Model comparison
Kimi K2 vs o4-mini (high)
Head-to-head evidence from 2 shared benchmark results across 1 category. Overall scores shown here use the public BenchAlign v5 ranking lane.
Public leaderboard positions: Kimi K2 #189 (Supported); o4-mini (high) #118 (Estimated). Intervals and evidence labels describe ranking uncertainty, not a guarantee for a specific workload.
Evidence parity. Kimi K2 and o4-mini (high) share 2 comparable benchmark results. 1 of 8 categories are comparable. 12 results are unique to Kimi K2; 0 to o4-mini (high).
Updated July 20, 2026- Shared results
- 2
- Kimi K2 only
- 12
- o4-mini (high) only
- 0
- Comparable categories
- 1 / 8
Pick o4-mini (high) if you want the stronger benchmark profile. Kimi K2 only becomes the better choice if you would rather avoid the extra latency and token burn of a reasoning model.
Confidence note. This is a partial-evidence comparison with 2 shared benchmark results across 1 evidence category; 1 of 8 categories currently have scoreable aggregates for both models. Treat the verdict as directional until coverage is more balanced.
Why this result
o4-mini (high) is clearly ahead on the BenchAlign aggregate, 49.98 to 27.19. The gap is large enough that you do not need to squint at the spreadsheet to see the difference.
o4-mini (high)'s sharpest advantage is in mathematics, where it averages 20.2 against 16.1. The single biggest benchmark swing on the page is FrontierMath v2 (Tier 4), 0.000% to 6.250%.
o4-mini (high) 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. o4-mini (high) gives you the larger context window at 200K, 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 | Δ | o4-mini (high) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Math | Kimi K216.1 | Margin→ 4.1 | o4-mini (high)20.2 |
Decisive benchmark drivers
The largest measured benchmark gaps in this matchup, with exact reported values.
More
- Source ↗
FrontierMath v2 (Tier 4)
MathA 0.000%B 6.250%Winner: o4-mini (high)Δ 6.3FrontierMath v2 (Tier 4): Kimi K2 scored 0.000%; o4-mini (high) scored 6.250%. o4-mini (high) wins this benchmark. - Source ↗
FrontierMath v2 (Tiers 1-3)
MathA 21.404%B 24.828%Winner: o4-mini (high)Δ 3.4FrontierMath v2 (Tiers 1-3): Kimi K2 scored 21.404%; o4-mini (high) scored 24.828%. o4-mini (high) wins this benchmark.
Operational comparison
Runtime and commercial metrics are compared only when both models have a complete sourced value.
| Metric | Kimi K2 | o4-mini (high) | Comparison |
|---|---|---|---|
| Input / output priceUSD per 1M tokens | Kimi K2$0.6 input / $2.5 output | o4-mini (high)Not available | A complete price comparison is not available. |
| Generation speedtokens per second | Kimi K243 tok/s | o4-mini (high)161 tok/s | o4-mini (high) has the higher measured throughput. |
| First-answer latencyseconds to first token | Kimi K21.51 s | o4-mini (high)21.94 s | Kimi K2 reaches the first token sooner. |
| Context windowmaximum listed tokens | Kimi K2128K | o4-mini (high)200K | o4-mini (high) lists the larger context window. |
Benchmark Deep Dive
Agentic1 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Kimi K2 | o4-mini (high) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| τ²-bench resultsSource | 61.1% | — | Not comparable |
Coding1 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Kimi K2 | o4-mini (high) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA-SciCodeSource | 34.5% | — | Not comparable |
Reasoning2 benchmarks
Knowledge6 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Kimi K2 | o4-mini (high) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexSource | 19.4% | — | Not comparable |
| AA-GPQA DiamondSource | 76.6% | — | Not comparable |
| AA-HLESource | 7.0% | — | Not comparable |
| AA-Omniscience IndexSource | -27.5% | — | Not comparable |
| AA-Omniscience AccuracySource | 26.8% | — | Not comparable |
| AA-Omniscience Hallucination RateSource | 74.2% | — | Not comparable |
Matho4-mini (high) wins2 benchmarks
Multimodal1 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Kimi K2 | o4-mini (high) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design Arena WebsiteSource | 1083 | — | Not comparable |
Inst. Following1 benchmarks
| Benchmark | Kimi K2 | o4-mini (high) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA-IFBenchSource | 41.5% | — | Not comparable |
Frequently Asked Questions (2)
Which is better, Kimi K2 or o4-mini (high)?
o4-mini (high) is ahead on BenchLM's BenchAlign leaderboard, 49.98 to 27.19. The biggest single separator in this matchup is FrontierMath v2 (Tier 4), where the scores are 0.000% and 6.250%.
Which is better for math, Kimi K2 or o4-mini (high)?
o4-mini (high) has the edge for math in this comparison, averaging 20.2 versus 16.1. Inside this category, FrontierMath v2 (Tier 4) is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.
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