The AI arena is free today

Open Superagent

Kimi K2.6 vs Sakana Namazu

Kimi K2.6 and Sakana Namazu are closely matched at 43.6 and 42.1 on the LLM Stats Score. Kimi K2.6 is 1.2x cheaper per token.

Moonshot AI · Sakana AI · Updated for 2026

Which is better?

Kimi K2.6 and Sakana Namazu are closely matched on the overall LLM Stats Score at 43.6 and 42.1.

In the 2 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Sakana Namazu wins 2; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.

On price, Kimi K2.6 is roughly 1.2x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.

Kimi K2.6 also accepts a larger context window (262,144 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.

Based on current LLM Stats indexes, shared benchmarks, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.

Choose Kimi K2.6

  • cost matters — it's about 1.2x cheaper per token
  • you process long inputs — it offers a 262,144 token context window
  • you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune

Choose Sakana Namazu

  • you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 2 of 2 exact shared results
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Aug 2026

At a glance

The differences that matter most.

Core performance indexes
43.6
#44
42.1
#54
43.8
#39
41.8
#49
Cost, coverage & limits
Benchmark wins
0 of 2
2 of 2
Input price
$0.75 / M
$0.95 / M
Output price
$3.50 / M
$4.00 / M
Context window
262,144
256,000

Capability indexes

Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks

1 shared
Index
Kimi K2.6
Sakana Namazu
36.8#35
38.4#27
Conservative TrueSkill rating · higher is betterHow scores work

Individual benchmarks

28 reported for Kimi K2.6 · 3 for Sakana Namazu

2 shared

Kimi K2.6 outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Sakana Namazu is better at 2 benchmarks (AIME 2026, LiveCodeBench v6).

Sakana Namazu significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Wed Sep 23 2026 • llm-stats.com

Human preference

Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

Kimi K2.6 costs less

For input processing, Kimi K2.6 ($0.75/1M tokens) is 1.3x cheaper than Sakana Namazu ($0.95/1M tokens).

For output processing, Kimi K2.6 ($3.50/1M tokens) is 1.1x cheaper than Sakana Namazu ($4.00/1M tokens).

In conclusion, Sakana Namazu is more expensive than Kimi K2.6.*

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

Lowest available price from all providers
Wed Sep 23 2026 • llm-stats.com
Moonshot AI
Kimi K2.6
Input tokens$0.75
Output tokens$3.50
Best providerDeepinfra
Sakana AI
Sakana Namazu
Input tokens$0.95
Output tokens$4.00
Best providerUnknown Organization
Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Kimi K2.6 accepts 262,144 input tokens compared to Sakana Namazu's 256,000 tokens. Sakana Namazu can generate longer responses up to 256,000 tokens, while Kimi K2.6 is limited to 131,072 tokens.

Moonshot AI
Kimi K2.6
Input262,144 tokens
Output131,072 tokens
Sakana AI
Sakana Namazu
Input256,000 tokens
Output256,000 tokens
Wed Sep 23 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input capabilities

Documented input modalities across available providers

Both Kimi K2.6 and Sakana Namazu support multimodal inputs.

They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.

Kimi K2.6

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Sakana Namazu

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Kimi K2.6 is licensed under Modified MIT License, while Sakana Namazu uses a proprietary license.

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

Kimi K2.6

Modified MIT License

Open weights

Sakana Namazu

Proprietary

Closed source

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Kimi K2.6 was released on 2026-04-20, while Sakana Namazu was released on 2026-08-03.

Sakana Namazu is 4 months newer than Kimi K2.6.

Kimi K2.6

Apr 20, 2026

5 months ago

Sakana Namazu

Aug 3, 2026

1 months ago

3mo 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

Kimi K2.6 is available from DeepInfra, Fireworks, Moonshot AI, Novita, Together. Sakana Namazu is available from Sakana AI.

Kimi K2.6

deepinfra logo
Deepinfra
Input Price:Input: $0.75/1MOutput Price:Output: $3.50/1M
fireworks logo
Fireworks
Input Price:Input: $0.95/1MOutput Price:Output: $4.00/1M
moonshot logo
Unknown Organization
Input Price:Input: $0.95/1MOutput Price:Output: $4.00/1M
novita logo
Novita
Input Price:Input: $0.95/1MOutput Price:Output: $4.00/1M
together logo
Together
Input Price:Input: $1.20/1MOutput Price:Output: $4.50/1M

Sakana Namazu

sakana logo
Unknown Organization
Input Price:Input: $0.95/1MOutput Price:Output: $4.00/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Kimi K2.6 and Sakana Namazu side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Kimi K2.6
✓ Preferred
Sakana Namazu
Open in Playground

FAQ

Common questions about Kimi K2.6 vs Sakana Namazu.

Which is better, Kimi K2.6 or Sakana Namazu?

Kimi K2.6 and Sakana Namazu are closely matched on the LLM Stats Score at 43.6 and 42.1. Kimi K2.6 is made by Moonshot AI and Sakana Namazu is made by Sakana AI. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their capability indexes, individual benchmarks, pricing, and limits above.

How does Kimi K2.6 compare to Sakana Namazu in benchmarks?

Kimi K2.6 scores V*: 96.9%, AIME 2026: 96.4%, MathVision: 93.2%, HMMT Feb 26: 92.7%, GPQA: 90.5%. Sakana Namazu scores AIME 2026: 96.7%, LiveCodeBench v6: 90.3%, MMLU-Pro: 90.3%.

Is Kimi K2.6 cheaper than Sakana Namazu?

Kimi K2.6 is 1.3x cheaper for input tokens. Kimi K2.6 costs $0.75/M input and $3.50/M output via deepinfra. Sakana Namazu costs $0.95/M input and $4.00/M output via sakana.

What are the context window sizes for Kimi K2.6 and Sakana Namazu?

Kimi K2.6 supports 262K tokens and Sakana Namazu supports 256K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between Kimi K2.6 and Sakana Namazu?

Key differences include LLM Stats Score (43.6 vs 42.1), context window (262K vs 256K), input pricing ($0.75 vs $0.95/M), licensing (Modified MIT License vs Proprietary). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Kimi K2.6 and Sakana Namazu?

Kimi K2.6 is developed by Moonshot AI and Sakana Namazu is developed by Sakana AI.