Kimi K3.1 Pro cuts token prices by a third, but cost per task holds steady

Moonshot released Kimi K3.1 Pro on Oct 23, with token prices a third lower than Kimi K3's: $2 per million input tokens and $10 per million output tokens, down from $3 and $15. The catch: in Artificial Analysis's independent Intelligence Index launch tests on Oct 23, a task cost about $1.98, roughly the same as Kimi K3. In those tests, K3.1 Pro wrote about 55,000 output tokens per task, 14% more than K3's 48,000, which offset the lower rates. The lesson: compare cost per task, not price per token, so run your own task on both models and compare the total.