Model Comparison

LongCat-Flash-Chat vs LongCat-Flash-ThinkingWhich is better in 2026?

LongCat-Flash-Thinking significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. LongCat-Flash-Chat and LongCat-Flash-Thinking cost the same.

Verdict: LongCat-Flash-Chat vs LongCat-Flash-Thinking — which is better?

LongCat-Flash-Chat (by Meituan) and LongCat-Flash-Thinking (by Meituan) 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.

LongCat-Flash-Chat outperforms in 2 benchmarks (MMLU-Pro, SWE-Bench Verified), while LongCat-Flash-Thinking is better at 8 benchmarks (AIME 2025, GPQA, LiveCodeBench, MATH-500, Tau2 Airline, Tau2 Retail, Tau2 Telecom, ZebraLogic). LongCat-Flash-Thinking significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Choose LongCat-Flash-Chat if…

  • you want predictable pricing at $0.30/M input and $1.20/M output

Choose LongCat-Flash-Thinking if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 8 of 10 shared benchmarks
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Sep 2025

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

10 benchmarks

LongCat-Flash-Chat outperforms in 2 benchmarks (MMLU-Pro, SWE-Bench Verified), while LongCat-Flash-Thinking is better at 8 benchmarks (AIME 2025, GPQA, LiveCodeBench, MATH-500, Tau2 Airline, Tau2 Retail, Tau2 Telecom, ZebraLogic).

LongCat-Flash-Thinking significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Sun Jul 26 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Pricing Analysis

Price comparison per million tokens

For input processing, LongCat-Flash-Chat ($0.30/1M tokens) costs the same as LongCat-Flash-Thinking ($0.30/1M tokens).

For output processing, LongCat-Flash-Chat ($1.20/1M tokens) costs the same as LongCat-Flash-Thinking ($1.20/1M tokens).

In conclusion, LongCat-Flash-Chat and LongCat-Flash-Thinking cost the same.*

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

Lowest available price from all providers
Sun Jul 26 2026 • llm-stats.com
Meituan
LongCat-Flash-Chat
Input tokens$0.30
Output tokens$1.20
Best providerMeituan
Meituan
LongCat-Flash-Thinking
Input tokens$0.30
Output tokens$1.20
Best providerMeituan
Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue→

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

0.0M diff

LongCat-Flash-Thinking has 0.0B more parameters than LongCat-Flash-Chat, making it 0.0% larger.

Meituan
LongCat-Flash-Chat
560.0Bparameters
Meituan
LongCat-Flash-Thinking
560.0Bparameters
560.0B
LongCat-Flash-Chat
560.0B
LongCat-Flash-Thinking

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Both models have the same input context window of 128,000 tokens. Both models can generate responses up to 128,000 tokens.

Meituan
LongCat-Flash-Chat
Input128,000 tokens
Output128,000 tokens
Meituan
LongCat-Flash-Thinking
Input128,000 tokens
Output128,000 tokens
Sun Jul 26 2026 • llm-stats.com

License

Usage and distribution terms

Both models are licensed under MIT.

Both models share the same licensing terms, providing consistent usage rights.

LongCat-Flash-Chat

MIT

Open weights

LongCat-Flash-Thinking

MIT

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

LongCat-Flash-Chat was released on 2025-08-29, while LongCat-Flash-Thinking was released on 2025-09-22.

LongCat-Flash-Thinking is 1 month newer than LongCat-Flash-Chat.

LongCat-Flash-Chat

Aug 29, 2025

11 months ago

LongCat-Flash-Thinking

Sep 22, 2025

10 months ago

3w 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

LongCat-Flash-Chat is available from Meituan. LongCat-Flash-Thinking is available from Meituan.

LongCat-Flash-Chat

meituan logo
Meituan
Input Price:Input: $0.30/1MOutput Price:Output: $1.20/1M

LongCat-Flash-Thinking

meituan logo
Meituan
Input Price:Input: $0.30/1MOutput Price:Output: $1.20/1M
* Prices shown are per million tokens

Outputs Comparison

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Key Takeaways

Meituan
Higher MMLU-Pro score (82.7% vs 82.6%)
Higher SWE-Bench Verified score (60.4% vs 59.4%)
Meituan
Higher AIME 2025 score (90.6% vs 61.3%)
Higher GPQA score (81.5% vs 73.2%)
Higher LiveCodeBench score (79.4% vs 48.0%)
Higher MATH-500 score (99.2% vs 96.4%)
Higher Tau2 Airline score (67.5% vs 58.0%)
Higher Tau2 Retail score (71.5% vs 71.3%)
Higher Tau2 Telecom score (83.1% vs 73.7%)
Higher ZebraLogic score (95.5% vs 89.3%)

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against LongCat-Flash-Chat and LongCat-Flash-Thinking side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

LongCat-Flash-Chat
✓ Preferred
LongCat-Flash-Thinking
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Meituan
LongCat-Flash-Chat
Meituan
LongCat-Flash-Thinking

FAQ

Common questions about LongCat-Flash-Chat vs LongCat-Flash-Thinking.

Which is better, LongCat-Flash-Chat or LongCat-Flash-Thinking?

LongCat-Flash-Thinking significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. LongCat-Flash-Chat is made by Meituan and LongCat-Flash-Thinking is made by Meituan. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does LongCat-Flash-Chat compare to LongCat-Flash-Thinking in benchmarks?

LongCat-Flash-Chat scores MATH-500: 96.4%, MMLU: 89.7%, IFEval: 89.6%, ZebraLogic: 89.3%, HumanEval: 88.4%. LongCat-Flash-Thinking scores MATH-500: 99.2%, ZebraLogic: 95.5%, AIME 2024: 93.3%, AIME 2025: 90.6%, MMLU-Redux: 89.3%.

Is LongCat-Flash-Chat cheaper than LongCat-Flash-Thinking?

Both models cost $0.30 per million input tokens.

What are the context window sizes for LongCat-Flash-Chat and LongCat-Flash-Thinking?

LongCat-Flash-Chat supports 128K tokens and LongCat-Flash-Thinking supports 128K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

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