-5.6 |
| Vals AI Vals Index accuracy % · weighted finance + coding tasks | 57.8 | 63.7 | GPT-5.6 |
| Artificial Analysis intelligence index · measured runs only | 43.6 | 47 | GPT-5.6 |
Raw scores are each board's own scale, so compare within a row, not across rows. Full table: the bench index.
Kimi K3 at a glance
- Developer
- Moonshot
- Status
- Live since July 15, 2026
Live — dropped Jul 15 · 2.8T · open weights landed Jul 28 (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.
GPT-5.6 at a glance
- Developer
- OpenAI
- Status
- Live since July 9, 2026
Live — Sol · Terra · Luna since Jul 9 · repriced Jul 30: Luna −80%, Terra −20%.
Three ChatGPT leaks in five hours were one release note — and the line none of them quoted is the real change
2026-08-06 · Three separate leaks landed in five hours claiming three separate ChatGPT changes: an upgraded GPT-5.6 Sol for Plus and Pro, a new reasoning slider rolling out, and unlimited chats coming for free users. All three are real.
OpenAI cut Luna 80% — Azure kept the old price, so Luna costs 5× more on Azure than direct
2026-08-04 · OpenAI cut GPT-5.6 Luna by 80% on July 30. We covered it. What we did not check — and should have, because it is the number that actually lands on a bill — is whether the clouds passed it on.
Kimi K3 vs GPT-5.6: quick answers
Which is better, Kimi K3 or GPT-5.6?
It depends on what you measure. Of the 6 public leaderboards that rate both, Kimi K3 scores higher on 1 and GPT-5.6 on 5. Kimi K3's widest lead is on LMArena; GPT-5.6's widest lead is on SimpleBench. On the ArtificialWatch Index, which takes the median of each model's percentile across the boards that score it, Kimi K3 is at 60.4 and GPT-5.6 at 70.7 (out of 100).
Which is newer, Kimi K3 or GPT-5.6?
Kimi K3. It went live on July 15, 2026, 6 days after GPT-5.6 (July 9, 2026).
Who makes Kimi K3 and GPT-5.6?
Kimi K3 is from Moonshot; GPT-5.6 is from OpenAI.
Where do these numbers come from?
Each score is the leaderboard's own published figure, read by ArtificialWatch (table composed September 24, 2026). Boards measure different things, so raw scores are only comparable within a row.
More comparisons
Watch free: Chrome push the moment a new model answers on a public API, an email about 15 minutes later. Also: the bench index · the wire