Macaron V1 Venti vs Kimi K2.8 Preview vs Hy4 preview
Kimi K2.8 Preview comes out ahead, 51 to 44 and 44 on our weighted score, though Macaron V1 Venti is 29% cheaper per token.
Mindlab
Macaron V1 Venti
44/100- ECI—
- Price$0.825 / $2.48
- Context1.05M
- Our pick
Moonshot AIKimi K2.8 Preview
51/100- ECI—
- Price$1.00 / $4.00
- Context1.05M
TencentHy4 preview
44/100- ECI—
- Price$0.834 / $2.50
- Context1.02M
Kimi K2.8 Preview is our pick
Kimi K2.8 Preview is the better all-round choice, scoring 51/100 against Macaron V1 Venti (44) and Hy4 preview (44). It leads on inputs & features. 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 priceMacaron V1 VentiMacaron V1 Venti $1.24 · Hy4 preview $1.25 · Kimi K2.8 Preview $1.75 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextMacaron V1 Venti and Kimi K2.8 PreviewMacaron V1 Venti 1,048,576 · Kimi K2.8 Preview 1,048,576 · Hy4 preview 1,024,000 tokens
- Widest inputsKimi K2.8 PreviewMacaron V1 Venti: Text · Kimi K2.8 Preview: Text, Images, Video · Hy4 preview: Text
- Self-hostingMacaron V1 Venti and Hy4 previewPublishes downloadable weights (MIT)
| Measure | Weight | Macaron V1 Venti | Kimi K2.8 Preview | Hy4 preview |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 44 | 37 | 43 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 35 | 70 | 35 |
| Context window | 20% | 61 | 61 | 60 |
| Overall | 100% | 44/100 | 51/100 | 44/100 |
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 | Macaron V1 VentiMindlab | Kimi K2.8 PreviewMoonshot AI | Hy4 previewTencent |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.825 (best) | $1.00 | $0.834 |
| Output | $2.48 (best) | $4.00 | $2.50 |
| Cached input | — | — | $0.042 |
| Blended (3:1) | $1.24 (best) | $1.75 | $1.25 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Median of 1 providers | Median of 2 providers | Official Tencent TokenHub API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 1,048,576 tokens (best) | 1,048,576 tokens (best) | 1,024,000 tokens |
| Max output | 131,072 tokens (best) | — | 64,000 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | Yes | No |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | Yes | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yes | Yeshigh |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | OpenMIT | Proprietary | Open |
| API model ID | — | — | hy4-preview |
| API providers | 1 | 2 | 17 (best) |
| Released | Jul 21, 2026 | Sep 11, 2026 | Aug 28, 2026 |
| Knowledge cutoff | — | — | — |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Macaron V1 Venti$13.20
- Kimi K2.8 Preview$18.00
- Hy4 preview$13.34
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Macaron V1 Venti, Kimi K2.8 Preview or Hy4 preview?
Kimi K2.8 Preview is the better all-round choice, scoring 51/100 against Macaron V1 Venti (44) and Hy4 preview (44). It leads on inputs & features. 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, Macaron V1 Venti, Kimi K2.8 Preview or Hy4 preview?
Macaron V1 Venti is cheaper at $0.825 input / $2.48 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider). Hy4 preview costs $0.834 input / $2.50 output per million tokens (official Tencent TokenHub API price); Kimi K2.8 Preview costs $1.00 input / $4.00 output per million tokens (median across 2 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $1.24 per million tokens for Macaron V1 Venti versus $1.25 for Hy4 preview (1× as much) and $1.75 for Kimi K2.8 Preview (1.4× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Macaron V1 Venti has not been scored yet, Kimi K2.8 Preview has not been scored yet and Hy4 preview has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Macaron V1 Venti, Kimi K2.8 Preview and Hy4 preview yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. All three support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
Macaron V1 Venti and Kimi K2.8 Preview have the largest context windows (1,048,576 and 1,048,576 tokens), against 1,024,000 for Hy4 preview. Maximum output per response: Macaron V1 Venti up to 131,072, Hy4 preview up to 64,000 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Macaron V1 Venti accepts text; Kimi K2.8 Preview accepts text, images and video; Hy4 preview accepts text. Kimi K2.8 Preview handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
Macaron V1 Venti and Hy4 preview publishes its weights (MIT) and can be self-hosted; Kimi K2.8 Preview is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Kimi K2.8 Preview is the newest, released Sep 11, 2026. Hy4 preview came out Aug 28, 2026; Macaron V1 Venti came out Jul 21, 2026.
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.
