GPT-5 nano vs Kimi K2.6
Benchmarks, API pricing and specs, head to head. Data updated 2026-06-10.
OpenAI · Aug 2025
OpenAI's cheapest model — $0.05 per million input tokens — for latency-critical routing, autocomplete and bulk tagging.
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. On price the gap is dramatic: GPT-5 nano works out roughly 12x cheaper per blended million tokens. GPT-5 nano also takes 400K of context versus 262K for Kimi K2.6. And Kimi K2.6 is open-weights (Modified MIT), so it can be self-hosted — a structural advantage if data control or vendor independence matters.
Specs & pricing
| GPT-5 nano | Kimi K2.6 | |
|---|---|---|
| modhub Index | — | — |
| Input price / 1M | $0.05 | $0.95 |
| Output price / 1M | $0.4 | $4 |
| Context window | 400K | 262K |
| Max output | 128K | 262K |
| Open weights | no | yes (Modified MIT) |
| Reasoning model | yes | yes |
| Multimodal input | text, image | text, image |
| Knowledge cutoff | May 2024 | Feb 2026 |
| Released | Aug 2025 | Apr 2026 |
| Example monthly cost* | $1.10 | $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, GPT-5 nano 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. On price the gap is dramatic: GPT-5 nano works out roughly 12x cheaper per blended million tokens. GPT-5 nano also takes 400K of context versus 262K for Kimi K2.6. And Kimi K2.6 is open-weights (Modified MIT), so it can be self-hosted — a structural advantage if data control or vendor independence matters.
- Which is cheaper, GPT-5 nano or Kimi K2.6?
- GPT-5 nano costs $0.05/$0.4 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 $1.10 versus $15.50.
- Which model is better for coding, GPT-5 nano or Kimi K2.6?
- We don't yet track SWE-bench Verified results for both models; check their individual pages for coding-related scores.