Kimi K3.1 Pro vs Palmyra X6
Moonshot AI · China | Writer · US · Updated June 2026
Quick verdict
Pick Kimi K3.1 Pro for sparse moe with 2.8t total and about 104b active parameters, post-trained from the kimi k3 base or terminal-bench 4.0 of 65.7% (moonshot) and 67% as measured by artificial analysis. Pick Palmyra X6 for enterprise agentic workflows - built specifically for marketing/revenue teams running multi-step agents or writer says its harness upgrades cut agent-workflow token costs by roughly 52% and improve speed by roughly 48% (writer's own figures). On a tight budget at scale, Palmyra X6 is the value pick.
Kimi K3.1 Pro (Moonshot AI, China) and Palmyra X6 (Writer, US) line up two different AI ecosystems against each other — a comparison that is as much about cost philosophy and openness as raw capability. Kimi K3.1 Pro is moonshot's October 23, 2026 post-training upgrade to Kimi K3 - a 2.8T-parameter MoE at $2/$10 with open weights promised by November 4. Palmyra X6 is writer's enterprise agentic flagship - a GLM-5.2-based model with harness upgrades Writer says cut agent token costs by roughly half. They diverge most on price and context window — each quantified below from the models' real specs.
Key differences at a glance
- ▸Context window: Kimi K3.1 Pro holds 8.2× more — 1M tokens (~1,573 pages) vs 128K (~192 pages). But effective recall usually fades long before the advertised ceiling, so the bigger number only helps if the model reasons over it.
- ▸Recency: Kimi K3.1 Pro is the newer model by about 2 months (released October 23, 2026), usually meaning fresher training data and capabilities.
- ▸Ecosystem: this is a China-vs-US matchup — they differ in pricing philosophy, data-residency options, and tooling ecosystems, not only benchmarks.
Side-by-side specs
| Spec | Kimi K3.1 Pro | Palmyra X6 |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Moonshot AI (China) | Writer (US) |
| Released | October 23, 2026 | August 13, 2026 |
| Context window | 1M tokens (~1,573 pages) | 128K (~192 pages) |
| Price (in/out) | $2/$10 per 1M tokens | Not published |
| Open weight? | No — API only | No — API only |
| Modalities | text, image, code | text, code |
| SWE-Bench Verified | Not published | Not published |
| MRCR v2 @ 1M | Not published | Not published |
Who wins what
Sparse MoE with 2.8T total and about 104B active parameters, post-trained from the Kimi K3 base
Kimi K3.1 Pro
Moonshot's October 23, 2026 post-training upgrade to Kimi K3 - a 2.8T-parameter MoE at $2/$10 with open weights promised by November 4 — and it carries the larger 1M tokens context.
Terminal-Bench 4.0 of 65.7% (Moonshot) and 67% as measured by Artificial Analysis
Kimi K3.1 Pro
Palmyra X6 is comparatively weak here — not independently benchmarked on general leaderboards like SWE-bench or Artificial Analysis
Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index of 55, second only to Claude Opus 5.5 (58) among the models AI Weekly lists
Kimi K3.1 Pro
Moonshot's October 23, 2026 post-training upgrade to Kimi K3 - a 2.8T-parameter MoE at $2/$10 with open weights promised by November 4 — and it is the newer of the two.
Enterprise agentic workflows - built specifically for marketing/revenue teams running multi-step agents
Palmyra X6
Palmyra X6 lists enterprise agentic workflows - built specifically for marketing/revenue teams running multi-step agents among its strengths; Kimi K3.1 Pro does not.
Writer says its harness upgrades cut agent-workflow token costs by roughly 52% and improve speed by roughly 48% (Writer's own figures)
Palmyra X6
Kimi K3.1 Pro is comparatively weak here — very high output-token use: roughly 150M output tokens across the Artificial Analysis index
A post-trained variant built on Z.ai's open-weight GLM-5.2, tuned specifically for business agent use
Palmyra X6
Kimi K3.1 Pro is comparatively weak here — weights promised by November 4, 2026 and not confirmed public as of November 3; license terms not yet disclosed
Lowest cost at scale
Palmyra X6
Its weights are open, so at volume you pay for your own hardware instead of Kimi K3.1 Pro's $2/$10 per 1M tokens.
Largest single-prompt input
Kimi K3.1 Pro
Its 1M tokens window is about 8.2× larger than Palmyra X6's 128K, fitting roughly 1,573 pages in one prompt.
Which should you pick?
A cost-sensitive startup shipping high volume
→ Palmyra X6
At Not published it undercuts Kimi K3.1 Pro, and on millions of tokens that margin decides the monthly bill.
Someone analysing very long documents or codebases
→ Kimi K3.1 Pro
Larger 1M tokens window fits more in one prompt.
Anyone whose priority is sparse moe with 2.8t total and about 104b active parameters, post-trained from the kimi k3 base
→ Kimi K3.1 Pro
It is specifically built for that.
Anyone whose priority is enterprise agentic workflows - built specifically for marketing/revenue teams running multi-step agents
→ Palmyra X6
That is its strongest area.
An enterprise with regional data-residency rules
→ Palmyra X6 or Kimi K3.1 Pro
Origin (China vs US) affects where data is processed and which compliance regime applies — check the provider's terms for your region.
Kimi K3.1 Pro: where it fits
Moonshot's October 23, 2026 post-training upgrade to Kimi K3 - a 2.8T-parameter MoE at $2/$10 with open weights promised by November 4. Released October 23, 2026 by Moonshot AI, it is built for sparse MoE with 2.8T total and about 104B active parameters, post-trained from the Kimi K3 base, terminal-Bench 4.0 of 65.7% (Moonshot) and 67% as measured by Artificial Analysis, artificial Analysis Intelligence Index of 55, second only to Claude Opus 5.5 (58) among the models AI Weekly lists, and standard API price cut by a third versus K3 to $2/$10 per million tokens (Highspeed tier $4/$20).
Its trade-offs are real: weights promised by November 4, 2026 and not confirmed public as of November 3; license terms not yet disclosed, very high output-token use: roughly 150M output tokens across the Artificial Analysis index, self-hosting is impractical - about 1.4 TB of raw weights even at 4-bit, and most benchmarks are internal or use differing harnesses; no SWE-bench Verified figure published. At $2 in / $10 out per million tokens, it sits in the mid price band.
Palmyra X6: where it fits
Writer's enterprise agentic flagship - a GLM-5.2-based model with harness upgrades Writer says cut agent token costs by roughly half. Released August 13, 2026 by Writer, it is built for enterprise agentic workflows - built specifically for marketing/revenue teams running multi-step agents, writer says its harness upgrades cut agent-workflow token costs by roughly 52% and improve speed by roughly 48% (Writer's own figures), and a post-trained variant built on Z.ai's open-weight GLM-5.2, tuned specifically for business agent use.
Its trade-offs: no public per-token API price - sold through Writer's enterprise platform, not a self-serve API, not independently benchmarked on general leaderboards like SWE-bench or Artificial Analysis, and built for a narrower enterprise-agent use case rather than general-purpose chat.
The bottom line for this matchup
This is less "which is smarter" and more "which ecosystem fits." Kimi K3.1 Pro (China) and Palmyra X6 (US) differ on pricing philosophy, data-residency, and tooling as much as on raw scores. Palmyra X6 is the cheaper option, which matters at volume. The pragmatic move is to run one real task through both and judge the outputs against your own constraints — including where your data is allowed to be processed.
Want both Kimi K3.1 Pro and Palmyra X6 without two subscriptions? LumiChats gives you these plus 40+ models under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day) — draft with one, cross-check with the other.
See pricingFrequently asked questions
Is Kimi K3.1 Pro or Palmyra X6 better for coding?
Public SWE-Bench figures are not available for either model, so the honest test is your own repository — run an identical real bug through both. By design, Kimi K3.1 Pro leans toward sparse moe with 2.8t total and about 104b active parameters, post-trained from the kimi k3 base while Palmyra X6 leans toward enterprise agentic workflows - built specifically for marketing/revenue teams running multi-step agents, and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.
Which is cheaper, Kimi K3.1 Pro or Palmyra X6?
Palmyra X6 is cheaper — $2/$10 per 1M tokens vs Not published.
Which has the bigger context window?
Kimi K3.1 Pro — 1M tokens vs 128K, about 8.2× larger. Useful only if the model actually reasons over the full window, which not all do.
Can I use both Kimi K3.1 Pro and Palmyra X6 together?
Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you Kimi K3.1 Pro, Palmyra X6 and 40+ others under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day), so you can draft with one and cross-check with the other instead of buying two subscriptions.
Which is newer, Kimi K3.1 Pro or Palmyra X6?
Kimi K3.1 Pro — released October 23, 2026, about 2 months after Palmyra X6.
Related comparisons
Specifications and benchmarks reflect publicly reported figures as of June 2026 and may change as providers release updates. Always verify on your own workload.