Kimi K2.6 vs GPT-4.1
At a Glance
| Compare |  Kimi K2.6Moonshot AI |  GPT-4.1OpenAI |
|---|---|---|
| Intelligence, Cost, and Efficiency | ||
| IntelligenceHigher is better · MM Intelligence v2.5 | #32 of 4650.5 score · 2/3 sources · provisional · missing ARC-AGI-2 · full-core range 33.6–67.0 | #44 of 463.7 score · 2/3 sources · provisional · missing LiveBench · full-core range 2.5–35.8 |
| CostLower is better · Published-token output estimate | #21 of 44$0.095 per LiveBench case | UnrankedNot in the 44-model eligible cohort |
| EfficiencyHigher is better · MM Efficiency v1.5 | #24 of 3850.1 score · 2/3 sources · provisional · missing ARC-AGI-2 · full-core range 41.7–58.4 | UnrankedNot in the 38-model eligible cohort |
| Pricing and Limits | ||
| Input priceFrom · USD / 1M tokens | $0.75Deepinfra ↗ · Sep 21, 2026 | $1.00Openrouter ↗ · Sep 3, 2026 |
| Output priceFrom · USD / 1M tokens | $3.50Deepinfra ↗ · Sep 21, 2026 | $4.00Openrouter ↗ · Sep 3, 2026 |
| Context windowMaximum documented tokens | 262K | 1,048K |
| Model facts checked | Aug 28, 2026View model evidence → | Aug 29, 2026View model evidence → |
Token prices are the lowest available sourced USD rates; input and output may use different providers. Cost ranking estimates output spend on LiveBench, not a full request bill. Ranking methodology →
Available Benchmarks
| Benchmark | Kimi-K2.6 | GPT-4.1 |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text Arenatext-2026-09-13-d25aabda0010 · arena_rating · leader | 1,454.92100% of row best · rating · kimi-k2.6; 95% CI [1450.40277919, 1459.43693683]; votes 37502; rank 38 | 1,382.7795% of row best · rating · gpt-4.1-2025-04-14; 95% CI [1379.06025569, 1386.47352582]; votes 49941; rank 157 |
| LMArena Vision Arenavision-2026-09-13-d25aabda0010 · arena_rating · leader | 1,280.40100% of row best · rating · kimi-k2.6; 95% CI [1273.38025179, 1287.42397051]; votes 15347; rank 28 | 1,210.0395% of row best · rating · gpt-4.1-2025-04-14; 95% CI [1203.34343280, 1216.70707848]; votes 41012; rank 74 |
| Overall ResultCounted from the protocol-matched rows above | 2 benchmark winsNo overall winner | 0 benchmark winsNo overall winner |
Third-party benchmark Only like-for-like primary-publisher results are shown; raw scores, relative scores, configuration, and token spend remain visible.
Side-by-Side Facts
| Field | Kimi-K2.6 | GPT-4.1 |
|---|---|---|
| Developer | Moonshot AI | OpenAI |
| Family | Kimi K2 6 | Gpt 4 1 |
| Model | Kimi-K2.6 | GPT-4.1 |
| Version | Kimi-K2.6 | GPT-4.1 |
| Lifecycle | active | active |
| Released | 2026-04-20 | Unknown |
| Knowledge cutoff | Unknown | 2024-06-01 |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
| Output modalities | Text | Text |
| Context window | 262K | 1,048K |
| Total parameters | 1T | Unknown |
| Active parameters | 32B | Unknown |
| License | other | Unknown |
| Open weights | Yes | No |
| API available | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | Yes | No |
| Provider access | Deepinfra (Standard), Fireworks Ai (Standard), Hugging Face (Standard), Openrouter (Standard), Together Ai (Standard) | Openai (Standard), Openrouter (Standard) |
| Capabilities | chat, generation, reasoning, tools | chat, generation, tools |
Kimi K2.6 Capabilities
GPT-4.1 Capabilities
Related Comparisons
All image comparisons →| A | Pair | B | Context |
|---|---|---|---|
Kimi-K2.6Moonshot AI | vs | GPT-6 AstraOpenAI | cross-developer peersimage, text |
Claude Fable 5.1Anthropic | vs | Kimi-K2.6Moonshot AI | cross-developer peersimage, text |
 Gemini 3.1 ProGoogle DeepMind | vs | Kimi-K2.6Moonshot AI | cross-developer peerstext |
 DeepSeek-V4.1-FlashDeepSeek | vs | Kimi-K2.6Moonshot AI | cross-developer peersimage, text |
Kimi-K2.6Moonshot AI | vs | Grok 4.6xAI | cross-developer peersimage, text |
Kimi-K2.6Moonshot AI | vs |  Qwen3.8-MaxQwen | cross-developer peersimage, text |
Kimi-K2.6Moonshot AI | vs | Kimi-K3Moonshot AI | family variantsembedding, image, text |
 MiniMax-M3MiniMax | vs | Kimi-K2.6Moonshot AI | cross-developer peersimage, text |
Kimi-K2.6Moonshot AI | vs |  GLM-5.3Z.ai | cross-developer peerstext |
Kimi-K2.6Moonshot AI | vs |  Hy4 previewTencent | cross-developer peerstext |
Seed 2.1 ProByteDance Seed | vs | Kimi-K2.6Moonshot AI | cross-developer peersimage, text |
 Mistral Large 3Mistral AI | vs | Kimi-K2.6Moonshot AI | cross-developer peersimage, text |
Primary Evidence
Sources and Freshness
Questions
Kimi K2.6 vs GPT-4.1 FAQs
Is Kimi K2.6 or GPT-4.1 better for coding?+
This comparison does not currently contain a protocol-matched coding benchmark for both Kimi K2.6 and GPT-4.1, so Model Markets cannot name a coding leader from pricing, context size, or capability labels alone.
Which is cheaper, Kimi K2.6 or GPT-4.1?+
Kimi K2.6 is $0.75 and GPT-4.1 is $1.00 per million tokens, so Kimi K2.6 is cheaper on this metric. Kimi K2.6 is $3.50 and GPT-4.1 is $4.00 per million tokens, so Kimi K2.6 is cheaper on this metric.
Which has a larger context window, Kimi K2.6 or GPT-4.1?+
GPT-4.1 has the larger sourced context window. Kimi K2.6 supports 262K and GPT-4.1 supports 1,048K.
Which performs better in benchmarks, Kimi K2.6 or GPT-4.1?+
There is no overall benchmark winner: An overall winner requires at least two decisive benchmarks from at least two original publishers.
Can Kimi K2.6 or GPT-4.1 be self-hosted?+
Kimi K2.6 is the only model in this pair currently marked as self-hostable. Kimi K2.6 is open weight; GPT-4.1 is not marked open weight.
Can Kimi K2.6 and GPT-4.1 understand images?+
Kimi K2.6 is documented with image input; GPT-4.1 is documented with image input. This reflects supported input modalities, not vision quality.
Which can generate longer answers, Kimi K2.6 or GPT-4.1?+
Neither has a larger sourced maximum output. Kimi K2.6 is — and GPT-4.1 is 33K.
Do Kimi K2.6 and GPT-4.1 support reasoning and tool use?+
Kimi K2.6: reasoning, tool calling, and image input. GPT-4.1: tool calling and image input. Feature support does not establish relative quality.
Which is available from more inference providers, Kimi K2.6 or GPT-4.1?+
Kimi K2.6 has 5 sourced provider routes; GPT-4.1 has 2, so Kimi K2.6 has broader tracked availability.
Which offers better value, Kimi K2.6 or GPT-4.1?+
There is no universal value winner. Compare the input and output prices above with the matched benchmark result for your workload: cheaper tokens can be offset by different quality, token usage, latency, or provider availability.