DeepSeek R1 (0528) vs Kimi K2.6
Benchmarks, API pricing and specs, head to head. Data updated 2026-06-10.
DeepSeek R1 (0528)
67.8DeepSeek · May 2025
The open reasoning model that started it all — RL-trained chain-of-thought, MIT licensed, and a research landmark.
Kimi K2.6
Moonshot AI · Apr 2026
Moonshot's multimodal flagship that ties GPT-5.5 on several coding evaluations at a fraction of the price, with open weights.
The verdict
These two models don't yet share verified results on the benchmarks we track, so judge them on specs, pricing and intended use. DeepSeek R1 (0528) is about 1.8x cheaper per blended million tokens (3:1 input:output mix). Kimi K2.6 also takes 262K of context versus 128K for DeepSeek R1 (0528).
Specs & pricing
| DeepSeek R1 (0528) | Kimi K2.6 | |
|---|---|---|
| modhub Index | 67.8 | — |
| Input price / 1M | $0.55 | $0.95 |
| Output price / 1M | $2.19 | $4 |
| Context window | 128K | 262K |
| Max output | 64K | 262K |
| Open weights | yes (MIT) | yes (Modified MIT) |
| Reasoning model | yes | yes |
| Multimodal input | text | text, image |
| Knowledge cutoff | Mar 2025 | Feb 2026 |
| Released | May 2025 | Apr 2026 |
| Example monthly cost* | $8.79 | $15.50 |
* 10M input + 1.5M output tokens per month at list prices, no caching. Green = better value on that row.
Frequently asked questions
- Which is better, DeepSeek R1 (0528) or Kimi K2.6?
- These two models don't yet share verified results on the benchmarks we track, so judge them on specs, pricing and intended use. DeepSeek R1 (0528) is about 1.8x cheaper per blended million tokens (3:1 input:output mix). Kimi K2.6 also takes 262K of context versus 128K for DeepSeek R1 (0528).
- Which is cheaper, DeepSeek R1 (0528) or Kimi K2.6?
- DeepSeek R1 (0528) costs $0.55/$2.19 per million input/output tokens, while Kimi K2.6 costs $0.95/$4. For a typical workload of 10M input and 1.5M output tokens per month, that's $8.79 versus $15.50.
- Which model is better for coding, DeepSeek R1 (0528) or Kimi K2.6?
- We don't yet track SWE-bench Verified results for both models; check their individual pages for coding-related scores.
More comparisons
DeepSeek R1 (0528) vs GPT-5.5Kimi K2.6 vs GPT-5.5DeepSeek R1 (0528) vs GPT-5.2Kimi K2.6 vs GPT-5.2DeepSeek R1 (0528) vs GPT-5.1Kimi K2.6 vs GPT-5.1DeepSeek R1 (0528) vs GPT-5Kimi K2.6 vs GPT-5DeepSeek R1 (0528) vs GPT-5 miniKimi K2.6 vs GPT-5 miniDeepSeek R1 (0528) vs OpenAI o3Kimi K2.6 vs OpenAI o3