Model comparison
Kimi K2.6 vs Kimi K2
Head-to-head evidence from 15 shared benchmark results across 7 categories. Overall scores shown here use BenchLM's provisional ranking lane.
Verified leaderboard positions: Kimi K2.6 #13; Kimi K2 unranked
Evidence parity. Kimi K2.6 and Kimi K2 share 15 comparable benchmark results. 1 of 8 categories are comparable. 45 results are unique to Kimi K2.6; 0 to Kimi K2.
Updated July 13, 2026- Shared results
- 15
- Kimi K2.6 only
- 45
- Kimi K2 only
- 0
- Comparable categories
- 1 / 8
Pick Kimi K2.6 if you want the stronger benchmark profile. Kimi K2 only becomes the better choice if you want the cheaper token bill or you would rather avoid the extra latency and token burn of a reasoning model.
Confidence note. This is a partial-evidence comparison with 15 shared benchmark results across 7 evidence categories; 1 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 is clearly ahead on the provisional aggregate, 74 to 43. The gap is large enough that you do not need to squint at the spreadsheet to see the difference.
Kimi K2.6's sharpest advantage is in mathematics, where it averages 67.1 against 16.1. The single biggest benchmark swing on the page is FrontierMath v2 (Tiers 1-3), 38.966% to 21.404%.
Kimi K2.6 is also the more expensive model on tokens at $0.95 input / $4.00 output per 1M tokens, versus $0.60 input / $2.50 output per 1M tokens for Kimi K2. Kimi K2.6 is the reasoning model in the pair, while Kimi K2 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. Kimi K2.6 gives you the larger context window at 256K, compared with 128K for Kimi K2.
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 | Kimi K2.6 | Δ | Kimi K2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Math | Kimi K2.667.1 | Margin← 51.0 | Kimi K216.1 |
| Agentic | Kimi K2.673.5 | MarginNo overlap | Kimi K2Not measured |
| Coding | Kimi K2.672.6 | MarginNo overlap | Kimi K2Not measured |
| Knowledge | Kimi K2.642.2 | MarginNo overlap | Kimi K2Not measured |
| Multimodal | Kimi K2.679.8 | MarginNo overlap | Kimi K2Not measured |
Decisive benchmark drivers
The largest measured benchmark gaps in this matchup, with exact reported values.
More
- Source ↗
FrontierMath v2 (Tiers 1-3)
MathA 38.966%B 21.404%Winner: Kimi K2.6Δ 17.6FrontierMath v2 (Tiers 1-3): Kimi K2.6 scored 38.966%; Kimi K2 scored 21.404%. Kimi K2.6 wins this benchmark. - Source ↗
FrontierMath v2 (Tier 4)
MathA 14.580%B 0.000%Winner: Kimi K2.6Δ 14.6FrontierMath v2 (Tier 4): Kimi K2.6 scored 14.580%; Kimi K2 scored 0.000%. Kimi K2.6 wins this benchmark.
Operational comparison
Runtime and commercial metrics are compared only when both models have a complete sourced value.
| Metric | Kimi K2.6 | Kimi K2 | Comparison |
|---|---|---|---|
| Input / output priceUSD per 1M tokens | Kimi K2.6$0.95 input / $4 output | Kimi K2$0.6 input / $2.5 output | Kimi K2 has the lower combined listed price. |
| Generation speedtokens per second | Kimi K2.6Not available | Kimi K243 tok/s | A complete speed comparison is not available. |
| First-answer latencyseconds to first token | Kimi K2.6Not available | Kimi K21.51 s | A complete latency comparison is not available. |
| Context windowmaximum listed tokens | Kimi K2.6256K | Kimi K2128K | Kimi K2.6 lists the larger context window. |
Benchmark Deep Dive
Agentic22 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Kimi K2.6 | Kimi K2 | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Terminal-Bench 2.0Source | 66.7% | — | Not comparable |
| BrowseCompSource | 83.2% | — | Not comparable |
| OSWorld-VerifiedSource | 73.1% | — | Not comparable |
| ToolathlonSource | 50% | — | Not comparable |
| MCP AtlasSource | 55.9% | — | 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 |
| Tau2-TelecomSource | 95.9% | 61.1% | Kimi K2.6 leads |
| 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 | 809 | — | Not comparable |
| AA AutomationBenchSource | 19.6% | — | Not comparable |
| AA EnterpriseOps-GymSource | 38.5% | — | Not comparable |
| AA Harvey LABSource | 0.0% | — | Not comparable |
| AA ITBenchSource | 31.2% | — | Not comparable |
| AA Tau3 BankingSource | 20.6% | — | Not comparable |
Coding13 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Kimi K2.6 | Kimi K2 | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| SWE-bench VerifiedSource | 80.2% | — | Not comparable |
| LiveCodeBenchSource | 89.6% | — | Not comparable |
| LiveCodeBench v6Source | 89.6% | — | Not comparable |
| SWE-bench ProSource | 58.6% | — | Not comparable |
| SWE MultilingualSource | 76.7% | — | Not comparable |
| SciCodeSource | 52.2% | — | Not comparable |
| Terminal-Bench 2.0Source | 66.7% | — | 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% | 15.9% | Kimi K2.6 leads |
| AA-SciCodeSource | 53.5% | 34.5% | Kimi K2.6 leads |
| AA Terminal-Bench 2.1Source | 65.9% | — | Not comparable |
Reasoning2 benchmarks
Knowledge10 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Kimi K2.6 | Kimi K2 | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQASource | 90.5% | — | Not comparable |
| GPQA-DSource | 90.5% | — | Not comparable |
| HLESource | 34.7% | — | Not comparable |
| Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexSource | 44.2% | 19.4% | Kimi K2.6 leads |
| AA-GPQA DiamondSource | 91.1% | 76.6% | Kimi K2.6 leads |
| AA-HLESource | 35.9% | 7.0% | Kimi K2.6 leads |
| AA-Omniscience IndexSource | 6.4% | -27.5% | Kimi K2.6 leads |
| AA-Omniscience AccuracySource | 32.8% | 26.8% | Kimi K2.6 leads |
| AA-Omniscience Hallucination RateSource | 39.3% | 74.2% | Kimi K2.6 leads |
| AA Openness IndexSource | 33.3% | — | Not comparable |
MathKimi K2.6 wins5 benchmarks
Multimodal7 benchmarks
Inst. Following1 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Kimi K2.6 | Kimi K2 | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA-IFBenchSource | 76.0% | 41.5% | Kimi K2.6 leads |
Frequently Asked Questions (2)
Which is better, Kimi K2.6 or Kimi K2?
Kimi K2.6 is ahead on BenchLM's provisional leaderboard, 74 to 43. The biggest single separator in this matchup is FrontierMath v2 (Tiers 1-3), where the scores are 38.966% and 21.404%.
Which is better for math, Kimi K2.6 or Kimi K2?
Kimi K2.6 has the edge for math in this comparison, averaging 67.1 versus 16.1. Inside this category, FrontierMath v2 (Tiers 1-3) 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.
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