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Head-to-head comparison

Kimi K2 Thinking vs Qwen3.5 397B A17B

Kimi K2 Thinking (Moonshot AI) and Qwen3.5 397B A17B (Qwen) 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, Qwen3.5 397B A17B holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#27 vs #32); Qwen3.5 397B A17B is cheaper per output token ($2.34/1M vs $2.50/1M); and Qwen3.5 397B A17B ships open weights.

Which should you choose?

Choose Kimi K2 Thinking if…

  • ModelCap publishes no field on which Kimi K2 Thinking leads Qwen3.5 397B A17B for this pair.

Choose Qwen3.5 397B A17B if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #27 against #32 (62.3 vs 58.5 points).
  • API cost matters — $2.34/1M output tokens against $2.50/1M.
  • your workload is prompt-heavy — input tokens cost $0.39/1M against $0.60/1M.
  • you want to self-host: Qwen3.5 397B A17B ships open weights while Kimi K2 Thinking is restricted license.
  • you want provider choice — 11 listed API providers against 2.
  • Arena coding is your yardstick — 1491 against 1486.
  • Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index is your yardstick — 34.3 against 33.5.
  • you want the more recently listed model — Qwen3.5 397B A17B was listed 16 February 2026, Kimi K2 Thinking 6 November 2025.

Kimi K2 Thinking vs Qwen3.5 397B A17B: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of Kimi K2 Thinking and Qwen3.5 397B A17B
FieldKimi K2 ThinkingMoonshot AIQwen3.5 397B A17BQwen
ModelCap Index position#32#27
Index score58.562.3
EvidenceMeasuredMeasured
Input price / 1M tokens$0.60$0.39
Output price / 1M tokens$2.50$2.34
Context window262K tokens262K tokens
Max output tokens100K66K
API providers listed211
Weight accessRestricted licenseOpen weights
Input modalitiesTextText, Image, Video
First listed6 November 202516 February 2026
PublisherMoonshot AIQwen

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

Benchmark scores: Kimi K2 Thinking vs Qwen3.5 397B A17B

Public benchmark boards where Kimi K2 Thinking or Qwen3.5 397B A17B has a published result
BoardKimi K2 ThinkingQwen3.5 397B A17BLeads
Arena codingArena (LMArena)14861481–1492Turbo14911486–1497Qwen3.5 397B A17B
SWE-benchSWE-bench (Princeton / SWE-agent team)63.4%Thinking—Only one result
Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexArtificial Analysis33.5intelligence-index34.3intelligence-indexQwen3.5 397B A17B

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 Qwen3.5 397B A17B: common questions

Is Kimi K2 Thinking better than Qwen3.5 397B A17B?

Qwen3.5 397B A17B ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 18 August 2026: #27 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 Qwen3.5 397B A17B?

Qwen3.5 397B A17B is cheaper on output tokens: $2.34/1M against $2.50/1M. Input tokens are $0.60/1M for Kimi K2 Thinking and $0.39/1M for Qwen3.5 397B A17B. Prices are the lowest listed API offer ModelCap observed, in USD per million tokens.

Which has the bigger context window, Kimi K2 Thinking or Qwen3.5 397B A17B?

Both publish a 262K-token context window.

Which is better for coding, Kimi K2 Thinking or Qwen3.5 397B A17B?

Arena coding: Kimi K2 Thinking 1486, Qwen3.5 397B A17B 1491 — Qwen3.5 397B A17B leads.

Are Kimi K2 Thinking and Qwen3.5 397B A17B open-weight models?

Kimi K2 Thinking: Restricted license. Qwen3.5 397B A17B: Open weights. 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 Qwen3.5 397B A17B?

ModelCap currently lists 2 API providers for Kimi K2 Thinking and 11 for Qwen3.5 397B A17B, 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 Qwen3.5 397B A17B 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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