DeepSeek R1 (0528) vs Kimi K2 Thinking
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 Thinking
67.6Moonshot AI · Nov 2025
A trillion-parameter open reasoning agent that can chain 200–300 tool calls — the open-weights agentic standout of late 2025.
The verdict
Kimi K2 Thinking wins 3 of the 4 benchmarks these models share, against 1 for DeepSeek R1 (0528). DeepSeek R1 (0528) is about 1.1x cheaper per blended million tokens (3:1 input:output mix). Kimi K2 Thinking also takes 262K of context versus 128K for DeepSeek R1 (0528).
Benchmark head-to-head 1–3
Specs & pricing
| DeepSeek R1 (0528) | Kimi K2 Thinking | |
|---|---|---|
| modhub Index | 67.8 | 67.6 |
| Input price / 1M | $0.55 | $0.6 |
| Output price / 1M | $2.19 | $2.5 |
| Context window | 128K | 262K |
| Max output | 64K | — |
| Open weights | yes (MIT) | yes (Modified MIT) |
| Reasoning model | yes | yes |
| Multimodal input | text | text |
| Knowledge cutoff | Mar 2025 | Apr 2025 |
| Released | May 2025 | Nov 2025 |
| Example monthly cost* | $8.79 | $9.75 |
* 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 Thinking?
- Kimi K2 Thinking wins 3 of the 4 benchmarks these models share, against 1 for DeepSeek R1 (0528). DeepSeek R1 (0528) is about 1.1x cheaper per blended million tokens (3:1 input:output mix). Kimi K2 Thinking also takes 262K of context versus 128K for DeepSeek R1 (0528).
- Which is cheaper, DeepSeek R1 (0528) or Kimi K2 Thinking?
- DeepSeek R1 (0528) costs $0.55/$2.19 per million input/output tokens, while Kimi K2 Thinking costs $0.6/$2.5. For a typical workload of 10M input and 1.5M output tokens per month, that's $8.79 versus $9.75.
- Which model is better for coding, DeepSeek R1 (0528) or Kimi K2 Thinking?
- 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 Thinking vs GPT-5.5DeepSeek R1 (0528) vs GPT-5.2Kimi K2 Thinking vs GPT-5.2DeepSeek R1 (0528) vs GPT-5.1Kimi K2 Thinking vs GPT-5.1DeepSeek R1 (0528) vs GPT-5Kimi K2 Thinking vs GPT-5DeepSeek R1 (0528) vs GPT-5 miniKimi K2 Thinking vs GPT-5 miniDeepSeek R1 (0528) vs OpenAI o3Kimi K2 Thinking vs OpenAI o3