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Kimi K2 Base vs Magistral Small 2506

Magistral Small 2506 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Moonshot AI · Mistral AI · Updated for 2026

Which is better?

Kimi K2 Base outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Magistral Small 2506 is better at 1 benchmark (GPQA). Magistral Small 2506 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Based on current benchmark, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.

Choose Kimi K2 Base

  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jul 2025

Choose Magistral Small 2506

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 1 of 1 shared benchmarks

At a glance

The differences that matter most.

Kimi K2 Base
Moonshot AI
Magistral Small 2506
Mistral AI
Benchmark wins
0 of 1
1 of 1
Input price
— / M
— / M
Output price
— / M
— / M
Context window
—
—
Released
Jul 2025
Jun 2025
License
MIT
Apache 2.0

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

1 benchmarks

Kimi K2 Base outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Magistral Small 2506 is better at 1 benchmark (GPQA).

Magistral Small 2506 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Wed Aug 26 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Playground indexes and blind preference scores

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

976.0B diff

Kimi K2 Base has 976.0B more parameters than Magistral Small 2506, making it 4066.7% larger.

Moonshot AI
Kimi K2 Base
1.0Tparameters
Mistral AI
Magistral Small 2506
24.0Bparameters
1000.0B
Kimi K2 Base
24.0B
Magistral Small 2506

License

Usage and distribution terms

Kimi K2 Base is licensed under MIT, while Magistral Small 2506 uses Apache 2.0.

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

Kimi K2 Base

MIT

Open weights

Magistral Small 2506

Apache 2.0

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Kimi K2 Base was released on 2025-07-11, while Magistral Small 2506 was released on 2025-06-10.

Kimi K2 Base is 1 month newer than Magistral Small 2506.

Kimi K2 Base

Jul 11, 2025

1.1 years ago

1mo newer
Magistral Small 2506

Jun 10, 2025

1.2 years ago

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Magistral Small 2506 has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2025-06-01, while Kimi K2 Base's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm Magistral Small 2506's training data extends to 2025-06-01, but cannot make a direct comparison without Kimi K2 Base's cutoff date.

Kimi K2 Base

—

Magistral Small 2506

Jun 2025

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Kimi K2 Base and Magistral Small 2506 side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Kimi K2 Base
✓ Preferred
Magistral Small 2506
Open in Playground

FAQ

Common questions about Kimi K2 Base vs Magistral Small 2506.

Which is better, Kimi K2 Base or Magistral Small 2506?

Magistral Small 2506 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Kimi K2 Base is made by Moonshot AI and Magistral Small 2506 is made by Mistral AI. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does Kimi K2 Base compare to Magistral Small 2506 in benchmarks?

Kimi K2 Base scores C-Eval: 92.5%, GSM8k: 92.1%, MMLU-redux-2.0: 90.2%, MMLU: 87.8%, TriviaQA: 85.1%. Magistral Small 2506 scores AIME 2024: 70.7%, GPQA: 68.2%, AIME 2025: 62.8%, LiveCodeBench: 51.3%.

What are the main differences between Kimi K2 Base and Magistral Small 2506?

Key differences include licensing (MIT vs Apache 2.0). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Kimi K2 Base and Magistral Small 2506?

Kimi K2 Base is developed by Moonshot AI and Magistral Small 2506 is developed by Mistral AI.

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