Kimi K2 Thinking vs MiniMax-M2.5
MiniMax-M2.5 comes out ahead, 61 to 58 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
Moonshot AIKimi K2 Thinking
58/100- ECI146.0
- Price$0.60 / $2.50
- Context262K
- Our pick
MiniMaxMiniMax-M2.5
61/100- ECI146.7
- Price$0.30 / $1.20
- Context205K
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Make it a three-way comparison.
MiniMax-M2.5 is our pick
MiniMax-M2.5 is the better all-round choice, scoring 61/100 against Kimi K2 Thinking (58). It leads on price. Kimi K2 Thinking wins on 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
- Lowest priceMiniMax-M2.5MiniMax-M2.5 $0.525 · Kimi K2 Thinking $1.07 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextKimi K2 ThinkingKimi K2 Thinking 262,144 · MiniMax-M2.5 204,800 tokens
- Widest inputsSame inputsKimi K2 Thinking: Text · MiniMax-M2.5: Text
- Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
| Measure | Weight | Kimi K2 Thinking | MiniMax-M2.5 |
|---|---|---|---|
| CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI) | 50% | 73 | 74 |
| Price | 25% | 48 | 63 |
| Inputs & features | 15% | 35 | 35 |
| Context window | 10% | 37 | 32 |
| Overall | 100% | 58/100 | 61/100 |
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | Kimi K2 ThinkingMoonshot AI | MiniMax-M2.5MiniMax |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 146.0 | 146.7 (best) |
| ECI rank | #72 of 148 | #66 of 148 (best) |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | 84.2% | — |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | 83.1% | — |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $0.60 | $0.30 (best) |
| Output | $2.50 | $1.20 (best) |
| Cached input | — | $0.03 |
| Blended (3:1) | $1.07 | $0.525 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 10 providers | 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-M2.5 |
| API providers | 10 | 21 (best) |
| Released | Nov 6, 2025 | Feb 12, 2026 |
| 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$11.00
- MiniMax-M2.5$5.40
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Kimi K2 Thinking or MiniMax-M2.5?
MiniMax-M2.5 is the better all-round choice, scoring 61/100 against Kimi K2 Thinking (58). It leads on price. Kimi K2 Thinking wins on context window. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
Which is cheaper, Kimi K2 Thinking or MiniMax-M2.5?
MiniMax-M2.5 is cheaper at $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 $0.525 per million tokens for MiniMax-M2.5 versus $1.07 for Kimi K2 Thinking (2× 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) and Kimi K2 Thinking 146.0 (#72 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 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. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
Kimi K2 Thinking has the largest context window at 262,144 tokens, against 204,800 for MiniMax-M2.5. Maximum output per response: Kimi K2 Thinking up to 262,144, MiniMax-M2.5 up to 131,072 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Kimi K2 Thinking accepts text; MiniMax-M2.5 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?
MiniMax-M2.5 is the newest, released Feb 12, 2026. Kimi K2 Thinking came out Nov 6, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: 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.
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