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Head-to-head comparison

Kimi K2 Thinking vs GPT-5.6 Terra

Kimi K2 Thinking (Moonshot AI) and GPT-5.6 Terra (OpenAI) compared on the ModelCap Index, API price, context window, provider availability, weight access and every public benchmark board they share. Figures are the same ones shown on the live rankings; nothing here is a hidden score.

Snapshot as of 18 August 2026

As of 18 August 2026, GPT-5.6 Terra holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#12 vs #32); Kimi K2 Thinking is 4.8× cheaper per output token ($2.50/1M vs $12.00/1M); and GPT-5.6 Terra offers the longer context window (1M vs 262K tokens).

Which should you choose?

Choose Kimi K2 Thinking if…

  • API cost matters — $2.50/1M output tokens against $12.00/1M, about 4.8× cheaper.
  • your workload is prompt-heavy — input tokens cost $0.60/1M against $2.00/1M.

Choose GPT-5.6 Terra if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #12 against #32 (73.6 vs 58.5 points).
  • you need the longer context window — 1M tokens against 262K.
  • you want provider choice — 3 listed API providers against 2.
  • Arena coding is your yardstick — 1516 against 1486.
  • Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index is your yardstick — 56.6 against 33.5.
  • you want the more recently listed model — GPT-5.6 Terra was listed 9 July 2026, Kimi K2 Thinking 6 November 2025.

Kimi K2 Thinking vs GPT-5.6 Terra: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of Kimi K2 Thinking and GPT-5.6 Terra
FieldKimi K2 ThinkingMoonshot AIGPT-5.6 TerraOpenAI
ModelCap Index position#32#12
Index score58.573.6
EvidenceMeasuredMeasured
Input price / 1M tokens$0.60$2.00
Output price / 1M tokens$2.50$12.00
Context window262K tokens1M tokens
Max output tokens100K128K
API providers listed23
Weight accessRestricted licenseAPI only
Input modalitiesTextFile, Image, Text
First listed6 November 20259 July 2026
PublisherMoonshot AIOpenAI

Evidence: 3 public benchmark observations across 3 boards · 6 public benchmark observations across 6 boards. Prices are the lowest listed API offer per million tokens observed on the OpenRouter catalogue.

Benchmark scores: Kimi K2 Thinking vs GPT-5.6 Terra

Public benchmark boards where Kimi K2 Thinking or GPT-5.6 Terra has a published result
BoardKimi K2 ThinkingGPT-5.6 TerraLeads
Arena codingArena (LMArena)14861481–1492Turbo15161506–1525X-HighGPT-5.6 Terra
LMArena AgentLMArena—3.8%2.5%–5.0%X-HighOnly one result
ARC-AGI-2ARC Prize Foundation—83.9%MaxOnly one result
ARC-AGI-3ARC Prize Foundation—0.8%MaxOnly one result
SWE-benchSWE-bench (Princeton / SWE-agent team)63.4%Thinking—Only one result
Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexArtificial Analysis33.5intelligence-index56.6intelligence-indexGPT-5.6 Terra

Scores are the sources' own published figures for each model's best evaluated configuration; ModelCap never re-runs a benchmark.

Want a different pairing? Open the interactive comparison tool to swap either model for any current ranked language model.

Kimi K2 Thinking vs GPT-5.6 Terra: common questions

Is Kimi K2 Thinking better than GPT-5.6 Terra?

GPT-5.6 Terra ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 18 August 2026: #12 against #32. That is a capability ranking built from public benchmark evidence with published uncertainty; whether it is "better" for you also depends on price, context and where you can run it.

Is Kimi K2 Thinking cheaper than GPT-5.6 Terra?

Kimi K2 Thinking is cheaper on output tokens: $2.50/1M against $12.00/1M. Input tokens are $0.60/1M for Kimi K2 Thinking and $2.00/1M for GPT-5.6 Terra. Prices are the lowest listed API offer ModelCap observed, in USD per million tokens.

Which has the bigger context window, Kimi K2 Thinking or GPT-5.6 Terra?

GPT-5.6 Terra has the larger context window: 1M tokens against 262K.

Which is better for coding, Kimi K2 Thinking or GPT-5.6 Terra?

Arena coding: Kimi K2 Thinking 1486, GPT-5.6 Terra 1516 — GPT-5.6 Terra leads.

Are Kimi K2 Thinking and GPT-5.6 Terra open-weight models?

Kimi K2 Thinking: Restricted license. GPT-5.6 Terra: API only. Open weights mean the checkpoint can be downloaded and self-hosted under its licence; API-only models are available solely through hosted endpoints.

Where can I run Kimi K2 Thinking and GPT-5.6 Terra?

ModelCap currently lists 2 API providers for Kimi K2 Thinking and 3 for GPT-5.6 Terra, from the OpenRouter catalogue snapshot the site serves; each model page lists the providers and their prices.

How current is this Kimi K2 Thinking vs GPT-5.6 Terra comparison?

Every figure comes from the sealed ModelCap dataset published 18 August 2026; the page re-renders within a minute of each data refresh, and the ModelCap Index positions are the same ones shown on the live rankings.

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