Model Comparison

MAI-Thinking-1 vs Kimi K2.6Which is better in 2026?

Kimi K2.6 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Verdict: MAI-Thinking-1 vs Kimi K2.6 — which is better?

MAI-Thinking-1 (by Microsoft) and Kimi K2.6 (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.

MAI-Thinking-1 outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Kimi K2.6 is better at 7 benchmarks (AIME 2026, GPQA, HMMT Feb 26, LiveCodeBench v6, SWE-Bench Pro, SWE-Bench Verified, Terminal-Bench 2.0). Kimi K2.6 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Choose MAI-Thinking-1 if…

  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jun 2026

Choose Kimi K2.6 if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 7 of 7 shared benchmarks
  • you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

7 benchmarks

MAI-Thinking-1 outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while Kimi K2.6 is better at 7 benchmarks (AIME 2026, GPQA, HMMT Feb 26, LiveCodeBench v6, SWE-Bench Pro, SWE-Bench Verified, Terminal-Bench 2.0).

Kimi K2.6 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Fri Jul 17 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Model Size

Parameter count comparison

0.0M diff

Kimi K2.6 has 0.0B more parameters than MAI-Thinking-1, making it 0.0% larger.

Microsoft
MAI-Thinking-1
1.0Tparameters
Moonshot AI
Kimi K2.6
1.0Tparameters
1000.0B
MAI-Thinking-1
1000.0B
Kimi K2.6

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only Kimi K2.6 specifies input context (262,144 tokens). Only Kimi K2.6 specifies output context (131,072 tokens).

Microsoft
MAI-Thinking-1
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Moonshot AI
Kimi K2.6
Input262,144 tokens
Output131,072 tokens
Fri Jul 17 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Kimi K2.6 supports multimodal inputs, whereas MAI-Thinking-1 does not.

Kimi K2.6 can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

MAI-Thinking-1

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Kimi K2.6

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

MAI-Thinking-1 is licensed under a proprietary license, while Kimi K2.6 uses Modified MIT License.

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

MAI-Thinking-1

Proprietary

Closed source

Kimi K2.6

Modified MIT License

Open weights

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

MAI-Thinking-1 was released on 2026-06-02, while Kimi K2.6 was released on 2026-04-20.

MAI-Thinking-1 is 1 month newer than Kimi K2.6.

MAI-Thinking-1

Jun 2, 2026

1 months ago

1mo newer
Kimi K2.6

Apr 20, 2026

2 months ago

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

Microsoft

No standout differentiators in the data we have for this pair.

Moonshot AI
Larger context window (262,144 tokens)
Supports multimodal inputs
Has open weights
Higher AIME 2026 score (96.4% vs 94.5%)
Higher GPQA score (90.5% vs 84.2%)
Higher HMMT Feb 26 score (92.7% vs 84.9%)
Higher LiveCodeBench v6 score (89.6% vs 87.7%)
Higher SWE-Bench Pro score (58.6% vs 52.8%)
Higher SWE-Bench Verified score (80.2% vs 73.5%)
Higher Terminal-Bench 2.0 score (66.7% vs 46.0%)

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against MAI-Thinking-1 and Kimi K2.6 side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

MAI-Thinking-1
✓ Preferred
Kimi K2.6
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
Microsoft
MAI-Thinking-1
Moonshot AI
Kimi K2.6

FAQ

Common questions about MAI-Thinking-1 vs Kimi K2.6.

Which is better, MAI-Thinking-1 or Kimi K2.6?

Kimi K2.6 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. MAI-Thinking-1 is made by Microsoft and Kimi K2.6 is made by Moonshot AI. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does MAI-Thinking-1 compare to Kimi K2.6 in benchmarks?

MAI-Thinking-1 scores LongFact: 98.0%, AIME 2025: 97.0%, AIME 2026: 94.5%, GraphWalks: 90.0%, AIR-Bench: 88.0%. Kimi K2.6 scores V*: 96.9%, AIME 2026: 96.4%, MathVision: 93.2%, HMMT Feb 26: 92.7%, GPQA: 90.5%.

What are the context window sizes for MAI-Thinking-1 and Kimi K2.6?

MAI-Thinking-1 supports an unknown number of tokens and Kimi K2.6 supports 262K tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between MAI-Thinking-1 and Kimi K2.6?

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

Who makes MAI-Thinking-1 and Kimi K2.6?

MAI-Thinking-1 is developed by Microsoft and Kimi K2.6 is developed by Moonshot AI.

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