Alibaba vs 
Moonshot AI
Verdict
- Moonshot AI's flagship leads: Kimi K3 at 66.5 vs Qwen3 8 at 63.9.
- Moonshot AI has the better model in 3 of 4 price bands.
- Alibaba's fastest ranked model (Qwen3.5 Omni Flash, 235 tok/s) beats Moonshot AI's (Kimi K2 Thinking, 119 tok/s).
- Alibaba publishes more open-weights models (44 vs 7).
- Alibaba ships more often: one model every 6 days against every 82.
Best model per price band
Each provider’s highest-index model below the price ceiling. Purple marks the winner of the band.
| Price band | Alibaba | Moonshot AI |
|---|---|---|
| Under $0.50/M | Qwen3.8-Flash-Next 59.3$0.230/M | – |
| Under $2/M | Qwen3.7 Plus 59.7$1.13/M | Kimi K2.6 60.6$1.71/M |
| Under $10/M | Qwen3 8 max 63.9$2.67/M | Kimi K3 66.5$6.00/M |
| Any price | Qwen3 8 max 63.9$2.67/M | Kimi K3 66.5$6.00/M |
Line-up
| Metric | Alibaba | Moonshot AI |
|---|---|---|
| Flagship index | 63.9 | 66.5 |
| Ranked models | 44 | 8 |
| Open-weights models | 44 | 7 |
| Cheapest ranked, $/M | $0.030 | $1.07 |
| Fastest ranked, tok/s | 235 | 119 |
| Release cadence, days | 6 | 82 |
| Last release | 26 Aug 2026 | 16 Jul 2026 |
| Next expected | 29 Aug 2026 – 3 Sept 2026 | 3 Sept 2026 – 7 Nov 2026 |
Data as of 9 Sept 2026. See Alibaba and Moonshot AI in full.