Kimi K2.6 vs Kimi K2 Thinking
Benchmarks, API pricing and specs, head to head. Data updated 2026-06-10.
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.
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 K2.6 wins 1 of the 1 benchmarks these models share, against 0 for Kimi K2 Thinking. Kimi K2 Thinking is about 1.6x cheaper per blended million tokens (3:1 input:output mix).
Benchmark head-to-head 1–0
Specs & pricing
| Kimi K2.6 | Kimi K2 Thinking | |
|---|---|---|
| modhub Index | — | 67.6 |
| Input price / 1M | $0.95 | $0.6 |
| Output price / 1M | $4 | $2.5 |
| Context window | 262K | 262K |
| Max output | 262K | — |
| Open weights | yes (Modified MIT) | yes (Modified MIT) |
| Reasoning model | yes | yes |
| Multimodal input | text, image | text |
| Knowledge cutoff | Feb 2026 | Apr 2025 |
| Released | Apr 2026 | Nov 2025 |
| Example monthly cost* | $15.50 | $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, Kimi K2.6 or Kimi K2 Thinking?
- Kimi K2.6 wins 1 of the 1 benchmarks these models share, against 0 for Kimi K2 Thinking. Kimi K2 Thinking is about 1.6x cheaper per blended million tokens (3:1 input:output mix).
- Which is cheaper, Kimi K2.6 or Kimi K2 Thinking?
- Kimi K2.6 costs $0.95/$4 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 $15.50 versus $9.75.
- Which model is better for coding, Kimi K2.6 or Kimi K2 Thinking?
- On SWE-bench Verified — the standard agentic-coding benchmark — Kimi K2.6 scores ~82.5% versus 71.3% for Kimi K2 Thinking, making Kimi K2.6 the stronger pick for coding agents.