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LongCat 2.0 vs Kimi K3

LongCat 2.0

Meituan

40#242
vs
Kimi K3

Moonshot AI

40#243
Signal-by-Signal Comparison
SignalLongCat 2.0DeltaKimi K3
Capabilities
50
-33
83
Pricing
99
+14
85
Context window size
96
+0
96
Recency
100
--
100
Output Capacity
90
+70
20
Overall Result
3 wins
of 5
1 wins
LongCat 2.0 wins 3 of 5 signals

Score History

Score History (4 data points)
LongCat 2.0Kimi K3
LongCat 2.0

40

current score

Leader

Tied

right now

Kimi K3

40

current score

LMMarketCap.com
Interactive Price Comparison
100Kcalls/month
1,000tokens (~1,333 chars)
500tokens (~667 chars)

LongCat 2.0

Meituan

Best Value
Per request$0.000900
Daily$3.00
Monthly$90.00
Annual$1080.00

Kimi K3

Moonshot AI

Per request$0.010500
Daily$35.00
Monthly$1050.00
Annual$12600.00

LongCat 2.0 saves you $960.00/month

That's $11520.00/year compared to Kimi K3 at your current usage level of 100K calls/month.

91% cheaper
Choose LongCat 2.0 for cost optimization

LongCat 2.0 pricing:
Input:$0.30/M tokens
Output:$1.20/M tokens
Kimi K3 pricing:
Input:$3.00/M tokens
Output:$15.00/M tokens
Tie
LongCat 2.0

Meituan

40

Composite Score

Tie
Kimi K3

Moonshot AI

40

Composite Score

Signal-by-Signal Comparison
MetricLongCat 2.0Kimi K3Winner
Overall Score
40
40
--
Rank#242#243
LongCat 2.0
Quality Rank#242#243
LongCat 2.0
Adoption Rank#242#243
LongCat 2.0
Parameters------
Context Window1049K1049K
LongCat 2.0
Pricing$0.30/$1.20/M$3.00/$15.00/M--
Signal Scores
Capabilities
50
83
Kimi K3
Pricing
99
85
LongCat 2.0
Context window size
96
96
LongCat 2.0
Recency
100
100
LongCat 2.0
Output Capacity
90
20
LongCat 2.0
Benchmark Interpretation

Our score (0-100) is driven by benchmark performance (90%) from Arena Elo ratings, MMLU, GPQA, HumanEval, SWE-bench, and 15+ standardized evaluations. Capabilities and context window serve as tiebreakers (10%). Learn more about our methodology.

LongCat 2.0Entry Level

Scores 40/100 (rank #242), placing it in the top 17% of all 290 models tracked.

Raw Quality0/100
Cost Efficiency0/100
Speed0/100
Kimi K3Entry Level

Scores 40/100 (rank #243), placing it in the top 17% of all 290 models tracked.

Raw Quality0/100
Cost Efficiency0/100
Speed0/100

With only a 0-point gap, these models are in the same performance tier. The practical difference in output quality is minimal - your choice should depend on pricing, latency requirements, and specific feature needs.

When to Use Each Model

Choose LongCat 2.0 when you need:

  • High-volume production workloads where API costs must be minimized
  • Step-by-step reasoning and chain-of-thought problem solving
  • Self-hosted deployments where you need full control over the model

Choose Kimi K3 when you need:

  • Multimodal workflows that require image understanding
  • Step-by-step reasoning and chain-of-thought problem solving
  • Self-hosted deployments where you need full control over the model
Cost-Performance Analysis
LongCat 2.0Best Value
Input cost$0.30/M tokens
Output cost$1.20/M tokens
Cost per quality point$0.037
Est. monthly (1M tokens/day)$22.50
Kimi K3
Input cost$3.00/M tokens
Output cost$15.00/M tokens
Cost per quality point$0.450
Est. monthly (1M tokens/day)$270.00

LongCat 2.0 offers 92% better value per quality point. At 1M tokens/day, you'd spend $22.50/month with LongCat 2.0 vs $270.00/month with Kimi K3 - a $247.50 monthly difference.

Latency & Speed
LongCat 2.0Faster
Speed score0/100
Kimi K3
Speed score0/100

Both models have comparable response speeds. For most applications, the latency difference is negligible.

When latency matters most: Interactive chatbots, IDE code completion, real-time translation, and user-facing applications where response time directly impacts experience. For batch processing, background summarization, or offline analysis, latency is less critical.

Example Use Cases

Code generation & review

Based on overall model capabilities and architecture for coding tasks like generating functions, debugging, and refactoring

LongCat 2.0

Customer support chatbot

Suitable for user-facing chat with competitive response times. LongCat 2.0 also offers lower per-token costs for high-volume support

LongCat 2.0

Long document analysis

Larger context window (1049K tokens) can process longer documents, contracts, and research papers in a single pass

LongCat 2.0

Batch data extraction

Lower output pricing ($1.20/M) reduces costs when processing thousands of records daily

LongCat 2.0

Creative writing & content

Higher overall composite score (40/100) correlates with better nuance, coherence, and style in long-form content

LongCat 2.0

Image understanding & OCR

Supports vision input - can analyze screenshots, diagrams, photos, and scanned documents directly

Kimi K3
Which Should You Choose?
Our recommendation:
LongCat 2.0

LongCat 2.0 and Kimi K3 are extremely close in overall performance (only 0 points apart). Your best choice depends entirely on which specific strengths matter most for your use case.

LongCat 2.0
Recommended

by Meituan

  • Choose for Quality - Marginally better benchmark scores; both are excellent
  • Choose for Cost - 92% lower pricing; better value at scale
  • Choose for Reliability - Higher uptime and faster response speeds
  • Choose for Prototyping - Stronger community support and better developer experience
  • Choose for Production - Wider enterprise adoption and proven at scale

by Moonshot AI

Consider for specialized use cases.

Capability Comparison
CapabilityLongCat 2.0Kimi K3
Vision (Image Input)differs
Function Calling
Streaming
JSON Modediffers
Reasoning
Web Search
Image Output
Monthly Cost Calculator
1,000tokens (600 in / 400 out)
100requests/day (3,000/month)

LongCat 2.0

Meituan

Best Value
$1.98
estimated monthly cost

Kimi K3

Moonshot AI

$23.40
estimated monthly cost

LongCat 2.0 saves you $21.42/month

That's 92% cheaper than Kimi K3 at 1,000 tokens/request and 100 requests/day.

Assumes 60% input / 40% output token ratio per request. Actual costs may vary based on your usage pattern.

Parameters & Context
ParameterLongCat 2.0Kimi K3
Context Window1.0M1.0M
Max Output Tokens262,144--
Open SourceYesYes
CreatedJul 20, 2026Jul 16, 2026
Last updated: 19m ago

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