# DeepSeek-R1 vs Kimi K2

> Side-by-side benchmark comparison for DeepSeek-R1 and Kimi K2 across agentic, coding, multimodal, knowledge, reasoning, multilingual, and math tasks.

- Canonical page: https://benchlm.ai/compare/deepseek-r1-vs-kimi-k2
- Last updated: October 17, 2026

- Shared sourced benchmarks: 8
- HTML indexing: indexable
- Ranking lane: BenchAlign v5.8

## Quick Verdict

DeepSeek-R1 leads by point estimate. Conditional score ranges do not establish rank confidence. Choose using the category evidence and your own workload tests.

## Summary

- DeepSeek-R1 has the higher overall point estimate 41.08 to 33.48. Conditional score ranges do not establish rank confidence.
- The clearest category separation is in knowledge, where the averages are 41.5 for DeepSeek-R1 and 36.1 for Kimi K2.
- The biggest single benchmark swing is SWE-bench Verified in Coding, with scores of 49.2% and 65.8%.
- DeepSeek-R1 is the cheaper option on output tokens, which matters if you expect large responses or heavy interactive use.

## Model Snapshot

| Property | DeepSeek-R1 | Kimi K2 |
|----------|----------|----------|
| Creator | DeepSeek | Moonshot AI |
| Type | Open Weight | Proprietary |
| Reasoning | Reasoning | Non-Reasoning |
| Context | 128K | 128K |
| Overall Score | 41.08 | 33.48 |
| Benchmarks Covered | 8 | 13 |
| Pricing (input/output) | $0.55 / $2.19 | $0.60 / $2.50 |

## Category Breakdown

### Coding

- Winner: Not comparable
- DeepSeek-R1 public-lane score: Coming soon
- Kimi K2 public-lane score: Coming soon

| Benchmark | DeepSeek-R1 | Kimi K2 | Winner |
|-----------|-----------|-----------|--------|
| SWE-bench Verified | 49.2% | 65.8% | Kimi K2 |
| LiveCodeBench v6 | Coming soon | 53.7% | Coming soon |
| SWE Multilingual | Coming soon | 47.3% | Coming soon |

### Reasoning

- Winner: Not comparable
- DeepSeek-R1 public-lane score: 64.1 (Unranked · 2 rankable rows)
- Kimi K2 public-lane score: 62.3 (Unranked · 2 rankable rows)

### Knowledge

- Winner: Directional only
- DeepSeek-R1 public-lane score: 41.5 (Supported · #112/184)
- Kimi K2 public-lane score: 36.1 (Estimated · #129/184)

| Benchmark | DeepSeek-R1 | Kimi K2 | Winner |
|-----------|-----------|-----------|--------|
| MMLU | 90.8% | 89.5% | DeepSeek-R1 |
| GPQA | 71.5% | 75.1% | Kimi K2 |
| MMLU-Pro | 84% | 81.1% | DeepSeek-R1 |
| SimpleQA | 30.1% | 31% | Kimi K2 |
| SuperGPQA | Coming soon | 57.2% | Coming soon |
| HLE | Coming soon | 4.7% | Coming soon |

### Instruction Following

- Winner: Directional only
- DeepSeek-R1 public-lane score: 45.9 (#103/148)
- Kimi K2 public-lane score: 48.4 (#96/148)

| Benchmark | DeepSeek-R1 | Kimi K2 | Winner |
|-----------|-----------|-----------|--------|
| IFEval | 83.3% | 89.8% | Kimi K2 |

### Mathematics

- Winner: Not comparable
- DeepSeek-R1 public-lane score: Coming soon
- Kimi K2 public-lane score: 0 (#12/12)

| Benchmark | DeepSeek-R1 | Kimi K2 | Winner |
|-----------|-----------|-----------|--------|
| AIME 2024 | 79.8% | 69.6% | DeepSeek-R1 |
| MATH-500 | 97.3% | 97.4% | Kimi K2 |
| AIME 2025 | Coming soon | 49.5% | Coming soon |

## FAQ

### Which is better overall, DeepSeek-R1 or Kimi K2?

DeepSeek-R1 has the higher overall point estimate. Conditional score ranges do not establish rank confidence.

### Where is the biggest gap between DeepSeek-R1 and Kimi K2?

The widest category gap is in knowledge, where the averages are 41.5 for DeepSeek-R1 and 36.1 for Kimi K2.

### How many benchmarks does DeepSeek-R1 cover on BenchLM?

DeepSeek-R1 currently has 8 sourced benchmark scores on BenchLM.

### How many benchmarks does Kimi K2 cover on BenchLM?

Kimi K2 currently has 13 sourced benchmark scores on BenchLM.

## Related Comparisons

- [DeepSeek-R1 vs DeepSeek-R1-0528](/compare/deepseek-r1-vs-deepseek-r1-0528)
- [Kimi K2 vs DeepSeek-R1-0528](/compare/deepseek-r1-0528-vs-kimi-k2)
- [DeepSeek-R1 vs Claude Opus 5.5](/compare/claude-opus-5-5-vs-deepseek-r1)
- [Kimi K2 vs Claude Opus 5.5](/compare/claude-opus-5-5-vs-kimi-k2)

## Explore More

- [DeepSeek-R1 profile](/models/deepseek-r1)
- [Kimi K2 profile](/models/kimi-k2)
- [Compare Pricing](/llm-pricing)
- [Alternative Finder](/tools/alternative-finder)
- [LLM Selector](/tools/llm-selector)
- [Overall Rankings](/best/overall)