API cost decision in 10 seconds

NewSolar Mini 4 vs Kimi K3

Pick Solar Mini 4 for lower cost; pick Kimi K3 only if the larger context window matters more.

Page updated: 2026-09-23T11:07:57Z Data confirmed: 2026-09-23T12:07:51Z Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick Solar Mini 4 for lower cost; pick Kimi K3 only if the larger context window matters more.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Solar Mini 4 is estimated at $0.15 vs $10.5 for Kimi K3, saving $10.35 (98.6% lower).

Cost-first pickSolar Mini 4

Context-first pickKimi K3

Sample savings$10.3598.6%

10x traffic gap$103.5

Kimi K3 has more context, but Solar Mini 4 saves $10.35 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $103.5. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

Solar Mini 4 stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shape	Token mix	Better pick	Solar Mini 4	Kimi K3
Input-heavy / RAG	5M input + 500K output	Solar Mini 4	$0.35	$22.5
Balanced workload	1M input + 1M output	Solar Mini 4	$0.25	$18
Output-heavy chatbot	1M input + 5M output	Solar Mini 4	$1.05	$78

Cheaper input Solar Mini 4 $0.05 vs $3 / 1M

Solar Mini 4 is $2.95 cheaper per 1M input tokens (98.3% lower; 60x difference).

Cheaper output Solar Mini 4 $0.2 vs $15 / 1M

Solar Mini 4 is $14.8 cheaper per 1M output tokens (98.7% lower; 75x difference).

Larger context Kimi K3 524.29K vs 1.05M

Kimi K3 has 524.29K more context (2x larger).

Sample workload Solar Mini 4 $0.15 vs $10.5

Solar Mini 4 is $10.35 cheaper on the standard workload (98.6% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.

Monthly input tokens Monthly output tokens

Solar Mini 4 Calculating… Estimated API cost

Kimi K3 Calculating… Estimated API cost

Cheaper for this workload Calculating… Difference: calculating…

This estimate uses normalized public API pricing per 1M tokens. It is a planning aid, not a billing quote. Verify provider pricing, limits, and terms before production use.

Quick Decision

Verdict

Solar Mini 4 has the lower input price; Solar Mini 4 has the lower output price; Kimi K3 offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Solar Mini 4 is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $0.15 for Solar Mini 4 and $10.5 for Kimi K3.

Best Fit

Choose Solar Mini 4 when you care most about lower input-token price, and lower output-token price.

Choose Kimi K3 when you care most about larger context window.

Decision Notes

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Solar Mini 4 is estimated at $0.15 vs $10.5 for Kimi K3, saving $10.35 (98.6% lower).
Solar Mini 4 is $10.35 cheaper on the standard workload (98.6% lower).
Solar Mini 4 is $2.95 cheaper per 1M input tokens (98.3% lower; 60x difference).
Solar Mini 4 is $14.8 cheaper per 1M output tokens (98.7% lower; 75x difference).
Kimi K3 has 524.29K more context (2x larger).

Head-to-Head Specs

Feature	NewSolar Mini 4 (Upstage)	Kimi K3 (MoonshotAI)
Input Price prompt tokens per 1M	$0.05	$3
Completion Price per 1M tokens	$0.2	$15
Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output	$0.15	$10.5
Context Window	524.29K	1.05M
Release Date	2026-09-23	2026-07-16

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use case	Better pick	Why
Budget-constrained production	Solar Mini 4	On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Solar Mini 4 is estimated at $0.15 vs $10.5 for Kimi K3, saving $10.35 (98.6% lower).
High-volume input processing	Solar Mini 4	Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbots	Solar Mini 4	Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document work	Kimi K3	A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

Same-provider lower-cost swaps

Kimi K2.7 Code (free) can replace Kimi K3 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
Kimi K2.6 (free) can replace Kimi K3 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
Kimi K2.5 can replace Kimi K3 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $1.57.
Kimi K2 0711 can replace Kimi K3 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $1.72.

Larger context near this budget

Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent offers 2M context with $2.5 sample workload cost.
Grok 4.20 offers 2M context with $2.5 sample workload cost.
GLM 5.3 Flash offers 1.31M context with $0.4 sample workload cost.
DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 offers 1.31M context with $0.36 sample workload cost.

Popular competitors

MiMo-V2.6-Pro · Xiaomi · #1
GLM 5.3 Flash · Z.ai · #2
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash · DeepSeek · #3
Hy4 preview · Tencent · #4

Cheaper alternatives

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Larger context alternatives

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Provider catalogs

Compare models within provider hubs before choosing a final API vendor.

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Upstage catalog

Review all tracked Upstage models before deciding whether this matchup is the right shortlist.

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MoonshotAI catalog

Check other MoonshotAI models with comparable pricing, context, or release timing.

Open MoonshotAI models

Solar Mini 4

Solar Mini 4 is Upstage's compact, cost-efficient language model, a 35B-parameter mixture-of-experts with 3B active parameters and a 524K context window. It is built for agentic use cases where response...

Kimi K3

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...