Moonshot AI · Model release
Kimi K2.6: historical open-weight volume model
This April 2026 snapshot concerns Kimi K2.6; newer Kimi K2.8 and K3 models are listed separately. Check the current Kimi model card and API docs before relying on old rates, limits or weight availability.
What changed
- Moonshot AI released K2.6 as a 1T-parameter MoE model with open weights.
- Pricing comparisons change over time and vary by endpoint; no current cost ranking is asserted here.
- Context is limited to 256K tokens relative to K3 and the closed leaders.
Best fit
- Cost-sensitive volume
- Self-hosting
- Avoiding vendor lock-in
What to be careful about
- Verify the exact context limit for the chosen hosted or checkpoint variant; this historical entry should not be treated as current Kimi documentation.
- MoE serving still needs serious hardware despite active-parameter efficiency.
Dataset snapshot: Kimi K2.6 is also represented in the checked comparison dataset. Prices and benchmark figures carry their own field dates.