Apertus 70B vs MiniMax M1 80K vs Kimi K2 Instruct 0905
MiniMax M1 80K comes out ahead, 47 to 38 and 32 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
Swiss AI
Apertus 70B
32/100- ECI—
- Price$0.82 / $2.42
- Context66K
- Our pick
MiniMaxMiniMax M1 80K
47/100- ECI—
- Price$0.55 / $2.20
- Context1M
Moonshot AIKimi K2 Instruct 0905
38/100- ECI—
- Price$0.60 / $2.50
- Context262K
MiniMax M1 80K is our pick
MiniMax M1 80K is the better all-round choice, scoring 47/100 against Kimi K2 Instruct 0905 (38) and Apertus 70B (32). It leads on price, inputs & features and context window. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
- CapabilityNot enough dataNo independent benchmark covers every model here yet
- Lowest priceMiniMax M1 80KMiniMax M1 80K $0.963 · Kimi K2 Instruct 0905 $1.07 · Apertus 70B $1.22 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextMiniMax M1 80KMiniMax M1 80K 1,000,000 · Kimi K2 Instruct 0905 262,144 · Apertus 70B 65,536 tokens
- Widest inputsSame inputsApertus 70B: Text · MiniMax M1 80K: Text · Kimi K2 Instruct 0905: Text
- Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
| Measure | Weight | Apertus 70B | MiniMax M1 80K | Kimi K2 Instruct 0905 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 44 | 48 | 46 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 25 | 35 | 25 |
| Context window | 20% | 12 | 60 | 37 |
| Overall | 100% | 32/100 | 47/100 | 38/100 |
Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | Apertus 70BSwiss AI | MiniMax M1 80KMiniMax | Kimi K2 Instruct 0905Moonshot AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.82 | $0.55 (best) | $0.60 |
| Output | $2.42 | $2.20 (best) | $2.50 |
| Cached input | — | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $1.22 | $0.963 (best) | $1.07 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 3 providers | Median of 5 providers | Median of 12 providers |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 65,536 tokens | 1,000,000 tokens (best) | 262,144 tokens |
| Max output | 8,192 tokens | 80,000 tokens | 98,304 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | No | No |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | Yes | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | OpenApache-2.0 | OpenApache-2.0 | OpenModified MIT |
| API model ID | — | — | — |
| API providers | 3 | 5 | 13 (best) |
| Released | Sep 2, 2025 | Jun 17, 2025 | Sep 5, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Sep 2025 | — | — |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Apertus 70B$13.04
- MiniMax M1 80K$9.90
- Kimi K2 Instruct 0905$11.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Apertus 70B, MiniMax M1 80K or Kimi K2 Instruct 0905?
MiniMax M1 80K is the better all-round choice, scoring 47/100 against Kimi K2 Instruct 0905 (38) and Apertus 70B (32). It leads on price, inputs & features and context window. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
Which is cheaper, Apertus 70B, MiniMax M1 80K or Kimi K2 Instruct 0905?
MiniMax M1 80K is cheaper at $0.55 input / $2.20 output per million tokens (median across 5 API providers). Kimi K2 Instruct 0905 costs $0.60 input / $2.50 output per million tokens (median across 12 API providers); Apertus 70B costs $0.82 input / $2.42 output per million tokens (median across 3 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.963 per million tokens for MiniMax M1 80K versus $1.07 for Kimi K2 Instruct 0905 (1.1× as much) and $1.22 for Apertus 70B (1.3× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Apertus 70B has not been scored yet, MiniMax M1 80K has not been scored yet and Kimi K2 Instruct 0905 has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Apertus 70B, MiniMax M1 80K and Kimi K2 Instruct 0905 yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. All three support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
MiniMax M1 80K has the largest context window at 1,000,000 tokens, against 262,144 for Kimi K2 Instruct 0905 and 65,536 for Apertus 70B. Maximum output per response: Apertus 70B up to 8,192, MiniMax M1 80K up to 80,000, Kimi K2 Instruct 0905 up to 98,304 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Apertus 70B accepts text; MiniMax M1 80K accepts text; Kimi K2 Instruct 0905 accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.
Are any of these open source?
Yes, all three publish their weights (Apache-2.0 and Modified MIT), so you can self-host them.
Which is newer?
Kimi K2 Instruct 0905 is the newest, released Sep 5, 2025. Apertus 70B came out Sep 2, 2025; MiniMax M1 80K came out Jun 17, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Apertus 70B Sep 2025.
How do you decide the winner?
Each model gets a 0–100 score on capability (50%, independent benchmark results); price (25%, blended price per million tokens (3 input : 1 output), log scale); inputs & features (15%, image, PDF, audio and video input, tool calling, structured output and reasoning); context window (10%, maximum tokens per request, log scale). Dimensions missing for any model are dropped and the remaining weights rescaled, so every model is judged on the same evidence. Specs and prices come from public model listings and the labs’ own API pages; capability scores come from independent benchmark runs. Data updated Nov 2, 2026.
