Intelligence
44 scoreKimi · Flagships Analysis
Kimi K2.6
Intelligence, Performance & Price Analysis
Canonical slug: kimi-k2-6 · Canonical model registry at build time
Speed
76.2 output tokens/secLatency
2.37s TTFTInput Price
$0.95 / 1M tokensOutput Price
$4.00 / 1M tokensVerbosity
170M Output tokens from Intelligence Index 4 out of 4 units for Verbosity . CompExecutive Assessment
Routing Verdict & Tradeoffs
Ethen Routing Verdict
Frontier research / complex reasoning
Kimi K2.6 scores 44 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, placing it well above average among other open weight models of similar size (median: 25). Kimi K2.6 generates output at 76.2 tokens per second (based on Kimi's API), which is above average compared to other open weight models of similar size (median: 61.7 t/s). Kimi K2.6 costs $0.95 per 1M input tokens (somewhat higher than average, median: $0.59) and $4.00 per 1M output tokens (at the higher end, median: $2.20), based on Kimi's API.
Reserve this model for the hardest requests; simpler or repetitive work should stay on cheaper routes.
Task Fit Assessment
| Workload | Rating | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Complex reasoning & agentic workflows | optimal | Intelligence score 44 places this model among top performers. Suitable for multi-step analysis and agentic loops. |
| High-volume chat & customer-facing | optimal | Output speed 76.2 tokens/sec is adequate for chat. |
| Latency-sensitive applications | optimal | TTFT 2.37s — adequate latency for most interactive use cases. |
| Cost-sensitive pipelines | viable | Output pricing at $4.00 is premium. Route high-volume simple tasks to cheaper alternatives. |
Cost Pressure Analysis
Medium
Pricing is moderate — input $0.95, output $4.00. Costs accumulate at volume but are manageable for valuable tasks.
Technical Specifications
Architecture and Limits
| Specification | Value | Validation Authority |
|---|---|---|
| Model type | Open weights | inferred |
| Reasoning | Yes | faq |
| Input modalities | Kimi K2.6 supports text, image, and video input. | faq |
| Output modalities | Kimi K2.6 supports text output. | faq |
| Context window | 260k tokens | faq |
| Open weights / source | Yes, Kimi K2.6 is open weights. The model weights are publicly available and can be downloaded for self-hosting. | faq |
| Parameters | Kimi K2.6 has 1 trillion parameters (32 billion active). | faq |
| Active parameters | Kimi K2.6 is a Mixture of Experts (MoE) model with 1 trillion total parameters, but only 32 billion active parameters are used during inference. | faq |
| License | Kimi K2.6 is released under the Modified MIT license. This license allows commercial use. | faq |
| API availability | Yes, Kimi K2.6 is available via API through 16 providers. | faq |
Evidence charts
Profile visualizations
Charts are the same canonical evidence cards previously published for this slug, contained inside the D18D page grammar.
AA-Omniscience Index
AA-Omniscience Index (higher is better) measures knowledge reliability and hallucination. It rewards correct answers, penalizes hallucinations, and has no penalty for refusing to answer. Scores range from -100 to 100, where 0 means as many correct as incorrect answers, and negative scores mean more incorrect than correct. · Evaluation results measured independently by Artificial Analysis
Retrieved 2026-07-08
Chart source and provenance are listed in Methodology & sources below.
- Source:
- Published benchmark dataset
- Retrieval date:
- 2026-07-08
- Methodology:
- Independent test run by Artificial Analysis on dedicated hardware.
Bars intentionally show many models at once so the page feels like a benchmark report rather than a dashboard.
Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index by Open Weights / Proprietary
Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index v4.1 incorporates 9 evaluations: GDPval-AA v2, 𝜏³-Banking, Terminal-Bench v2.1, SciCode, Humanity's Last Exam, GPQA Diamond, CritPt, AA-Omniscience, AA-LCR · Evaluation results measured independently by Artificial Analysis
Retrieved 2026-07-08
Chart source and provenance are listed in Methodology & sources below.
- Source:
- Published benchmark dataset
- Retrieval date:
- 2026-07-08
- Methodology:
- Independent test run by Artificial Analysis on dedicated hardware.
Higher values indicate stronger overall capability. Bars show how models compare on composite intelligence metrics.
Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index
Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index v4.1 incorporates 9 evaluations: GDPval-AA v2, 𝜏³-Banking, Terminal-Bench v2.1, SciCode, Humanity's Last Exam, GPQA Diamond, CritPt, AA-Omniscience, AA-LCR · Evaluation results measured independently by Artificial Analysis
Retrieved 2026-07-08
Chart source and provenance are listed in Methodology & sources below.
- Source:
- Published benchmark dataset
- Retrieval date:
- 2026-07-08
- Methodology:
- Independent test run by Artificial Analysis on dedicated hardware.
Higher values indicate stronger overall capability. Bars show how models compare on composite intelligence metrics.
Artificial Analysis Openness Index: Score
Openness Index assesses model openness on a 0 to 100 normalized scale (higher is more open) · Evaluation results measured independently by Artificial Analysis
Retrieved 2026-07-08
Chart source and provenance are listed in Methodology & sources below.
- Source:
- Published benchmark dataset
- Retrieval date:
- 2026-07-08
- Methodology:
- Independent test run by Artificial Analysis on dedicated hardware.
Bars intentionally show many models at once so the page feels like a benchmark report rather than a dashboard.
Intelligence
Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index · Higher is better · Evaluation results measured independently by Artificial Analysis
Retrieved 2026-07-08
Chart source and provenance are listed in Methodology & sources below.
- Source:
- Published benchmark dataset
- Retrieval date:
- 2026-07-08
- Methodology:
- Independent test run by Artificial Analysis on dedicated hardware.
Higher values indicate stronger overall capability. Bars show how models compare on composite intelligence metrics.
Output Speed
Output tokens per second · Higher is better · Evaluation results measured independently by Artificial Analysis
Retrieved 2026-07-08
Chart source and provenance are listed in Methodology & sources below.
- Source:
- Published benchmark dataset
- Retrieval date:
- 2026-07-08
- Methodology:
- Independent test run by Artificial Analysis on dedicated hardware.
Speed should be read together with latency and cost; fast output does not always mean better user-perceived performance.
Speed
Output tokens per second · Higher is better · Evaluation results measured independently by Artificial Analysis
Retrieved 2026-07-08
Chart source and provenance are listed in Methodology & sources below.
- Source:
- Published benchmark dataset
- Retrieval date:
- 2026-07-08
- Methodology:
- Independent test run by Artificial Analysis on dedicated hardware.
Speed should be read together with latency and cost; fast output does not always mean better user-perceived performance.
End-to-End Response Time
Seconds to output 500 tokens, including reasoning model 'thinking' time · Lower is better · Evaluation results measured independently by Artificial Analysis
Retrieved 2026-07-08
Chart source and provenance are listed in Methodology & sources below.
- Source:
- Published benchmark dataset
- Retrieval date:
- 2026-07-08
- Methodology:
- Independent test run by Artificial Analysis on dedicated hardware.
Bars intentionally show many models at once so the page feels like a benchmark report rather than a dashboard.
Latency: Time To First Answer Token
Seconds to first answer token received · Accounts for reasoning model 'thinking' time · Evaluation results measured independently by Artificial Analysis
Retrieved 2026-07-08
Chart source and provenance are listed in Methodology & sources below.
- Source:
- Published benchmark dataset
- Retrieval date:
- 2026-07-08
- Methodology:
- Independent test run by Artificial Analysis on dedicated hardware.
Latency includes thinking / reasoning time when applicable. Lower is better for interactive use cases.
Context Window
Context window: tokens limit · Higher is better · Evaluation results measured independently by Artificial Analysis
Retrieved 2026-07-08
Chart source and provenance are listed in Methodology & sources below.
- Source:
- Published benchmark dataset
- Retrieval date:
- 2026-07-08
- Methodology:
- Independent test run by Artificial Analysis on dedicated hardware.
Larger context windows enable complex multi-turn tasks but may increase latency and cost for long inputs.
Cost per Intelligence Index Task
Weighted average cost (USD) per Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index task, segmented by token type. Lower is better · Evaluation results measured independently by Artificial Analysis
Retrieved 2026-07-08
Chart source and provenance are listed in Methodology & sources below.
- Source:
- Published benchmark dataset
- Retrieval date:
- 2026-07-08
- Methodology:
- Independent test run by Artificial Analysis on dedicated hardware.
Higher values indicate stronger overall capability. Bars show how models compare on composite intelligence metrics.
Ethen Gateway should route away from this model when the task is simple, repetitive, or likely to generate many output tokens.
Cost per Task
Weighted average cost (USD) per Intelligence Index task · Lower is better · Evaluation results measured independently by Artificial Analysis
Retrieved 2026-07-08
Chart source and provenance are listed in Methodology & sources below.
- Source:
- Published benchmark dataset
- Retrieval date:
- 2026-07-08
- Methodology:
- Independent test run by Artificial Analysis on dedicated hardware.
Ethen Gateway should route away from this model when the task is simple, repetitive, or likely to generate many output tokens.
Cost to Run Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index
Cost (USD) to run all evaluations in the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index · Evaluation results measured independently by Artificial Analysis
Retrieved 2026-07-08
Chart source and provenance are listed in Methodology & sources below.
- Source:
- Published benchmark dataset
- Retrieval date:
- 2026-07-08
- Methodology:
- Independent test run by Artificial Analysis on dedicated hardware.
Higher values indicate stronger overall capability. Bars show how models compare on composite intelligence metrics.
Ethen Gateway should route away from this model when the task is simple, repetitive, or likely to generate many output tokens.
Pricing: Cache Hit, Input, and Output
Price (USD per M Tokens) · Evaluation results measured independently by Artificial Analysis
Retrieved 2026-07-08
Chart source and provenance are listed in Methodology & sources below.
- Source:
- Published benchmark dataset
- Retrieval date:
- 2026-07-08
- Methodology:
- Independent test run by Artificial Analysis on dedicated hardware.
Bars intentionally show many models at once so the page feels like a benchmark report rather than a dashboard.
Time per Intelligence Index Task
Weighted average decode time (minutes) per task; excludes TTFT and overhead time · Lower is better · Evaluation results measured independently by Artificial Analysis
Retrieved 2026-07-08
Chart source and provenance are listed in Methodology & sources below.
- Source:
- Published benchmark dataset
- Retrieval date:
- 2026-07-08
- Methodology:
- Independent test run by Artificial Analysis on dedicated hardware.
Higher values indicate stronger overall capability. Bars show how models compare on composite intelligence metrics.
Model Size: Total and Active Parameters
Comparison between total model parameters and parameters active during inference · Evaluation results measured independently by Artificial Analysis
Retrieved 2026-07-08
Chart source and provenance are listed in Methodology & sources below.
- Source:
- Published benchmark dataset
- Retrieval date:
- 2026-07-08
- Methodology:
- Independent test run by Artificial Analysis on dedicated hardware.
Larger models generally perform better but cost more to serve. Active parameter count matters for inference efficiency.
Output Tokens per Intelligence Index Task
Weighted average number of output tokens used to run one task in the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index · Evaluation results measured independently by Artificial Analysis
Retrieved 2026-07-08
Chart source and provenance are listed in Methodology & sources below.
- Source:
- Published benchmark dataset
- Retrieval date:
- 2026-07-08
- Methodology:
- Independent test run by Artificial Analysis on dedicated hardware.
Higher values indicate stronger overall capability. Bars show how models compare on composite intelligence metrics.
Methodology
Methodology & Provenance
This page is rendered from the normalized profile and page JSON for Kimi K2.6.
Benchmark values are preserved as normalized; only layout, disclosure ordering, and typography are adjusted for readability.
Frequently Asked Questions
Model FAQs & Technical Disclosures
Kimi K2.6 was released on April 20, 2026.
Kimi K2.6 was created by Kimi.
Kimi K2.6 scores 44 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, placing it well above average among other open weight models of similar size (median: 25).
Kimi K2.6 generates output at 76.2 tokens per second (based on Kimi's API), which is above average compared to other open weight models of similar size (median: 61.7 t/s).
Kimi K2.6 has a time to first token (TTFT) of 2.37s (based on Kimi's API), which is somewhat higher than average compared to other open weight models of similar size (median: 2.01s).
Kimi K2.6 costs $0.95 per 1M input tokens (somewhat higher than average, median: $0.59) and $4.00 per 1M output tokens (at the higher end, median: $2.20), based on Kimi's API.
Kimi K2.6 costs $0.95 per 1M input tokens and $4.00 per 1M output tokens (based on Kimi's API). For a blended rate (7:2:1 cache hit/input/output ratio), this is $0.70 per 1M tokens. Pricing may vary by provider.
When evaluated on the Intelligence Index, Kimi K2.6 generated 170M output tokens, which is at the higher end compared to other open weight models of similar size (median: 92M).
Yes, Kimi K2.6 is a reasoning model. It uses extended thinking or chain-of-thought reasoning to work through complex problems before providing an answer.
Kimi K2.6 supports text, image, and video input.
Kimi K2.6 supports text output.
Yes, Kimi K2.6 supports image input and can analyze, describe, and answer questions about images.
Yes, Kimi K2.6 is multimodal. It can process text, image, and video input and generate text output.
Kimi K2.6 has a context window of 260k tokens. This determines how much text and conversation history the model can process in a single request.
Yes, Kimi K2.6 is open weights. The model weights are publicly available and can be downloaded for self-hosting.
Kimi K2.6 has 1 trillion parameters (32 billion active).
Kimi K2.6 is a Mixture of Experts (MoE) model with 1 trillion total parameters, but only 32 billion active parameters are used during inference.
Kimi K2.6 is released under the Modified MIT license. This license allows commercial use.
Kimi K2.6 achieves a score of 44 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index. This composite benchmark evaluates models across reasoning, knowledge, mathematics, and coding.
Yes, Kimi K2.6 is available via API through 16 providers.
Kimi K2.6 is available through 16 API providers.