Kimi K2 Thinking Turbo vs MiniMax-M2
Too close to call on our weighted score (Kimi K2 Thinking Turbo 36, MiniMax-M2 34). The right pick depends on what you value most.
Moonshot AIKimi K2 Thinking Turbo
36/100- ECI—
- Price—
- Context262K
MiniMaxMiniMax-M2
34/100- ECI—
- Price$0.30 / $1.20
- Context205K
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Make it a three-way comparison.
Too close to call
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 2 points (Kimi K2 Thinking Turbo 36/100, MiniMax-M2 34/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: MiniMax-M2 on price and Kimi K2 Thinking Turbo for long inputs. The score weighs inputs & features 60%, context window 40%. 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-M2MiniMax-M2 $0.525 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend) · Kimi K2 Thinking Turbo unpriced
- Longest contextKimi K2 Thinking TurboKimi K2 Thinking Turbo 262,144 · MiniMax-M2 204,800 tokens
- Widest inputsSame inputsKimi K2 Thinking Turbo: Text · MiniMax-M2: Text
- Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
| Measure | Weight | Kimi K2 Thinking Turbo | MiniMax-M2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inputs & features | 60% | 35 | 35 |
| Context window | 40% | 37 | 32 |
| Overall | 100% | 36/100 | 34/100 |
Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability and price. 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 Thinking TurboMoonshot AI | MiniMax-M2MiniMax |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | — | $0.30 |
| Output | — | $1.20 |
| Cached input | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | — | $0.525 |
| Long-context rate | — | Same rate |
| Price source | — | Official MiniMax (minimax.io) API |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 262,144 tokens (best) | 204,800 tokens |
| Max output | 262,144 tokens (best) | 131,072 tokens |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | No |
| PDFs | No | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Open | Open |
| API model ID | — | MiniMax-M2 |
| API providers | — | 13 |
| Released | Nov 6, 2025 | Oct 27, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | 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.
- Kimi K2 Thinking Turbo—
- MiniMax-M2$5.40
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Kimi K2 Thinking Turbo or MiniMax-M2?
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 2 points (Kimi K2 Thinking Turbo 36/100, MiniMax-M2 34/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: MiniMax-M2 on price and Kimi K2 Thinking Turbo for long inputs. The score weighs inputs & features 60%, context window 40%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
Which is cheaper, Kimi K2 Thinking Turbo or MiniMax-M2?
MiniMax-M2 is cheaper at $0.30 input / $1.20 output per million tokens (official MiniMax (minimax.io) API price). . At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.525 per million tokens for MiniMax-M2 versus . Kimi K2 Thinking Turbo has no published per-token price.
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Kimi K2 Thinking Turbo has not been scored yet and MiniMax-M2 has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Kimi K2 Thinking Turbo and MiniMax-M2 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 Thinking Turbo has the largest context window at 262,144 tokens, against 204,800 for MiniMax-M2. Maximum output per response: Kimi K2 Thinking Turbo up to 262,144, MiniMax-M2 up to 131,072 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Kimi K2 Thinking Turbo accepts text; MiniMax-M2 accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.
Are any of these open source?
Yes, both publish their weights, so you can self-host them.
Which is newer?
Kimi K2 Thinking Turbo is the newest, released Nov 6, 2025. MiniMax-M2 came out Oct 27, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Kimi K2 Thinking Turbo 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.
