DeepSeek V4 vs Kimi K2.6
Benchmarks, API pricing and specs, head to head. Data updated 2026-06-10.
DeepSeek V4
DeepSeek · Mar 2026
The open-weights shock of 2026: ~81% SWE-bench Verified, a 1M context and MIT license at $0.30/$0.50 per million tokens.
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
Kimi K2.6 wins 1 of the 1 benchmarks these models share, against 0 for DeepSeek V4. On price the gap is dramatic: DeepSeek V4 works out roughly 4.9x cheaper per blended million tokens. DeepSeek V4 also takes 1M of context versus 262K for Kimi K2.6.
Benchmark head-to-head 0–1
Specs & pricing
| DeepSeek V4 | Kimi K2.6 | |
|---|---|---|
| modhub Index | — | — |
| Input price / 1M | $0.3 | $0.95 |
| Output price / 1M | $0.5 | $4 |
| Context window | 1M | 262K |
| Max output | 64K | 262K |
| Open weights | yes (MIT) | yes (Modified MIT) |
| Reasoning model | yes | yes |
| Multimodal input | text | text, image |
| Knowledge cutoff | Dec 2025 | Feb 2026 |
| Released | Mar 2026 | Apr 2026 |
| Example monthly cost* | $3.75 | $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 V4 or Kimi K2.6?
- Kimi K2.6 wins 1 of the 1 benchmarks these models share, against 0 for DeepSeek V4. On price the gap is dramatic: DeepSeek V4 works out roughly 4.9x cheaper per blended million tokens. DeepSeek V4 also takes 1M of context versus 262K for Kimi K2.6.
- Which is cheaper, DeepSeek V4 or Kimi K2.6?
- DeepSeek V4 costs $0.3/$0.5 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 $3.75 versus $15.50.
- Which model is better for coding, DeepSeek V4 or Kimi K2.6?
- On SWE-bench Verified — the standard agentic-coding benchmark — Kimi K2.6 scores ~82.5% versus ~81% for DeepSeek V4, making Kimi K2.6 the stronger pick for coding agents.