text model comparison
Hy4 vs Kimi K3
Hy4 and Kimi K3 are both current text models, from Tencent and Moonshot Kimi. Hy4 is 72% cheaper per 1M input tokens than Kimi K3, $0.834 vs $3.
- Lower price per 1M input tokens
- Hy4$0.834 against $3
- Newer release
- Hy4Nov 2026 against Jul 2026
Data verified November 5, 2026 · Dataset 2026-11-05
Side by side
Hy4 and Kimi K3, line by line
Prices in effect today, compared at the same tier wherever both list one. The better value in each row is highlighted.
| Fact | Hy4 | Kimi K3 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | ||
| Price per 1M input tokens | $0.834 (better) | $3 |
| Price per 1M output tokens | $2.501 (better) | $15 |
| Independent benchmarks | ||
| Arena Text | Not measured | 1488 Elo (#10 of 52) |
| Arena WebDev | Not measured | 1656 Elo (#14 of 46) |
| GPQA Diamond | Not measured | 93.1% (#17 of 41) |
| FrontierMath Tiers 1-3 (v2) | Not measured | 72.2% (#22 of 41) |
| SimpleQA Verified | Not measured | 50.6% (#20 of 38) |
| Specs | ||
| Provider | Tencent | Moonshot Kimi |
| Release date | November 4, 2026 | July 16, 2026 |
| Access | API only | API and open weights |
| Context window | Not reported | 1,048,576 tokens |
| Max output | Not reported | Not reported |
| Input | text, image | text, image |
| Output | text | text |
No independent benchmark has scored both models yet. Each rank counts the current models scored on that benchmark.
Charts
Against every current text model
Where Hy4 and Kimi K3 land among the current models of their task, on every independent benchmark, on price and on context.
Where each stands
Only Kimi K3 has a current Arena Text score: #10 of 52. Each bar is the share of current models it beats.
Independent benchmarks
Arena Text
Hy4: Not scored
Kimi K3:#10of 52
1,488 Elo · ahead of 82%
Arena WebDev
Hy4: Not scored
Kimi K3:#14of 46
1,656 Elo · ahead of 69%
GPQA Diamond
Hy4: Not scored
Kimi K3:#17of 41
93.1% · ahead of 60%
FrontierMath Tiers 1-3 (v2)
Hy4: Not scored
Kimi K3:#22of 41
72.2% · ahead of 48%
SimpleQA Verified
Hy4: Not scored
Kimi K3:#20of 38
50.6% · ahead of 49%
Price and context
Price per 1M input tokens
Hy4:#21of 55
$0.834 · cheaper than 63%
Kimi K3:#44of 55
$3 · cheaper than 20%
Price per 1M output tokens
Hy4:#20of 55
$2.501 · cheaper than 65%
Kimi K3:#43of 55
$15 · cheaper than 20%
Context window
Hy4: Not listed
Kimi K3:#11of 64
1.05M tokens · longer than 67%
Quality against price
Kimi K3 scores 1,488 at $6 (blended price per 1M tokens). The line joins the current models no other beats on both price and Arena Text score; hover any point to name it.
Quality against price: the data
| Model | Provider | Blended price per 1M tokens | Arena Text (Elo) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gemini 4 Carbon | $4 | 1,528 | |
| Gemini 4 Argon | $4 | 1,520 | |
| Claude Opus 5.5 | Anthropic | $8 | 1,509 |
| Muse Wonder | Meta | $8 | 1,507 |
| Claude Fable 5 | Anthropic | $20 | 1,504 |
| Claude Fable 5.1 | Anthropic | $20 | 1,504 |
| Gemini 3.8 Flash | $1.50 | 1,496 | |
| Muse Spark 1.3 | Meta | $2 | 1,495 |
| Claude Opus 5 | Anthropic | $10 | 1,492 |
| Kimi K3 | Moonshot Kimi | $6 | 1,488 |
| GPT-5.6 Sol | OpenAI | $8 | 1,485 |
| Gemini 3.6 Flash | $3 | 1,483 | |
| GPT-5.5 | OpenAI | $11 | 1,482 |
| Claude Opus 4.8 | Anthropic | $10 | 1,482 |
| Qwen3.8-Max | Alibaba Qwen | $3 | 1,482 |
| GPT-6.1 Sol | OpenAI | $4 | 1,481 |
| GLM-5.3 | Z.ai | $2.15 | 1,481 |
| MiMo-V2.6-Pro | Xiaomi MiMo | $0.54 | 1,480 |
| Claude Sonnet 5.5 | Anthropic | $4 | 1,477 |
| GLM-5.3-Flash | Z.ai | $0.24 | 1,477 |
| GPT-6 Astra | OpenAI | $20 | 1,476 |
| DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash | DeepSeek | $0.52 | 1,476 |
| GPT-5.4 | OpenAI | $5.63 | 1,475 |
| Gemini 3 Flash Preview | $1.13 | 1,473 | |
| Grok 4.20 | xAI | $1.56 | 1,472 |
| GPT-5.6 Terra | OpenAI | $4.50 | 1,467 |
| Grok 4.5 | xAI | $3 | 1,465 |
| DeepSeek-V4-Pro | DeepSeek | $1.98 | 1,465 |
| Claude Sonnet 5 | Anthropic | $4 | 1,462 |
| GPT-6 Sol | OpenAI | $4 | 1,458 |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite | $0.85 | 1,456 | |
| Grok 4.6 | xAI | $3 | 1,455 |
| GPT-5.6 Luna | OpenAI | $0.45 | 1,453 |
| MiMo-V2.6-Flash | Xiaomi MiMo | $0.18 | 1,448 |
| Step 5 Preview | StepFun | $1.43 | 1,448 |
| Grok 4.3 | xAI | $1.56 | 1,442 |
| GPT-6 Luna | OpenAI | $0.20 | 1,441 |
| Grok 4.7 | xAI | $3 | 1,441 |
| Mistral Large 4 | Mistral AI | $1.05 | 1,432 |
| Claude Haiku 5.5 | Anthropic | $0.20 | 1,425 |
| GPT-4.1 | OpenAI | $3.50 | 1,415 |
| Solar Pro 4 | Upstage | $0.52 | 1,388 |
| GPT-4.1 mini | OpenAI | $0.70 | 1,383 |
| GPT-4.1 nano | OpenAI | $0.18 | 1,322 |
Cost
What each costs
Example workloads at each provider's listed rates, then every other rate either one lists. The cheaper figure in each row is highlighted.
The same work, priced
For 10M input and 2M output tokens, Kimi K3 costs 4.5 times as much as Hy4, at each provider's listed rates.
10M input and 2M output tokens
Kimi K3 costs 4.5× as much
- Hy4
- $13.34
- Kimi K3
- $60
The same, with 9M of the input tokens cached
Kimi K3 costs 5.7× as much
- Hy4
- $6.21
- Kimi K3
- $35.70
| Workload or rate | Hy4 | Kimi K3 |
|---|---|---|
| Example workloads | ||
| 10M input and 2M output tokens | $13.34 (better) | $60 |
| The same, with 9M of the input tokens cached | $6.21 (better) | $35.70 |
| Other listed rates | ||
| 1M input tokens, cached | $0.042 (better) | $0.30 |
Your own bill will differ. These figures use list prices and example workloads. The AI Model Cost Audit reviews your real usage, shortlists models that score as well for each task for less, and estimates the savings.
Launch price $100, regular price $150
Verdict
When to choose each
Hy4
Where it leads
- Lower input and output prices, $0.834 and $2.501 vs $3 and $15 per 1M tokens
- Cheaper cached input, $0.042 vs $0.30 per 1M tokens
Best for
- Agents that work across terminals, desktop apps and browsers on a tight budget
- Finance and office work: research reports, spreadsheets and slides
Watch out for
- API only for now: Tencent says it will publish the weights and a system card later, and only Hy4 preview (August 2026, Apache 2.0) is open today
- In Tencent's own table it scores 44.4% on Terminal-Bench 4.0 against 66.8% for Kimi K3.1 Pro, and Tencent says a clear gap remains to top proprietary models on research-level math, long-horizon coding and hard visual questions
- Tencent publishes no context window or output limit for Hy4 (the preview card lists 1M tokens), and no independent benchmark score is recorded here yet
Kimi K3
Where it leads
- Open weights you can run yourself
Best for
- Teams that want a frontier-scale model they can also self-host, with one architecture across both paths
- Long-context work at mid-tier hosted pricing
Watch out for
- Hosted rates match Claude Sonnet 5 exactly at $3 / $15 while offering a larger context window, so the comparison turns on capability rather than price
- Running the open weights shifts cost to infrastructure, which the token rates recorded here do not represent
- Moonshot’s self-reported results place it ahead of Claude Opus 4.8 and GPT-5.5 but behind Claude Fable 5 and GPT-5.6 Sol; none of this was reproduced independently here
From benchmark to production
Building on Hy4 or Kimi K3?
Public scores rarely hold on your own data. We test both models on your real tasks, then build the agent or pipeline around the one that wins.
AI Model Cost AuditLaunch price $100, regular price $150What the audit includes
FAQ
Hy4 vs Kimi K3 FAQ
Which is cheaper, Hy4 or Kimi K3?
Hy4 is 72% cheaper per 1M input tokens than Kimi K3, $0.834 vs $3. For 10M input and 2M output tokens, Hy4 costs $13.34 and Kimi K3 $60 at standard rates.
Which is cheaper with prompt caching, Hy4 or Kimi K3?
Hy4 charges $0.042 per 1M cached input tokens, 95% below its standard input rate, and Kimi K3 $0.30, 90% below. With 9M of 10M input tokens cached and 2M output tokens, Hy4 costs $6.21 and Kimi K3 $35.70.
Can I run Hy4 or Kimi K3 myself?
Kimi K3 is released as open weights you can run yourself; Hy4 is available through its provider's API only.
Further reading
More on Hy4 and Kimi K3
Articles on Hy4 and Kimi K3
- Qwen vs DeepSeek vs Kimi for Agents and CodingAugust 6, 2026
- Kimi K3 vs Opus 5 vs GPT-5.6 Sol: which model should you use?July 31, 2026
Production evaluation
Choosing between Hy4 and Kimi K3?
Public benchmarks narrow the shortlist. We run both on your own tasks, data and cost limits, then build the routing and review controls to run the winner in production.
- A head-to-head evaluation on your real workload
- Routing between models by cost and difficulty