Model Comparison

Grok-2 vs Kimi K2 Instruct

Kimi K2 Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Kimi K2 Instruct is 8.0x cheaper per token.

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

4 benchmarks

Grok-2 outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Kimi K2 Instruct is better at 4 benchmarks (GPQA, HumanEval, MMLU, MMLU-Pro).

Kimi K2 Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Fri May 08 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

Kimi K2 Instruct costs less

For input processing, Grok-2 ($2.00/1M tokens) is 4.0x more expensive than Kimi K2 Instruct ($0.50/1M tokens).

For output processing, Grok-2 ($10.00/1M tokens) is 20.0x more expensive than Kimi K2 Instruct ($0.50/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Grok-2 is more expensive than Kimi K2 Instruct.*

* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens

Lowest available price from all providers
Fri May 08 2026 • llm-stats.com
xAI
Grok-2
Input tokens$2.00
Output tokens$10.00
Best providerxAI
Moonshot AI
Kimi K2 Instruct
Input tokens$0.50
Output tokens$0.50
Best providerFireworks
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Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Kimi K2 Instruct accepts 200,000 input tokens compared to Grok-2's 128,000 tokens. Kimi K2 Instruct can generate longer responses up to 200,000 tokens, while Grok-2 is limited to 8,000 tokens.

xAI
Grok-2
Input128,000 tokens
Output8,000 tokens
Moonshot AI
Kimi K2 Instruct
Input200,000 tokens
Output200,000 tokens
Fri May 08 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Grok-2 supports multimodal inputs, whereas Kimi K2 Instruct 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 Instruct

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Grok-2 is licensed under a proprietary license, while Kimi K2 Instruct 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 Instruct

MIT

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

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

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

Grok-2

Aug 13, 2024

1.7 years ago

Kimi K2 Instruct

Jul 11, 2025

10 months 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

Provider Availability

Grok-2 is available from xAI. Kimi K2 Instruct is available from Fireworks, Novita.

Grok-2

xai logo
xAI
Input Price:Input: $2.00/1MOutput Price:Output: $10.00/1M

Kimi K2 Instruct

fireworks logo
Fireworks
Input Price:Input: $0.50/1MOutput Price:Output: $0.50/1M
novita logo
Novita
Input Price:Input: $0.57/1MOutput Price:Output: $2.30/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

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Key Takeaways

Supports multimodal inputs
Larger context window (200,000 tokens)
Less expensive input tokens
Less expensive output tokens
Has open weights
Higher GPQA score (75.1% vs 56.0%)
Higher HumanEval score (93.3% vs 88.4%)
Higher MMLU score (89.5% vs 87.5%)
Higher MMLU-Pro score (81.1% vs 75.5%)

Detailed Comparison

AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
xAI
Grok-2
Moonshot AI
Kimi K2 Instruct

FAQ

Common questions about Grok-2 vs Kimi K2 Instruct.

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

Kimi K2 Instruct significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Grok-2 is made by xAI and Kimi K2 Instruct 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 Instruct in benchmarks?

Grok-2 scores DocVQA: 93.6%, HumanEval: 88.4%, MMLU: 87.5%, MATH: 76.1%, MMLU-Pro: 75.5%. Kimi K2 Instruct scores MATH-500: 97.4%, GSM8k: 97.3%, CBNSL: 95.6%, HumanEval: 93.3%, MMLU-Redux: 92.7%.

Is Grok-2 cheaper than Kimi K2 Instruct?

Kimi K2 Instruct is 4.0x cheaper for input tokens. Grok-2 costs $2.00/M input and $10.00/M output via xai. Kimi K2 Instruct costs $0.50/M input and $0.50/M output via fireworks.

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

Grok-2 supports 128K tokens and Kimi K2 Instruct supports 200K 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 Instruct?

Key differences include context window (128K vs 200K), input pricing ($2.00 vs $0.50/M), 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 Instruct?

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