DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max vs Kimi K2.5

    Comparison

    As of August 20, 2026, DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max is 89% cheaper per million tokens than Kimi K2.5. DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max is $0.14 / $0.28 per million input/output tokens versus Kimi K2.5 at $0.59 / $3.09. Sources: https://api-docs.deepseek.com/quick_start/pricing and https://platform.kimi.com/docs/pricing/chat

    Sources: DeepSeek API pricing (https://api-docs.deepseek.com/quick_start/pricing); Moonshot AI pricing (https://platform.kimi.com/docs/pricing/chat)

    Better value

    DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max

    DeepSeek

    $0.42blended / 1M

    Input

    $0.14

    Output

    $0.28

    1M ctx|Open Source
    89%
    cheaper

    Kimi K2.5

    Moonshot AI

    $3.68blended / 1M

    Input

    $0.59

    Output

    $3.09

    262.1K ctx|Open Source
    Save $3.26 per million tokens by choosing DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max over Kimi K2.5.

    DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max vs Kimi K2.5 comparison

    Token pricing, specs, and benchmarks side by side

    Metric
    DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max
    Kimi K2.5
    Provider
    Provider
    DeepSeek
    Moonshot AI
    License
    Open Source
    Open Source
    Release Date
    2026-04-23
    2026-01-27
    Pricing (per 1M tokens)
    Input Price-76%
    $0.14
    $0.59
    Output Price-91%
    $0.28
    $3.09
    Blended (1M + 1M)
    $0.42
    $3.68
    Model Details
    Context Window
    1M
    262.1K
    Max Output Tokens
    393.2K
    262.1K
    Knowledge Cutoff
    N/A
    N/A
    Throughput
    N/A
    N/A
    Benchmarks
    45.1%
    50.2%
    88.1%
    87.6%
    31.9%
    44.9%
    48.7%
    1430.56
    73.2%
    74.9%
    34.1%
    70%
    11.8%
    63.3%
    47.8%
    69%
    78.5%
    77.5%
    96.1%
    14.4%
    100%
    60.5%
    7.1%
    3.1%
    78.9%
    41.3%
    77.1%
    95.4%
    94.8%
    88.4%
    81.8%
    92.6%
    69.1%
    75.9%
    84.2%
    86.2%
    87.1%
    80.4%
    70.4%
    78.7%
    92.3%
    57.4%
    63.5%
    57.4%
    46.8%
    71.2%
    52.6%
    50.7%
    87.4%
    86.6%
    46.3%
    11%
    Benchmark Wins
    DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max 8|4 Kimi K2.5

    Verdict

    DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max vs Kimi K2.5: the bottom line

    DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max offers both lower pricing and stronger benchmark performance across the board, making it the clear value leader in this comparison.

    DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max vs Kimi K2.5 FAQ

    Which is cheaper, DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max or Kimi K2.5?

    As of August 20, 2026, DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max is 89% cheaper on blended LLM API pricing. DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max costs $0.14 per million input tokens and $0.28 per million output tokens ($0.42 blended 1M-in + 1M-out). Kimi K2.5 costs $0.59 / $3.09 per million tokens ($3.68 blended). Sources: https://api-docs.deepseek.com/quick_start/pricing and https://platform.kimi.com/docs/pricing/chat. The cheapest LLM for your app still depends on how many output tokens you generate.

    How much does DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max vs Kimi K2.5 cost per million tokens?

    DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max DeepSeek API pricing is $0.14 input and $0.28 output per million tokens via DeepSeek. Kimi K2.5 Moonshot AI API pricing is $0.59 input and $3.09 output per million tokens via Moonshot AI. Use those four numbers, not ChatGPT Plus or Claude Pro subscription prices, when you are comparing APIs.

    Which is better for coding, DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max or Kimi K2.5?

    DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max leads on SWE-bench Verified: DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max at 79% vs Kimi K2.5 at 76.8%. SWE-bench measures real GitHub fixes; LiveCodeBench measures contest programming.

    What is the context window for DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max vs Kimi K2.5?

    DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max supports a 1M token context window, while Kimi K2.5 supports 262K tokens. DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max offers a larger context window. Filling a larger window bills more input tokens, so the cheaper-per-million model can still cost more on long documents.

    Which model performs better on benchmarks, DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max or Kimi K2.5?

    DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max leads on 8 of 12 shared benchmarks versus Kimi K2.5's 4 wins. Check the comparison table for GPQA Diamond, SWE-bench, MMLU, HLE, and the other evals we track. Token price and benchmark score together are the usual LLM comparison, not either number alone.

    Is DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max or Kimi K2.5 better for production use?

    Both DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max and Kimi K2.5 are production API models. For cost-sensitive production traffic, DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max has better economics on the blended 1M-in + 1M-out scale. For maximum capability, weight the benchmark table for your domain. Many production stacks route cheap models for drafts and a frontier model for the hard turn, which is usually cheaper than sending everything to the expensive API.

    Can I switch between DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max and Kimi K2.5 in my app?

    Yes. Call DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max through DeepSeek and Kimi K2.5 through Moonshot AI with separate API keys, or through a gateway that already wraps both. Keep prompts in tokens, not characters, when you estimate the invoice. AnotherWrapper templates can swap providers without rewriting auth and billing.

    How accurate is this DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max vs Kimi K2.5 pricing data?

    List rates are the latest published DeepSeek API pricing and Moonshot AI API pricing, quoted per million tokens. Official rate sheets: https://api-docs.deepseek.com/quick_start/pricing and https://platform.kimi.com/docs/pricing/chat. Prompt caching, batch APIs, and committed-use discounts can change the invoice. Benchmark scores are from official publications and independent evals, updated as new numbers land.

    What is the output token limit for DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max and Kimi K2.5?

    DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max supports up to 393K output tokens per request, while Kimi K2.5 supports up to 262K output tokens. Output tokens are usually the expensive half of API pricing, so a higher max output cap is a capability, not a discount.

    Which model has better throughput, DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max or Kimi K2.5?

    Neither DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max nor Kimi K2.5 has published throughput data on this page yet. Throughput (tokens per second) and time-to-first-token are why two models with the same per-million-token price can still feel different in chat and agents.

    How do I switch the models in this DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max vs Kimi K2.5 comparison?

    Use the model pickers at the top of this LLM comparison. Search any model in the index and the URL updates. Open DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max or Kimi K2.5 from the sidebar for the single-model API pricing page, or go back to the LLM pricing table to sort by cheapest blended cost.

    DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max vs Kimi K2.5 pricing

    This comparison covers API pricing, context window, throughput, and benchmark scores. DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Max costs $0.14/M input and $0.28/M output. Kimi K2.5 costs $0.59/M input and $3.09/M output.

    Rank both on the LLM leaderboard, SWE-bench, and Humanity's Last Exam.

    The index

    All Large Language Models

    280 models across 33 providers. Search or jump to a lab — every model page stays linked here.

    Baidu

    1 models

    Inception

    1 models

    inclusionAI

    1 models

    LG AI Research

    1 models

    Nous Research

    1 models

    Sakana AI

    1 models

    StepFun

    1 models

    Tencent

    1 models

    Thinking Machines

    1 models

    Unisound

    1 models

    Upstage

    1 models

    Next step

    You found the model. Now ship the product.

    Auth, billing, and the API layer are already decided. Fork 8 finished AI apps, or have us build the first version with you.