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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

Kimi K2 Instruct 0905 vs Gemini 2.5 Flash

Gemini 2.5 Flash comes out ahead, 68 to 38 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Moonshot AI

    Kimi K2 Instruct 0905

    Released Sep 5, 2025

    38/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.60 / $2.50
    • Context262K
    Full specs Remove Kimi K2 Instruct 0905
  2. Our pick

    Google

    Gemini 2.5 Flash

    Released Jun 17, 2025

    68/100
    • ECI140.6
    • Price$0.30 / $2.50
    • Context1.05M
    Full specs Remove Gemini 2.5 Flash

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Gemini 2.5 Flash is our pick

Gemini 2.5 Flash is the better all-round choice, scoring 68/100 against Kimi K2 Instruct 0905 (38). 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 priceGemini 2.5 FlashGemini 2.5 Flash $0.85 · Kimi K2 Instruct 0905 $1.07 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextGemini 2.5 FlashGemini 2.5 Flash 1,048,576 · Kimi K2 Instruct 0905 262,144 tokens
  • Widest inputsGemini 2.5 FlashKimi K2 Instruct 0905: Text · Gemini 2.5 Flash: Text, Images, PDFs, Audio, Video
  • Self-hostingKimi K2 Instruct 0905Publishes downloadable weights (Modified MIT)
How the score is built
MeasureWeightKimi K2 Instruct 0905Gemini 2.5 Flash
Price50%4651
Inputs & features30%25100
Context window20%3761
Overall100%38/10068/100

Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.

02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.

Kimi K2 Instruct 0905 vs Gemini 2.5 Flash specifications side by side
SpecificationKimi K2 Instruct 0905Moonshot AIGemini 2.5 FlashGoogle
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)—140.6
ECI rank—#110 of 165
Price per million tokens
Input$0.60$0.30 (best)
Output$2.50$2.50
Cached input—$0.03
Blended (3:1)$1.07$0.85 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceMedian of 12 providersOfficial Google API
Limits
Context window262,144 tokens1,048,576 tokens (best)
Max output98,304 tokens (best)65,536 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoYes
PDFsNoYes
AudioNoYes
VideoNoYes
ReasoningNoYes
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoYes
Availability
WeightsOpenModified MITProprietary
API model ID—gemini-2.5-flash
API providers1332 (best)
ReleasedSep 5, 2025Jun 17, 2025
Knowledge cutoff—Jan 2025
03 — Cost

What would a month cost?

Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.

  • Kimi K2 Instruct 0905$11.00
  • Gemini 2.5 Flash$8.00
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Kimi K2 Instruct 0905 or Gemini 2.5 Flash?

Gemini 2.5 Flash is the better all-round choice, scoring 68/100 against Kimi K2 Instruct 0905 (38). 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, Kimi K2 Instruct 0905 or Gemini 2.5 Flash?

Gemini 2.5 Flash is cheaper at $0.30 input / $2.50 output per million tokens (official Google API price). Kimi K2 Instruct 0905 costs $0.60 input / $2.50 output per million tokens (median across 12 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.85 per million tokens for Gemini 2.5 Flash versus $1.07 for Kimi K2 Instruct 0905 (1.3× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Kimi K2 Instruct 0905 has not been scored yet and Gemini 2.5 Flash has an ECI of 140.6.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Kimi K2 Instruct 0905 and Gemini 2.5 Flash yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.

Which has the bigger context window?

Gemini 2.5 Flash has the largest context window at 1,048,576 tokens, against 262,144 for Kimi K2 Instruct 0905. Maximum output per response: Kimi K2 Instruct 0905 up to 98,304, Gemini 2.5 Flash up to 65,536 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Kimi K2 Instruct 0905 accepts text; Gemini 2.5 Flash accepts text, images, PDFs, audio and video. Gemini 2.5 Flash handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

Kimi K2 Instruct 0905 publishes its weights (Modified MIT) and can be self-hosted; Gemini 2.5 Flash is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Kimi K2 Instruct 0905 is the newest, released Sep 5, 2025. Gemini 2.5 Flash came out Jun 17, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Gemini 2.5 Flash Jan 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.

05 — Keep comparing

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