Model Comparison

Grok-2 vs Kimi K2 BaseWhich is better in 2026?

Grok-2 shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.

Verdict: Grok-2 vs Kimi K2 Base — which is better?

Grok-2 (by xAI) and Kimi K2 Base (by Moonshot AI) are two of the AI models people compare most. Here is how they stack up on benchmarks, price and capabilities, and which one to pick in 2026.

Grok-2 outperforms in 3 benchmarks (GPQA, MATH, MMLU-Pro), while Kimi K2 Base is better at 1 benchmark (MMLU). Grok-2 shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.

Choose Grok-2 if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 3 of 4 shared benchmarks

Choose Kimi K2 Base if…

  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jul 2025
  • you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

4 benchmarks

Grok-2 outperforms in 3 benchmarks (GPQA, MATH, MMLU-Pro), while Kimi K2 Base is better at 1 benchmark (MMLU).

Grok-2 shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.

Fri Jul 24 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only Grok-2 specifies input context (128,000 tokens). Only Grok-2 specifies output context (8,000 tokens).

xAI
Grok-2
Input128,000 tokens
Output8,000 tokens
Moonshot AI
Kimi K2 Base
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Fri Jul 24 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Grok-2 supports multimodal inputs, whereas Kimi K2 Base does not.

Grok-2 can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

Grok-2

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Kimi K2 Base

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Grok-2 is licensed under a proprietary license, while Kimi K2 Base uses MIT.

License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.

Grok-2

Proprietary

Closed source

Kimi K2 Base

MIT

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Grok-2 was released on 2024-08-13, while Kimi K2 Base was released on 2025-07-11.

Kimi K2 Base is 11 months newer than Grok-2.

Grok-2

Aug 13, 2024

1.9 years ago

Kimi K2 Base

Jul 11, 2025

1.0 years ago

11mo newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.

Unable to compare the recency of their training data.

No cutoff dates available

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Key Takeaways

xAI
Larger context window (128,000 tokens)
Supports multimodal inputs
Higher GPQA score (56.0% vs 48.1%)
Higher MATH score (76.1% vs 70.2%)
Higher MMLU-Pro score (75.5% vs 69.2%)
Moonshot AI
Has open weights
Higher MMLU score (87.8% vs 87.5%)

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Grok-2 and Kimi K2 Base side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Grok-2
✓ Preferred
Kimi K2 Base
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
xAI
Grok-2
Moonshot AI
Kimi K2 Base

FAQ

Common questions about Grok-2 vs Kimi K2 Base.

Which is better, Grok-2 or Kimi K2 Base?

Grok-2 shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks. Grok-2 is made by xAI and Kimi K2 Base is made by Moonshot AI. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does Grok-2 compare to Kimi K2 Base in benchmarks?

Grok-2 scores DocVQA: 93.6%, HumanEval: 88.4%, MMLU: 87.5%, MATH: 76.1%, MMLU-Pro: 75.5%. Kimi K2 Base scores C-Eval: 92.5%, GSM8k: 92.1%, MMLU-redux-2.0: 90.2%, MMLU: 87.8%, TriviaQA: 85.1%.

What are the context window sizes for Grok-2 and Kimi K2 Base?

Grok-2 supports 128K tokens and Kimi K2 Base supports an unknown number of tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between Grok-2 and Kimi K2 Base?

Key differences include multimodal support (yes vs no), licensing (Proprietary vs MIT). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Grok-2 and Kimi K2 Base?

Grok-2 is developed by xAI and Kimi K2 Base is developed by Moonshot AI.

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