Kimi K3 vs Claude Opus 5: API pricing comparison
Moonshot Kimi K3 vs Anthropic Claude Opus 5: token prices, batch and cache rates, Arena ELO, and cost per request for 8 business use cases. Prices in USD per 1 million tokens. Data snapshot: 2026-11-12.
Kimi K3 vs Claude Opus 5: the short version
At the prices we quote, Kimi K3 costs less than Claude Opus 5 on input and on output: $0.192 against $5.00 per 1M input tokens (96% less), and $16.00 against $25.00 per 1M output tokens (36% less). The price we quote for Kimi K3 is an outlier listing: one host's rate with input near free and output at or above the going rate, not what most hosts charge, so a cost built on it can be far from what you would pay. With the Support Ticket profile (1,500 input and 500 output tokens per request), 1,000 requests cost $8.29 on Kimi K3 and $20.00 on Claude Opus 5 at list price, 59% less on Kimi K3. On Arena ELO, Claude Opus 5 scores 1502 and Kimi K3 scores 1475, 27 points apart (scores as of 2026-11-08). The context window is 1M tokens on both. Kimi K3 is open weights (the Kimi K3 License licence, which restricts some uses); Claude Opus 5 is recorded here as proprietary, with access through an API. Prices as quoted on 2026-11-12. Each price is the list price of one host, the one we quote for that model. A model sold by several hosts has other prices, listed on its model page.
Kimi K3 pricing (Moonshot)
- Input: $0.192 per 1M tokens
- Output: $16.00 per 1M tokens
- Batch API (input/output): not published
- Prompt-cache read: $0.182
- Context window: 1M
- Arena ELO: 1475 (as of 2026-11-08)
- Full Kimi K3 pricing page
Claude Opus 5 pricing (Anthropic)
- Input: $5.00 per 1M tokens
- Output: $25.00 per 1M tokens
- Batch API (input/output): $2.50 / $12.50
- Prompt-cache read: $0.50
- Context window: 1M
- Arena ELO: 1502 (as of 2026-11-08)
- Full Claude Opus 5 pricing page
Cost per 1,000 requests by business use case
List price vs after discounts (prompt caching on the cached input share, batch API for async workloads, only where the provider publishes those rates).
| Use case | Tokens (in/out) | Kimi K3 list price | Kimi K3 after discounts | Claude Opus 5 list price | Claude Opus 5 after discounts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Support Ticket | 1,500 / 500 | $8.29 | $8.28 | $20.00 | $16.18 |
| Knowledge Q&A | 2,000 / 800 | $13.18 | $13.17 | $30.00 | $24.05 |
| Meeting Summary | 10,000 / 1,200 | $21.12 | $21.11 | $80.00 | $38.75 |
| Marketing Content | 2,500 / 1,800 | $29.28 | $29.28 | $57.50 | $55.37 |
| Coding Task | 3,000 / 2,000 | $32.58 | $32.56 | $65.00 | $58.63 |
| Invoice Processing | 1,500 / 600 | $9.89 | $9.88 | $22.50 | $10.69 |
| Call Summary | 2,000 / 700 | $11.58 | $11.58 | $27.50 | $13.50 |
| Agent Workflow | 6,000 / 3,000 | $49.15 | $49.11 | $105.00 | $87.15 |
Common questions about Kimi K3 vs Claude Opus 5
- Which is cheaper, Kimi K3 or Claude Opus 5?
- At the prices we quote, Kimi K3 costs less than Claude Opus 5 on input and on output: $0.192 against $5.00 per 1M input tokens (96% less), and $16.00 against $25.00 per 1M output tokens (36% less). The price we quote for Kimi K3 is an outlier listing: one host's rate with input near free and output at or above the going rate, not what most hosts charge, so a cost built on it can be far from what you would pay. Prices as quoted on 2026-11-12. Each price is the list price of one host, the one we quote for that model. A model sold by several hosts has other prices, listed on its model page.
- What do 1,000 Support Ticket requests cost on Kimi K3 and on Claude Opus 5?
- With the Support Ticket profile (1,500 input and 500 output tokens per request), 1,000 requests cost $8.29 on Kimi K3 and $20.00 on Claude Opus 5 at list price, 59% less on Kimi K3. Prices as quoted on 2026-11-12.
- How do Kimi K3 and Claude Opus 5 compare on Arena score, context window and licence?
- On Arena ELO, Claude Opus 5 scores 1502 and Kimi K3 scores 1475, 27 points apart (scores as of 2026-11-08). The context window is 1M tokens on both. Kimi K3 is open weights (the Kimi K3 License licence, which restricts some uses); Claude Opus 5 is recorded here as proprietary, with access through an API.
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These are list prices: real cost also depends on caching, batching, negotiated discounts, marketplace agreements, and existing contracts. Get a FinOps review from OptimNow or compare all models.