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DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) vs Kimi 2.6

Head-to-head comparison across 3benchmark categories. Overall scores shown here use BenchLM's provisional ranking lane.

DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)

77

VS

Kimi 2.6

86

2 categoriesvs1 categories

Verified leaderboard positions: DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) #12 · Kimi 2.6 #5

Pick Kimi 2.6 if you want the stronger benchmark profile. DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) only becomes the better choice if knowledge is the priority or you want the cheaper token bill.

Category Radar

Head-to-Head by Category

Category Breakdown

Agentic

Kimi 2.6
63.3vs73.1

+9.8 difference

Coding

DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)
73.7vs72

+1.7 difference

Knowledge

DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)
60vs53.8

+6.2 difference

Operational Comparison

DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)

Kimi 2.6

Price (per 1M tokens)

$0.14 / $0.28

$0.95 / $4

Speed

N/A

N/A

Latency (TTFT)

N/A

N/A

Context Window

1M

256K

Quick Verdict

Pick Kimi 2.6 if you want the stronger benchmark profile. DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) only becomes the better choice if knowledge is the priority or you want the cheaper token bill.

Kimi 2.6 is clearly ahead on the provisional aggregate, 86 to 77. The gap is large enough that you do not need to squint at the spreadsheet to see the difference.

Kimi 2.6's sharpest advantage is in agentic, where it averages 73.1 against 63.3. The single biggest benchmark swing on the page is BrowseComp, 73.2% to 83.2%. DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) does hit back in knowledge, so the answer changes if that is the part of the workload you care about most.

Kimi 2.6 is also the more expensive model on tokens at $0.95 input / $4.00 output per 1M tokens, versus $0.14 input / $0.28 output per 1M tokens for DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max). That is roughly 14.3x on output cost alone. DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) gives you the larger context window at 1M, compared with 256K for Kimi 2.6.

Benchmark Deep Dive

Frequently Asked Questions (4)

Which is better, DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) or Kimi 2.6?

Kimi 2.6 is ahead on BenchLM's provisional leaderboard, 86 to 77. The biggest single separator in this matchup is BrowseComp, where the scores are 73.2% and 83.2%.

Which is better for knowledge tasks, DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) or Kimi 2.6?

DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) has the edge for knowledge tasks in this comparison, averaging 60 versus 53.8. Inside this category, GPQA is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.

Which is better for coding, DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) or Kimi 2.6?

DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) has the edge for coding in this comparison, averaging 73.7 versus 72. Inside this category, Terminal-Bench 2.0 is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.

Which is better for agentic tasks, DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max) or Kimi 2.6?

Kimi 2.6 has the edge for agentic tasks in this comparison, averaging 73.1 versus 63.3. Inside this category, MCP Atlas is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.

Self-host vs API cost

Estimates at 50,000 req/day · 1000 tokens/req average.

DeepSeek V4 Flash (Max)
API / mo$315
Self-host / moN/A
Break-even
Proprietary model — self-hosting not applicable.
Kimi 2.6
API / mo$3,713
Self-host / mo$18,221
Break-even326M/day
Model the full break-even

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Last updated: April 24, 2026

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