Kimi K3 Open vs 
Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Paid
Kimi K3 vs Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview compared — price per token, context window, multimodality, openness and which to choose. Can the open-source model replace the paid one? Full 2026 breakdown.
Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview — full profile ›
Prices & specs refreshed from live data · OpenSourceAI.tech
Open-model prices = cheapest provider via OpenRouter; official maker rates may be higher.
Kimi K3 vs Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview specs
| Spec | Kimi K3 | Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Moonshot AI | |
| Type | Open-weight | Proprietary |
| Context window | 1M tokens | 1M tokens |
| Input price | $3/M · free self-host | $2/M |
| Output price | $15/M · free self-host | $12/M |
| Vision / multimodal | Yes | Yes |
| Tool / function calling | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | Yes | No (API only) |
| License | Modified MIT | Proprietary |
Feature comparison
| Capability | Kimi K3 | Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview |
|---|---|---|
| Open weights (downloadable) | ✓ | ✗ |
| Self-hostable | ✓ | ✗ |
| Runs fully offline | ✓ | ✗ |
| Vision / multimodal | ✓ | ✓ |
| Tool / function calling | ✓ | ✓ |
| 1M+ context window | ✓ | ✓ |
Benchmarks: Kimi K3 vs Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview
Independent benchmark scores measured by Artificial Analysis. Higher is better (except latency).
Benchmark data by Artificial Analysis.
How Kimi K3 and Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview score
| Criterion | Kimi K3 | Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-efficiency | 3.0 | 3.5 |
| Context window | 5.0 | 5.0 |
| Openness | 5.0 | 1.5 |
| Self-hosting | 5.0 | 1.0 |
| Multimodality | 5.0 | 5.0 |
Scores come from live data — output price (cost), context length, open vs closed weights (openness & self-hosting) and vision/tool support (multimodality). Raw task quality isn't scored here; it depends on your benchmark — see the verdict.
What each model is
Kimi K3 Open
Kimi K3 is a 2.8T parameter open-weight multimodal reasoning model from Moonshot AI. It is suited for complex coding, knowledge work, and long-horizon agentic workflows, and is particularly strong at...
Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Paid
Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview is Google’s frontier reasoning model, delivering enhanced software engineering performance, improved agentic reliability, and more efficient token usage across complex workflows. Building on the multimodal foundation.
Other models in these families
These variants are tracked but not compared here — one page per family keeps the comparison readable.
Frequently asked questions
Is Kimi K3 as good as Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview?
Kimi K3 is open-weight and competitive on many tasks, but Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview may still lead on the hardest reasoning and agentic work. The gap keeps narrowing — benchmark both on your actual use case before deciding.
Can I run Kimi K3 locally?
Yes. Kimi K3 has open weights, so you can self-host it on your own GPUs or run it via a low-cost API. Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview is API-only and cannot be self-hosted.
Kimi K3 vs Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview — which should I pick in 2026?
Choose Kimi K3 if you want to self-host, keep your data private and skip per-token fees — it's open-weight and runs on your own hardware. Choose Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview if you want frontier capability through a managed API with zero infrastructure to run.
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