Qwen3.8 Max 0902 vs Kimi K3

Qwen3.8 Max 0902 vs Kimi K3 at a glance

Qwen3.8 Max 0902 from Alibaba Cloud and Kimi K3 from Moonshot AI are both in the Text Generation category, available through the EmpirioLabs API.

Key differences

• Qwen3.8 Max 0902 is the newer release (Sep 2, 2026); Kimi K3 was released on Jul 15, 2026.
• Kimi K3 has the larger context window: 1M tokens, against 983.6K for Qwen3.8 Max 0902.
• Capabilities listed only for Qwen3.8 Max 0902: vision, code interpreter, structured output.
• Qwen3.8 Max 0902 lists the lower rate for Input (per 1M prompt tokens) and Output (per 1M generated tokens).

Qwen3.8 Max 0902 vs Kimi K3: specs

Qwen3.8 Max 0902 vs Kimi K3: API pricing

Live rates from the EmpirioLabs catalog for both models. Each rate card always matches what the API charges.

Qwen3.8 Max 0902 vs Kimi K3: API parameters

Request parameters each model lists on EmpirioLabs, with the allowed values or range where one applies. A dash marks a parameter the model does not list.

Qwen3.8 Max 0902 vs Kimi K3: limits and notes

Qwen3.8 Max 0902

Text, image, and video input are supported. Web search, web extractor, code interpreter, text-to-image search, and image-to-image search are optional built-in tools exposed through tool_* parameters. Web search, text-to-image search, and image-to-image search add $0.02 for each invoked call; web extractor and code interpreter run at no extra cost. Web extractor requires web search, and both web extractor and code interpreter require thinking. A single request can invoke a tool more than once, and each invoked call is billed. Thinking tokens are billed as output tokens. This id is pinned to the September 2, 2026 snapshot and will not change. The rolling qwen3-8-max id serves the same build since September 5, 2026 and will move to future snapshots.

Kimi K3

Supports text, image, and video inputs with a 1M token context, function calling, JSON schema structured output, and built-in web search at $0.015 per invoked call. Thinking is always on; reasoning depth is tunable with the reasoning_effort control (max is recommended) and reasoning tokens are billed as output tokens. Temperature and other sampling settings are fixed by the model service. Multi-step function calling through the API must replay the assistant message with its reasoning_content field intact.

How to call Qwen3.8 Max 0902 and Kimi K3

Qwen3.8 Max 0902 serves the OpenAI-compatible Chat Completions API. Point any OpenAI SDK at https://api.empiriolabs.ai/v1 with your EmpirioLabs API key and use the model id qwen3-8-max-0902. Both models are called through the same endpoint. Set model to qwen3-8-max-0902 or kimi-k3. Get an API key from the EmpirioLabs dashboard.

curl https://api.empiriolabs.ai/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $EMPIRIOLABS_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "qwen3-8-max-0902",
    "messages": [
      {"role": "user", "content": "Write a haiku about the ocean."}
    ]
  }'

Qwen3.8 Max 0902 vs Kimi K3: tests and guides

Prompt tests and comparison runs that cover both models.

Guides Kimi K3 vs GLM 5.3 vs Qwen3.8 Max vs DeepSeek V4 Pro: self-playing Flappy Bird and Missile Command We gave Kimi K3, GLM 5.3, Qwen3.8 Max 0902 and DeepSeek V4 Pro 0813 the same two coding prompts at max reasoning, one... Guides Kimi K3 vs GLM 5.3 vs Qwen3.8 Max vs DeepSeek V4 Pro: an aquarium, a paper plane and a tiny planet We gave Kimi K3, GLM 5.3, Qwen3.8 Max 0902 and DeepSeek V4 Pro 0813 the same three coding prompts at max reasoning, one...

Qwen3.8 Max 0902 vs Kimi K3: common questions

What is the difference between Qwen3.8 Max 0902 and Kimi K3?

Qwen3.8 Max 0902 is the newer release (Sep 2, 2026); Kimi K3 was released on Jul 15, 2026. Kimi K3 has the larger context window: 1M tokens, against 983.6K for Qwen3.8 Max 0902. Capabilities listed only for Qwen3.8 Max 0902: vision, code interpreter, structured output. The specs, rate cards, and parameters on this page come from the live EmpirioLabs catalog.

Which is newer, Qwen3.8 Max 0902 or Kimi K3?

Qwen3.8 Max 0902 is the newer release (Sep 2, 2026); Kimi K3 was released on Jul 15, 2026.

Which has the lower rate, Qwen3.8 Max 0902 or Kimi K3?

Qwen3.8 Max 0902 lists the lower rate for Input (per 1M prompt tokens) and Output (per 1M generated tokens). Both live rate cards are on this page and always match what the API charges.

Can I switch between Qwen3.8 Max 0902 and Kimi K3 without rebuilding my integration?

Yes. Both models use POST /v1/chat/completions with the same EmpirioLabs API key, so most integrations switch by changing the model value. Check the parameters table on this page first if you rely on a model-specific parameter.

Can I try Qwen3.8 Max 0902 and Kimi K3 in the browser before integrating?

Yes. Open each model in the EmpirioLabs playground and run the same prompt on both, with the parameters the API exposes.