MiniMax-M2.5 vs Kimi K2.5 vs GPT-5.4 nano
Too close to call on our weighted score (GPT-5.4 nano 68, Kimi K2.5 65, MiniMax-M2.5 61). The right pick depends on what you value most.
MiniMaxMiniMax-M2.5
61/100- ECI146.7
- Price$0.30 / $1.20
- Context205K
Moonshot AIKimi K2.5
65/100- ECI148.0
- Price$0.60 / $3.00
- Context262K
OpenAIGPT-5.4 nano
68/100- ECI145.8
- Price$0.20 / $1.25
- Context400K
Too close to call
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 3 points (GPT-5.4 nano 68/100, Kimi K2.5 65/100, MiniMax-M2.5 61/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Kimi K2.5 for raw capability, GPT-5.4 nano on price and GPT-5.4 nano for long inputs. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
- CapabilityKimi K2.5Capabilities Index (ECI): Kimi K2.5 148.0 · MiniMax-M2.5 146.7 · GPT-5.4 nano 145.8
- Lowest priceGPT-5.4 nanoGPT-5.4 nano $0.463 · MiniMax-M2.5 $0.525 · Kimi K2.5 $1.20 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextGPT-5.4 nanoGPT-5.4 nano 400,000 · Kimi K2.5 262,144 · MiniMax-M2.5 204,800 tokens
- Widest inputsKimi K2.5MiniMax-M2.5: Text · Kimi K2.5: Text, Images, Video · GPT-5.4 nano: Text, Images
- Self-hostingMiniMax-M2.5 and Kimi K2.5Publishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | MiniMax-M2.5 | Kimi K2.5 | GPT-5.4 nano |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI) | 50% | 74 | 76 | 73 |
| Price | 25% | 63 | 46 | 66 |
| Inputs & features | 15% | 35 | 80 | 70 |
| Context window | 10% | 32 | 37 | 44 |
| Overall | 100% | 61/100 | 65/100 | 68/100 |
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | MiniMax-M2.5MiniMax | Kimi K2.5Moonshot AI | GPT-5.4 nanoOpenAI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 146.7 | 148.0 (best) | 145.8 |
| ECI rank | #66 of 148 | #58 of 148 (best) | #75 of 148 |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | — | 87.6% (best) | 78.5% |
| FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics | — | — | 44.9% |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | — | 92.2% (best) | 87.8% |
| SWE-bench VerifiedFixing real GitHub issues | — | 73.8% | — |
| SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions | — | 34.3% (best) | 11.7% |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.30 | $0.60 | $0.20 (best) |
| Output | $1.20 (best) | $3.00 | $1.25 |
| Cached input | $0.03 | — | $0.02 (best) |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.525 | $1.20 | $0.463 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official MiniMax (minimax.io) API | Median of 21 providers | Official OpenAI API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 204,800 tokens | 262,144 tokens | 400,000 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 131,072 tokens | 262,144 tokens (best) | 128,000 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | Yes | Yes |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | Yes | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yes | Yeslow · medium · high · xhigh |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | Yes | Yes |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Open | Open | Proprietary |
| API model ID | MiniMax-M2.5 | — | gpt-5.4-nano |
| API providers | 21 | 21 | 26 (best) |
| Released | Feb 12, 2026 | Jan 27, 2026 | Mar 17, 2026 |
| Knowledge cutoff | — | Jan 2025 | Aug 31, 2025 |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- MiniMax-M2.5$5.40
- Kimi K2.5$12.00
- GPT-5.4 nano$4.50
Which should you choose?
Which is better: MiniMax-M2.5, Kimi K2.5 or GPT-5.4 nano?
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 3 points (GPT-5.4 nano 68/100, Kimi K2.5 65/100, MiniMax-M2.5 61/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Kimi K2.5 for raw capability, GPT-5.4 nano on price and GPT-5.4 nano for long inputs. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
Which is cheaper, MiniMax-M2.5, Kimi K2.5 or GPT-5.4 nano?
GPT-5.4 nano is cheaper at $0.20 input / $1.25 output per million tokens (official OpenAI API price). MiniMax-M2.5 costs $0.30 input / $1.20 output per million tokens (official MiniMax (minimax.io) API price); Kimi K2.5 costs $0.60 input / $3.00 output per million tokens (median across 21 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.463 per million tokens for GPT-5.4 nano versus $0.525 for MiniMax-M2.5 (1.1× as much) and $1.20 for Kimi K2.5 (2.6× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
Kimi K2.5 scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): Kimi K2.5 148.0 (#58 of 148), MiniMax-M2.5 146.7 (#66 of 148) and GPT-5.4 nano 145.8 (#75 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (146.5–149.3 vs 142.3–147.9), so treat the gap as small.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for MiniMax-M2.5 and GPT-5.4 nano yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, Kimi K2.5 leads, which tends to carry over to coding, but test on your own codebase. All three support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
GPT-5.4 nano has the largest context window at 400,000 tokens, against 262,144 for Kimi K2.5 and 204,800 for MiniMax-M2.5. Maximum output per response: MiniMax-M2.5 up to 131,072, Kimi K2.5 up to 262,144, GPT-5.4 nano up to 128,000 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
MiniMax-M2.5 accepts text; Kimi K2.5 accepts text, images and video; GPT-5.4 nano accepts text and images. Kimi K2.5 handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
MiniMax-M2.5 and Kimi K2.5 publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; GPT-5.4 nano is proprietary.
Which is newer?
GPT-5.4 nano is the newest, released Mar 17, 2026. MiniMax-M2.5 came out Feb 12, 2026; Kimi K2.5 came out Jan 27, 2026. Knowledge cutoff: Kimi K2.5 Jan 2025, GPT-5.4 nano Aug 31, 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 Oct 4, 2026.
