Model comparison
Inkling vs Kimi K2.6
Head-to-head evidence from 12 shared benchmark results across 5 categories. Overall scores shown here use the public BenchAlign v5 ranking lane.
Verified leaderboard positions: Inkling #17; Kimi K2.6 #11
BenchAlign evidence: Inkling not scored; Kimi K2.6 estimated. Intervals and evidence labels describe ranking uncertainty, not a guarantee for a specific workload.
Evidence parity. Inkling and Kimi K2.6 share 12 comparable benchmark results. 5 of 8 categories are comparable. 4 results are unique to Inkling; 45 to Kimi K2.6.
Updated July 15, 2026- Shared results
- 12
- Inkling only
- 4
- Kimi K2.6 only
- 45
- Comparable categories
- 5 / 8
Pick Kimi K2.6 if you want the stronger benchmark profile. Inkling only becomes the better choice if mathematics is the priority or you need the larger 1M context window.
Confidence note. This is a partial-evidence comparison with 12 shared benchmark results across 5 evidence categories; 5 of 8 categories currently have scoreable aggregates for both models. Treat the verdict as directional until coverage is more balanced.
Why this result
Kimi K2.6 has the cleaner provisional overall profile here, landing at 71 versus 69. It is a real lead, but still close enough that category-level strengths matter more than the headline number.
Kimi K2.6's sharpest advantage is in agentic, where it averages 73.5 against 69.4. The single biggest benchmark swing on the page is HLE, 46% to 34.7%. Inkling does hit back in mathematics, so the answer changes if that is the part of the workload you care about most.
Inkling is also the more expensive model on tokens at $1.87 input / $4.68 output per 1M tokens, versus $0.95 input / $4.00 output per 1M tokens for Kimi K2.6. Kimi K2.6 is the reasoning model in the pair, while Inkling is not. That usually helps on harder chain-of-thought-heavy tests, but it can also mean more latency and more token spend in real use. Inkling gives you the larger context window at 1M, compared with 256K for Kimi K2.6.
Category breakdown
Exact category averages are shown below. Not measured means BenchLM does not have enough sourced public coverage for that model and category.
| Category | Inkling | Δ | Kimi K2.6 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Math | Inkling97.1 | Margin← 30.0 | Kimi K2.667.1 |
| Knowledge | Inkling51.7 | Margin← 9.5 | Kimi K2.642.2 |
| Coding | Inkling68.6 | Margin← 4.2 | Kimi K2.664.4 |
| Agentic | Inkling69.4 | Margin→ 4.1 | Kimi K2.673.5 |
| Multimodal | Inkling76.5 | Margin→ 3.3 | Kimi K2.679.8 |
| Inst. Following | Inkling79.8 | MarginNo overlap | Kimi K2.6Not measured |
Decisive benchmark drivers
The largest measured benchmark gaps in this matchup, with exact reported values.
More
- Source ↗
HLE
KnowledgeA 46%B 34.7%Winner: InklingΔ 11.3HLE: Inkling scored 46%; Kimi K2.6 scored 34.7%. Inkling wins this benchmark. - Source ↗
BrowseComp
AgenticA 77.1%B 83.2%Winner: Kimi K2.6Δ 6.1BrowseComp: Inkling scored 77.1%; Kimi K2.6 scored 83.2%. Kimi K2.6 wins this benchmark. - Source ↗
MMMU-Pro
MultimodalA 73.5%B 79.4%Winner: Kimi K2.6Δ 5.9MMMU-Pro: Inkling scored 73.5%; Kimi K2.6 scored 79.4%. Kimi K2.6 wins this benchmark. - Source ↗
SWE-bench Pro
CodingA 54.3%B 58.6%Winner: Kimi K2.6Δ 4.3SWE-bench Pro: Inkling scored 54.3%; Kimi K2.6 scored 58.6%. Kimi K2.6 wins this benchmark. - Source ↗
Terminal-Bench 2.0
AgenticA 63.8%B 66.7%Winner: Kimi K2.6Δ 2.9Terminal-Bench 2.0: Inkling scored 63.8%; Kimi K2.6 scored 66.7%. Kimi K2.6 wins this benchmark.
Operational comparison
Runtime and commercial metrics are compared only when both models have a complete sourced value.
| Metric | Inkling | Kimi K2.6 | Comparison |
|---|---|---|---|
| Input / output priceUSD per 1M tokens | Inkling$1.87 input / $4.68 output | Kimi K2.6$0.95 input / $4 output | Kimi K2.6 has the lower combined listed price. |
| Generation speedtokens per second | InklingNot available | Kimi K2.6Not available | A complete speed comparison is not available. |
| First-answer latencyseconds to first token | InklingNot available | Kimi K2.6Not available | A complete latency comparison is not available. |
| Context windowmaximum listed tokens | Inkling1M | Kimi K2.6256K | Inkling lists the larger context window. |
Benchmark Deep Dive
AgenticKimi K2.6 wins21 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Inkling | Kimi K2.6 | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Terminal-Bench 2.0Source | 63.8% | 66.7% | Kimi K2.6 leads |
| BrowseCompSource | 77.1% | 83.2% | Kimi K2.6 leads |
| MCP AtlasSource | 74.1% | 55.9% | Inkling leads |
| Design Arena Agentic Web DevSource | 1258 | — | Not comparable |
| OSWorld-VerifiedSource | — | 73.1% | Not comparable |
| ToolathlonSource | — | 50% | Not comparable |
| Claw-EvalSource | — | 62.3% | Not comparable |
| DeepSearchQASource | — | 92.5% | Not comparable |
| WideResearchSource | — | 80.8% | Not comparable |
| AA Agentic IndexSource | — | 30.3% | Not comparable |
| τ²-bench resultsSource | — | 95.9% | Not comparable |
| GDPval-AASource | — | 34.5% | Not comparable |
| GDPval-AASource | — | 1190 | Not comparable |
| APEX-Agents-AASource | — | 28.5% | Not comparable |
| Gert LabsSource | — | 56.82% | Not comparable |
| ResearchClawBenchSource | — | 18.0% | Not comparable |
| OSWorld 2.0Source | — | 4.6% | Not comparable |
| AA BriefcaseSource | — | 811 | Not comparable |
| AA EnterpriseOps-GymSource | — | 38.5% | Not comparable |
| AA ITBenchSource | — | 31.2% | Not comparable |
| AA Tau3 BankingSource | — | 20.6% | Not comparable |
CodingInkling wins12 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Inkling | Kimi K2.6 | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| SWE-bench VerifiedSource | 77.6% | 80.2% | Kimi K2.6 leads |
| SWE-bench ProSource | 54.3% | 58.6% | Kimi K2.6 leads |
| Terminal-Bench 2.0Source | 63.8% | 66.7% | Kimi K2.6 leads |
| LiveCodeBench v6Source | — | 89.6% | Not comparable |
| SWE MultilingualSource | — | 76.7% | Not comparable |
| SciCodeSource | — | 52.2% | Not comparable |
| Vibe Code BenchSource | — | 37.89% | Not comparable |
| cursorBench31Source | — | 47.6% | Not comparable |
| AA Coding IndexSource | — | 61.8% | Not comparable |
| Terminal-Bench HardSource | — | 43.9% | Not comparable |
| AA-SciCodeSource | — | 53.5% | Not comparable |
| AA Terminal-Bench 2.1Source | — | 65.9% | Not comparable |
Reasoning2 benchmarks
KnowledgeInkling wins11 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Inkling | Kimi K2.6 | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQASource | 87.9% | 90.5% | Kimi K2.6 leads |
| GPQA-DSource | 87.9% | 90.5% | Kimi K2.6 leads |
| HLESource | 46% | 34.7% | Inkling leads |
| HLE w/o toolsSource | 30% | — | Not comparable |
| Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexSource | — | 44.2% | Not comparable |
| AA-GPQA DiamondSource | — | 91.1% | Not comparable |
| AA-HLESource | — | 35.9% | Not comparable |
| AA-Omniscience IndexSource | — | 6.4% | Not comparable |
| AA-Omniscience AccuracySource | — | 32.8% | Not comparable |
| AA-Omniscience Hallucination RateSource | — | 39.3% | Not comparable |
| AA Openness IndexSource | — | 33.3% | Not comparable |
MathInkling wins5 benchmarks
MultimodalKimi K2.6 wins8 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Inkling | Kimi K2.6 | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| MMMU-ProSource | 73.5% | 79.4% | Kimi K2.6 leads |
| CharXivSource | 82% | 80.4% | Inkling leads |
| CharXiv w/o toolsSource | 78.1% | — | Not comparable |
| MMMU-Pro w/ PythonSource | — | 80.1% | Not comparable |
| MathVisionSource | — | 87.4% | Not comparable |
| V*Source | — | 96.9% | Not comparable |
| AA-MMMU-ProSource | — | 79.4% | Not comparable |
| Design Arena WebsiteSource | — | 1310 | Not comparable |
Frequently Asked Questions (6)
Which is better, Inkling or Kimi K2.6?
Kimi K2.6 is ahead on BenchLM's provisional leaderboard, 71 to 69. The biggest single separator in this matchup is HLE, where the scores are 46% and 34.7%.
Which is better for knowledge tasks, Inkling or Kimi K2.6?
Inkling has the edge for knowledge tasks in this comparison, averaging 51.7 versus 42.2. Inside this category, HLE is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.
Which is better for coding, Inkling or Kimi K2.6?
Inkling has the edge for coding in this comparison, averaging 68.6 versus 64.4. Inside this category, SWE-bench Pro is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.
Which is better for math, Inkling or Kimi K2.6?
Inkling has the edge for math in this comparison, averaging 97.1 versus 67.1. Inside this category, AIME26 is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.
Which is better for agentic tasks, Inkling or Kimi K2.6?
Kimi K2.6 has the edge for agentic tasks in this comparison, averaging 73.5 versus 69.4. Inside this category, MCP Atlas is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.
Which is better for multimodal and grounded tasks, Inkling or Kimi K2.6?
Kimi K2.6 has the edge for multimodal and grounded tasks in this comparison, averaging 79.8 versus 76.5. Inside this category, MMMU-Pro 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.
Related Comparisons
The AI models change fast. We track them for you.
A weekly brief for engineers and researchers covering new models, ranking shifts, and pricing changes.
Free. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.