AI model comparison

Kimi K2 Thinking vs GPT-5 Mini

Pricing, context window, benchmarks, and features compared side by side. Or skip the guesswork and send one prompt to both.

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Moonshot AI

Kimi K2 Thinking

Kimi K2 Thinking is Moonshot AI’s most advanced open reasoning model to date, extending the K2 series into agentic, long-horizon reasoning.

Input / 1M
$0.60
Output / 1M
$2.50
Context
262K

GPT-5 Mini is a compact version of GPT-5, designed to handle lighter-weight reasoning tasks.

Input / 1M
$0.25
Output / 1M
$2
Context
400K

At a glance

Quick verdict

How the two models stack up on the things people ask about most.

Lower price

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GPT-5 Mini

1.6x cheaper for a typical chat

Higher intelligence score

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Kimi K2 Thinking

22 vs 20.6 on Artificial Analysis

Larger context window

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GPT-5 Mini

400K vs 262K tokens

Newer release

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Kimi K2 Thinking

Released November 6, 2025

Benchmarks

Benchmark scores

Independent scores from Artificial Analysis. Higher is better.

Intelligence index

moonshotai logoKimi K2 Thinking22
openai logoGPT-5 Mini20.6

Coding index

moonshotai logoKimi K2 ThinkingNot available
openai logoGPT-5 MiniNot available

Agentic index

moonshotai logoKimi K2 ThinkingNot available
openai logoGPT-5 MiniNot available

Pricing

Kimi K2 Thinking vs GPT-5 Mini API pricing

Per-token API rates. Cheaper option highlighted.

Metricmoonshotai logoKimi K2 Thinkingopenai logoGPT-5 Mini
Input tokensPer 1M tokens$0.60$0.25
Output tokensPer 1M tokens$2.50$2
Cached input (read)Per 1M tokens$0.15$0.03
Cache writePer 1M tokensNot availableNot available
Web searchPer requestNot available$0.01

What it costs in practice

Estimated cost per 1,000 requests at standard rates. Coding and long-document figures also show the cost when the input is already cached.

Chat message

2K in, 500 out

moonshotai logoKimi K2 Thinking$2.45
openai logoGPT-5 Mini$1.50

Coding task

30K in, 4K out

moonshotai logoKimi K2 Thinking$28$14.50 cached
openai logoGPT-5 Mini$15.50$8.75 cached

Long document summary

150K in, 2K out

moonshotai logoKimi K2 Thinking$95$27.50 cached
openai logoGPT-5 Mini$41.50$7.75 cached

Specs

Context window and capabilities

How much each model can read, how much it can write, and what it accepts as input.

Metricmoonshotai logoKimi K2 Thinkingopenai logoGPT-5 Mini
Context window262K tokens400K tokens
Max output98K tokens128K tokens
Input typesTextFile, Image, Text
Output typesTextText
Reasoning effort levelsNot availableHigh, Medium, Low, Minimal
Default reasoning effortNot availableMedium
Release dateNovember 6, 2025August 7, 2025

Features

Supported features

API features available for each model.

Metricmoonshotai logoKimi K2 Thinkingopenai logoGPT-5 Mini
Tool callingSupportedSupported
Structured outputsSupportedSupported
JSON modeSupportedSupported
ReasoningSupportedSupported
TemperatureSupportedNot supported
Stop sequencesSupportedNot supported
Deterministic seedSupportedSupported
Verbosity controlNot supportedSupported

Our take

GPT-5 Mini is 1.6x cheaper for a typical chat. Kimi K2 Thinking scores higher on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index (22 vs 20.6). GPT-5 Mini has the larger context window (400K vs 262K tokens). The right pick depends on your workload, so the quickest way to settle it is to send the same prompt to both and compare.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Is Kimi K2 Thinking or GPT-5 Mini cheaper?

GPT-5 Mini is cheaper for a typical chat (2K input tokens and 500 output tokens). GPT-5 Mini costs $0.25 per 1M input tokens and $2 per 1M output tokens, while Kimi K2 Thinking costs $0.60 per 1M input tokens and $2.50 per 1M output tokens.

Which has a bigger context window, Kimi K2 Thinking or GPT-5 Mini?

GPT-5 Mini supports up to 400K tokens of context, compared with 262K for Kimi K2 Thinking.

Is Kimi K2 Thinking smarter than GPT-5 Mini?

On the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, Kimi K2 Thinking scores 22 and GPT-5 Mini scores 20.6, putting Kimi K2 Thinking ahead. Benchmarks don't capture everything, so the best test is running your own prompts through both.

Can I use Kimi K2 Thinking and GPT-5 Mini at the same time?

Yes. Shortcut Chat sends one prompt to multiple models at once, so you can see Kimi K2 Thinking and GPT-5 Mini answer side by side and keep the better response.

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Why choose? Ask both.

Send one prompt to Kimi K2 Thinking and GPT-5 Mini at the same time. Compare the answers side by side and keep the best one.