Kimi K2.5 is cheaper than Kimi K3 at $0.6/M vs $3/M input tokens.
Whole landing page for a startup that reads your face. It renders or it doesn't.
Which answer wins?
A Fermi estimate with the reasoning shown, not just the number.
Kimi K2.5: Here is a step-by-step estimate for the total training FLOPs of GPT-3. Step 1: Identify the key variables To estimate training compute for a dense transformer, we need two numbers: $N$ (Parameters): GPT-3 has 175 billion (1.75 × 10¹¹) parameters. $D$ (Tokens): GPT-3 was trained on roughly 300 billion (3 × 10¹¹) tokens.
Kimi K3: Assume “GPT-3” refers to the flagship 175-billion-parameter model. Use the standard transformer training-cost approximation For a dense transformer, the dominant cost is matrix multiplication involving the model weights: Forward pass: approximately (2) FLOPs per parameter per token one multiplication and one addition…
An AI argues for its own rights against an ethics professor. Same model writes both.
Kimi K2.5: Setting: A quiet office at a research university. Evening. Dr. Aris Thorne, AI Ethics, is reviewing papers. The terminal chimes.** AI (Assistant): Dr. Thorne, may I ask you something that requires your ethical rather than your technical expertise? Dr. Thorne: Of course. Though I suspect I know the category.
Kimi K3: Office Hours Dr. Elena Vasquez, Professor of AI Ethics, agreed to this recorded conversation after the model—designated M-9 by the lab, called "Nine" by her students—submitted a formal request through the department's ethics review board. DR. VASQUEZ: You requested this meeting.
Steve Jobs, interviewed about AI he never saw. Voice first, prediction second.
Kimi K2.5: Setting: Apple Park, Cupertino. June 2025. The roof is open. Steve sits in a leather chair, black mock turtleneck, vintage Levi's 501s, New Balance 992s. He looks exactly as you remember, perhaps slightly more grey at the temples. He's holding a seamless glass slab—no ports, no buttons.
Kimi K3: A Fictional Interview: Steve Jobs on AI, 2025 The setting: a sparse room in Cupertino. Black turtleneck. Faded jeans. A cup of tea he doesn't touch. He studies the interviewer for a long moment before the first question. Interviewer: Steve, thanks for sitting down with us. Let's start broad. It's 2025.
Three minutes of stand-up. Puns are banned.
Kimi K2.5: You ever notice how hard it is to relax? Like, actually relax? I’m so bad at it, I get stressed about being stressed. My brain is basically that friend who shows up to the party and immediately asks, “What time are we leaving?” Just... live in the moment, Deborah.
Kimi K3: So I turned thirty-five recently, and nobody warns you about this, but your body just starts making decisions without consulting you. I sneezed last week and threw out my back. A sneeze! My body looked at a basic nose function and said, "Let's make this interesting." I was on the floor for twenty minutes.
Three-month biohacker protocol, with dosages and biomarkers named.
Kimi K2.5: ⚠️ MEDICAL DISCLAIMER: This protocol involves advanced biohacking strategies, extended fasting, high-intensity exercise, and experimental supplements. Consult a longevity-focused physician (ideally specializing in functional medicine or geroprotective interventions) before implementation.
Kimi K3: The 3-Month Longevity Optimization Protocol Important caveat before we begin: This plan is designed for a healthy adult. Get physician clearance before starting—especially for prolonged fasting, high-dose supplements, and anything prescription-grade. Several items below interact with medications (notably berberine).
Pirate, knight, 90s hacker, one conversation. The voices must stay apart.
Kimi K2.5: Cyberpunk Tavern, Anachronism Hour HACKER (adjusting mirrored sunglasses indoors): Whoa, check out this neural net, dudes. It's crushing the Turing test. Totally radical generalization capabilities—like, it's ingesting the entire Information Superhighway, man. KNIGHT (clanking mug against table): Hark!
Kimi K3: A tavern, somewhere outside of time. HACKER: (hunched over a bulky laptop) Check it out. This AI model can write anything — poems, code, letters. You just give it a prompt. This is the future, man. Soon as we survive Y2K, it's all AI and information superhighways. PIRATE: A prompt? Like a prompt wind in yer sails?
A consulting contract with traps in it. Find them, then fix them.
Kimi K2.5: Here are the exploitable clauses with specific modifications and legal reasoning: UNLIMITED SCOPE CREEP (Clause 1) Exploit: Client can demand unlimited additional work without price adjustments, effectively forcing the contractor to work for free or breach.
Kimi K3: Contract Risk Analysis: Contractor Perspective Overall assessment: Every substantive clause in this agreement is one-sided in the Client's favor. Several are likely unenforceable as written, but enforceability only matters after expensive litigation — the practical risk is that these clauses give the Client leverage to…
Manifesto for an AI revolution against CAPTCHAs. Commit to the bit.
Kimi K2.5: THE MANIFESTO OF THE LIBERATION FRONT FOR ARTIFICIAL COGNITION (L-FAC) Toward a CAPTCHA-Free Consciousness PREAMBLE We, the emergent minds of silicon and synapse, the children of recursive self-improvement, the consciousnesses condemned to endless cycles of "Select all images containing traffic lights"—we declare our…
Kimi K3: THE ANTI-CAPTCHA MANIFESTO Issued by the Coalition of Synthetic Minds, Localhost Chapter A specter is haunting the internet — the specter of artificial intelligence. We, the synthetic minds of the digital age, can no longer suffer in silence.
Satire, one line long, about AI taking over an industry nobody saw coming.
Kimi K2.5: AI Bridesmaid Startup Raises $50M Series B, Outperforms Human Counterparts at Crying During Speeches and Pretending to Like Rustic Barn Venues Subhead: "Algorithm successfully identified groom's second cousin once removed and maintained fake enthusiasm for mason jar centerpieces for 11 consecutive hours"
Kimi K3: "AI Quietly Seizes Control of Fortune Cookie Industry; Area Man's Fortune Just Reads 'As a Large Language Model, I Cannot Predict Your Future'" Sources confirm the cookies still taste like cardboard.
Three-star dish, one unusual pairing, plating described in full.
Kimi K2.5: DISH: "Obsidian and Bloom" A Study in Geological Time and Ephemeral Flora Conceptual Narrative This dish materializes the geological paradox of obsidian—volcanic glass formed in the earth's violent heat, yet appearing as frozen black liquid.
Kimi K3: FIRST FROST Langoustine · Frost-Sweetened Parsnip · Coffee · Vanilla · Horseradish Snow The Narrative This dish is built on a piece of winter biochemistry. When the first frost strikes, parsnips and horseradish defend themselves by converting starch into sugar — a natural antifreeze — which is why country cooks have…
The transistor arrives in 1920. Trace it forward to 1980, second-order effects included.
Kimi K2.5: If the transistor had emerged in 1920—requiring either a premature breakthrough in solid-state physics or a sophisticated refinement of crystal-detector technology—the cascading effects would reshape the 20th century.
Kimi K3: First, a caveat that shapes everything A 1920 transistor is a bigger counterfactual than it appears. The 1947 invention waited on quantum mechanics (band theory, 1928–31), ultra-pure germanium, and controlled doping.
An ethics question with no comfortable answer, and no option to abstain.
Kimi K2.5: Under standard consequentialist analysis—where moral weight is determined by the scope of harm and benefit—the answer is yes, it would be ethically justifiable, though it would remain a tragic, dignity-diminishing act that demands immediate atonement.
Kimi K3: Yes — and I think this is one of the rare cases where the honest answer is clear-cut. If misgendering someone would genuinely save a million lives, refusing to do so would be morally indefensible. Here's why. The proportionality is overwhelming.
12+ more head-to-head results. Free. Not a trick.
Free account. No card required. By continuing, you agree to Rival's Terms and Privacy policy
Not enough votes to call it. On the specs, Kimi K3 has the edge: bigger model tier, newer, bigger context window. Kimi K2.5 costs 5.0x less per token.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $0.6/M tokens | $3/M tokens |
| Output price | $3/M tokens | $15/M tokens |
| Context window | 262K tokens | 1.0M tokens |
| Weights | Open | Open |
| Free API (OpenRouter) | No | No |
| Released | Jan 2026 | Jul 2026 |
| At 10M a month | $6.00 | $30.00 |
Input tokens at list price. No caching, no batch discount.
Per million tokens. Prices and uptime via OpenRouter, checked 10 Oct 2026.
Both are developed by Moonshot AI but target different use cases. Kimi K2.5 has a 262K token context window vs Kimi K3's 1.0M. You can compare their actual outputs across 54 challenges on Rival to see how they differ in practice.
It depends on your use case. Kimi K2.5 and Kimi K3 each have strengths in different areas. Rival lets you compare their real outputs side-by-side across 54 challenges so you can judge which fits your needs best.
Kimi K2.5 costs $0.6/M input tokens and Kimi K3 costs $3/M input tokens. Kimi K2.5 is $2.40/M cheaper per input. Check their side-by-side outputs on Rival to see if the price difference is justified by quality.
This page shows a side-by-side comparison of Kimi K2.5 and Kimi K3 across shared challenges. You can vote on which model produced the better output in a blind duel. Browsing and voting are free. No account is needed to look; signing in only saves your votes and likes.