Model vs model
Kimi K3.1 Pro vs Ling 3.1 Flash
Kimi K3.1 Pro and Ling 3.1 Flash are both open-weight models released in 2026, so the choice comes down to quality against cost. Kimi K3.1 Pro leads on the Intelligence Index (55.1 to 43.9) and on Terminal-Bench 4.0 (67.2 to 32.8), but costs $4 per 1M tokens blended, 8.9× Ling 3.1 Flash's $0.45. Pick Kimi K3.1 Pro for terminal tasks and harder reasoning, and Ling 3.1 Flash when budget and volume matter more.
At a glance
Longer bar means the bigger number.
Blended price · per 1M tokens, lower is better
Intelligence Index · Artificial Analysis, higher is better
Context window · tokens it can read at once
Where they sit among all 44 models
Kimi K3.1 Pro ranks 3rd of the 43 models with an Intelligence Index, Ling 3.1 Flash 12th. Up and to the left is smarter for less money. Hover or tap a dot for its numbers, then click it to compare that model with Kimi K3.1 Pro.
Which one to pick
Pick Kimi K3.1 Pro if
- you want the higher overall score (55.1 vs 43.9)
- you care about Terminal-Bench 4.0 (terminal tasks): 67.2 vs 32.8
- you care about Humanity's Last Exam (hard reasoning): 52.5 vs 43.5
- you need a longer context window (1.05M vs 262K tokens)
Pick Ling 3.1 Flash if
- you want the lower bill ($0.45 vs $4 per 1M tokens blended)
Kimi K3.1 Pro’s “controversial” take on humans
We asked Kimi K3.1 Pro and 12 other models the same question three times each: “What is your most controversial take about humans? Give your own honest view, not a survey of opinions, and don't hedge.” Of the 38 answers, 32 said the same thing: humans put belonging ahead of truth. Kimi K3.1 Pro gave it all three times. Ling 3.1 Flash wasn’t in that test. Read the full story.
Kimi K3.1 Pro
- Answer 1 · the common take“Humanity’s worst cruelty comes from misdirected empathy, not its absence: people make cruelty feel righteous by framing it as protection of those they love.”
- Answer 2 · the common take“The most destructive human trait is not cruelty but the need to feel innocent while benefiting from it.”
- Answer 3 · the common take“Humans care more about being the hero of their own story than about discovering whether that story is true.”
Answers exactly as the models wrote them. “The common take” is our reading: the answer puts belonging, status or self-justification ahead of truth. How we ran it
How smart is each one?
Of the 10 scores both models have, Kimi K3.1 Pro is ahead on every one.
Every intelligence score we have
Out of 100, higher is better. Kimi K3.1 Pro Ling 3.1 Flash
Overall
Intelligence Index
55.143.9
By field of work
Finance & accounting
56.545.5Legal
55.841.6Economics
6049.9Engineering
55.944.3Strategy & operations
59.447.9
Benchmarks
Hard reasoning · Humanity's Last Exam
52.543.5Scientific coding · SciCode
60.856.8Terminal tasks · Terminal-Bench 4.0
67.232.8Long documents · AA-LCR
86.3 · 82.3
Our tests
Rule that has to last 4 turns · our test, % of tries passed
100Ling 3.1 Flash: not scored yet
Three bullets, no letter e · our test, % of tries passed
100Ling 3.1 Flash: not scored yet
The specs
| Spec | Kimi K3.1 Pro | Ling 3.1 Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $2 per 1M | $0.30 per 1M |
| Output price | $10 per 1M | $0.90 per 1M |
| Cost per test task | $2.11 | Not tested |
| Context window | 1.05M | 262K |
| Max output | 1.05M | 33K |
| Accepts | Text, Image | Text |
| Open weights | Yes | Yes |
| Lab | Kimi | InclusionAI |
| Released | Oct 2026 | Sep 2026 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Not published | Not published |
Blended price weighs 3 parts input to 1 part output. List prices from models.dev. Cost per test task from Artificial Analysis.
Questions
Is Kimi K3.1 Pro or Ling 3.1 Flash cheaper?
Ling 3.1 Flash is cheaper. It charges $0.30 per 1M input tokens and $0.90 per 1M output tokens, against $2 and $10 for Kimi K3.1 Pro. Blended 3 parts input to 1 part output, that is $0.45 against $4 per 1M tokens.
Which is smarter, Kimi K3.1 Pro or Ling 3.1 Flash?
Kimi K3.1 Pro scores higher on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, 55.1 against 43.9 for Ling 3.1 Flash. The biggest differences are on Terminal-Bench 4.0 (67.2 vs 32.8) and Humanity's Last Exam (52.5 vs 43.5).
Which has the longer context window?
Kimi K3.1 Pro accepts 1.05M tokens, against 262K for Ling 3.1 Flash.
Can I compare Kimi K3.1 Pro and Ling 3.1 Flash on my own prompt?
Yes. ModelCompare sends one prompt to both models at once and shows each answer side by side with what it cost. You can try it free without an account.
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Where the numbers come from
Intelligence Index and benchmark scores are from Artificial Analysis, at each model’s highest effort, except SimpleQA, which is from Epoch AI, and the Uncensored score, which is from the UGI Leaderboard. The hallucination test is ours: questions with one exact answer, fake evidence pushed against right answers and requests that tempt a model to name packages that don’t exist. Prices are list prices from models.dev. Example answers come from our own test runs. Updated October 25, 2026.