Kimi K2 Instruct vs Apertus 70B
Kimi K2 Instruct comes out ahead, 36 to 32 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
- Our pick
Moonshot AIKimi K2 Instruct
36/100- ECI139.9
- Price$0.57 / $2.30
- Context131K
Swiss AI
Apertus 70B
32/100- ECI—
- Price$0.82 / $2.42
- Context66K
Add a model
Make it a three-way comparison.
Kimi K2 Instruct is our pick
Kimi K2 Instruct is the better all-round choice, scoring 36/100 against Apertus 70B (32). It leads on price 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 priceKimi K2 InstructKimi K2 Instruct $1.00 · Apertus 70B $1.22 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextKimi K2 InstructKimi K2 Instruct 131,072 · Apertus 70B 65,536 tokens
- Widest inputsSame inputsKimi K2 Instruct: Text · Apertus 70B: Text
- Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
| Measure | Weight | Kimi K2 Instruct | Apertus 70B |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 48 | 44 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 25 | 25 |
| Context window | 20% | 25 | 12 |
| Overall | 100% | 36/100 | 32/100 |
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 | Kimi K2 InstructMoonshot AI | Apertus 70BSwiss AI |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 139.9 | — |
| ECI rank | #112 of 165 | — |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $0.57 (best) | $0.82 |
| Output | $2.30 (best) | $2.42 |
| Cached input | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $1.00 (best) | $1.22 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 11 providers | Median of 3 providers |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 131,072 tokens (best) | 65,536 tokens |
| Max output | 32,768 tokens (best) | 8,192 tokens |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | No |
| PDFs | No | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | OpenModified MIT | OpenApache-2.0 |
| API model ID | — | — |
| API providers | 11 (best) | 3 |
| Released | Jul 11, 2025 | Sep 2, 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.
- Kimi K2 Instruct$10.30
- Apertus 70B$13.04
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Kimi K2 Instruct or Apertus 70B?
Kimi K2 Instruct is the better all-round choice, scoring 36/100 against Apertus 70B (32). It leads on price 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 or Apertus 70B?
Kimi K2 Instruct is cheaper at $0.57 input / $2.30 output per million tokens (median across 11 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 $1.00 per million tokens for Kimi K2 Instruct versus $1.22 for Apertus 70B (1.2× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Kimi K2 Instruct has an ECI of 139.9 and Apertus 70B has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Kimi K2 Instruct and Apertus 70B 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?
Kimi K2 Instruct has the largest context window at 131,072 tokens, against 65,536 for Apertus 70B. Maximum output per response: Kimi K2 Instruct up to 32,768, Apertus 70B up to 8,192 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Kimi K2 Instruct accepts text; Apertus 70B accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.
Are any of these open source?
Yes, both publish their weights (Modified MIT and Apache-2.0), so you can self-host them.
Which is newer?
Apertus 70B is the newest, released Sep 2, 2025. Kimi K2 Instruct came out Jul 11, 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.
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