GPT-5.4 nano vs Kimi K2 Thinking vs MiniMax-M2.5
GPT-5.4 nano comes out ahead, 68 to 61 and 58 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
- Our pick
OpenAIGPT-5.4 nano
68/100- ECI145.8
- Price$0.20 / $1.25
- Context400K
Moonshot AIKimi K2 Thinking
58/100- ECI146.0
- Price$0.60 / $2.50
- Context262K
MiniMaxMiniMax-M2.5
61/100- ECI146.7
- Price$0.30 / $1.20
- Context205K
GPT-5.4 nano is our pick
GPT-5.4 nano is the better all-round choice, scoring 68/100 against MiniMax-M2.5 (61) and Kimi K2 Thinking (58). It leads on price, inputs & features and context window. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
- CapabilityMiniMax-M2.5Capabilities Index (ECI): MiniMax-M2.5 146.7 · Kimi K2 Thinking 146.0 · GPT-5.4 nano 145.8
- Lowest priceGPT-5.4 nanoGPT-5.4 nano $0.463 · MiniMax-M2.5 $0.525 · Kimi K2 Thinking $1.07 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextGPT-5.4 nanoGPT-5.4 nano 400,000 · Kimi K2 Thinking 262,144 · MiniMax-M2.5 204,800 tokens
- Widest inputsGPT-5.4 nanoGPT-5.4 nano: Text, Images · Kimi K2 Thinking: Text · MiniMax-M2.5: Text
- Self-hostingKimi K2 Thinking and MiniMax-M2.5Publishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | GPT-5.4 nano | Kimi K2 Thinking | MiniMax-M2.5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI) | 50% | 73 | 73 | 74 |
| Price | 25% | 66 | 48 | 63 |
| Inputs & features | 15% | 70 | 35 | 35 |
| Context window | 10% | 44 | 37 | 32 |
| Overall | 100% | 68/100 | 58/100 | 61/100 |
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | GPT-5.4 nanoOpenAI | Kimi K2 ThinkingMoonshot AI | MiniMax-M2.5MiniMax |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 145.8 | 146.0 | 146.7 (best) |
| ECI rank | #75 of 148 | #72 of 148 | #66 of 148 (best) |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | 78.5% | 84.2% (best) | — |
| FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics | 44.9% | — | — |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | 87.8% (best) | 83.1% | — |
| SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions | 11.7% | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.20 (best) | $0.60 | $0.30 |
| Output | $1.25 | $2.50 | $1.20 (best) |
| Cached input | $0.02 (best) | — | $0.03 |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.463 (best) | $1.07 | $0.525 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official OpenAI API | Median of 10 providers | Official MiniMax (minimax.io) API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 400,000 tokens (best) | 262,144 tokens | 204,800 tokens |
| Max output | 128,000 tokens | 262,144 tokens (best) | 131,072 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | No | No |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yeslow · medium · high · xhigh | Yes | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Open | Open |
| API model ID | gpt-5.4-nano | — | MiniMax-M2.5 |
| API providers | 26 (best) | 10 | 21 |
| Released | Mar 17, 2026 | Nov 6, 2025 | Feb 12, 2026 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Aug 31, 2025 | Aug 2024 | — |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- GPT-5.4 nano$4.50
- Kimi K2 Thinking$11.00
- MiniMax-M2.5$5.40
Which should you choose?
Which is better: GPT-5.4 nano, Kimi K2 Thinking or MiniMax-M2.5?
GPT-5.4 nano is the better all-round choice, scoring 68/100 against MiniMax-M2.5 (61) and Kimi K2 Thinking (58). It leads on price, inputs & features and context window. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
Which is cheaper, GPT-5.4 nano, Kimi K2 Thinking or MiniMax-M2.5?
GPT-5.4 nano is cheaper at $0.20 input / $1.25 output per million tokens (official OpenAI API price). MiniMax-M2.5 costs $0.30 input / $1.20 output per million tokens (official MiniMax (minimax.io) API price); Kimi K2 Thinking costs $0.60 input / $2.50 output per million tokens (median across 10 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.463 per million tokens for GPT-5.4 nano versus $0.525 for MiniMax-M2.5 (1.1× as much) and $1.07 for Kimi K2 Thinking (2.3× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
MiniMax-M2.5 scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): MiniMax-M2.5 146.7 (#66 of 148), Kimi K2 Thinking 146.0 (#72 of 148) and GPT-5.4 nano 145.8 (#75 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (142.3–147.9 vs 143.4–147.6), so treat the gap as small.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for GPT-5.4 nano, Kimi K2 Thinking and MiniMax-M2.5 yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, MiniMax-M2.5 leads, which tends to carry over to coding, but test on your own codebase. All three support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
GPT-5.4 nano has the largest context window at 400,000 tokens, against 262,144 for Kimi K2 Thinking and 204,800 for MiniMax-M2.5. Maximum output per response: GPT-5.4 nano up to 128,000, Kimi K2 Thinking up to 262,144, MiniMax-M2.5 up to 131,072 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
GPT-5.4 nano accepts text and images; Kimi K2 Thinking accepts text; MiniMax-M2.5 accepts text. GPT-5.4 nano handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Kimi K2 Thinking and MiniMax-M2.5 publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; GPT-5.4 nano is proprietary.
Which is newer?
GPT-5.4 nano is the newest, released Mar 17, 2026. MiniMax-M2.5 came out Feb 12, 2026; Kimi K2 Thinking came out Nov 6, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: GPT-5.4 nano Aug 31, 2025, Kimi K2 Thinking Aug 2024.
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 Oct 4, 2026.
Related comparisons
- GPT-5.4 nano vs MiniMax-M2.7MiniMax · ECI 145.9
- GPT-5.4 nano vs Qwen3.6 35B-A3BAlibaba (Qwen) · ECI 143.9
- GPT-5.4 nano vs DeepSeek V3.2DeepSeek · ECI 146.3
- GPT-5.4 nano vs Nemotron 3 Ultra 550B A55BNVIDIA · ECI 146.2
- Kimi K2 Thinking vs Qwen3.5 PlusAlibaba (Qwen) · ECI 146.8
- Kimi K2 Thinking vs GLM-4.7Z.ai (Zhipu) · ECI 143.5
