Ling 3.0 Flash vs Kimi K2 Thinking
Kimi K2 Thinking leads Ling 3.0 Flash on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, 22.0 to 20.1, and Ling 3.0 Flash costs 20.6x less per output token ($0.1215 vs $2.50 per million). Updated October 21, 2026; 11 benchmarks have a result for both.
Ling 3.0 Flash or Kimi K2 Thinking: which to pick
Only Ling 3.0 Flash has a coding score, 29.6 on the Vibe Coding Index; Kimi K2 Thinking has none, so the two cannot be ranked on coding.
Pick Kimi K2 Thinking for work measured by AA Intelligence Index or Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run), where it leads.
- Shared results
- 11
- Ling 3.0 Flash only
- 13
- Kimi K2 Thinking only
- 19
- Like-for-like categories
- 5 of 9
Only benchmarks that tested both models count toward a pick; a result only one model has is shown but not compared.
Which one for your work
Each card is decided by one number both models carry. Where only one has it, the card says so and makes no call.
Coding
Vibe Coding Index, six public coding benchmarks
No call
Only Ling 3.0 Flash has a coding score, so no call is made.
One side not measured
Intelligence
AA Intelligence Index
Kimi K2 Thinking
Kimi K2 Thinking leads, 22.0 against 20.1.
Same board, both measured
Agentic work
AA Agentic Index
No call
Only Ling 3.0 Flash has a AA Agentic Index result, 19.3.
Directional only
Reasoning
GPQA Diamond
Ling 3.0 Flash
Ling 3.0 Flash leads, 84.8% against 78.5%.
Same board, both measured
Math
AIME
No call
Only Kimi K2 Thinking has a AIME result, 85.4%.
Directional only
Knowledge
MMLU Pro
Ling 3.0 Flash
Ling 3.0 Flash leads, 82.0% against 81.1%.
Same board, both measured
Web design
Design Arena: websites
No call
Only Kimi K2 Thinking has a Design Arena: websites result, 1113.
Directional only
Long documents
Listed context window
No call
Both take 262K tokens.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
Ling 3.0 Flash
Ling 3.0 Flash $0.0001, Kimi K2 Thinking $0.0019 per turn.
List prices
Cost per solved task
One SWE-bench Verified task, solved
Ling 3.0 Flash
Ling 3.0 Flash $0.05, Kimi K2 Thinking $0.61.
Published attempt cost and pass rate
At a glance
- Coding index
- Ling 3.0 Flash 29.6 from 2 benchmarks, Kimi K2 Thinking not benchmarked.
- Widest category
- Coding, 12.9 points apart on average over 2 shared benchmarks.
- Widest single gap
- LiveCodeBench (Vals AI): Ling 3.0 Flash 84.0% against Kimi K2 Thinking 63.1%, 20.8 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
- Output price
- Ling 3.0 Flash $0.1215 against Kimi K2 Thinking $2.50 per million output tokens, 20.6x apart.
- Context window
- Both take 262K tokens.
Benchmark by benchmark
First the score: boards each model leads, per category, where both have a result. Then every board, a category to a fold; bars are each result on a 0 to 100 scale, so compare the two in a row, not one row with another.
| Category | Ling 3.0 Flash | Bars | Kimi K2 Thinking | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coding | 2 | 0 | ||
| Intelligence | 0 | 1 | ||
| Reasoning | 2 | 1 | ||
| Knowledge | 2 | 2 | ||
| General | 1 | 0 | ||
| All shared boards | 7 | 4 |
CodingLike-for-likeSix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index20
| Benchmark | Ling 3.0 Flash | Kimi K2 Thinking | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| SWE-bench Verified | Not measured | 63.4% | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| AA Coding Index | 50.6 | Not measured | Only Ling 3.0 Flash measured |
| LiveCodeBench (Vals AI) | 84.0% | 63.1% | Ling 3.0 Flash |
| SWE-bench Verified (Vals AI) | 65.2% | 60.2% | Ling 3.0 Flash |
| Vibe Code Bench (Vals AI) | 2.9% | Not measured | Only Ling 3.0 Flash measured |
| Code migration (Vals AI) | 0.0% | Not measured | Only Ling 3.0 Flash measured |
| Terminal-Bench 2.1 (Vals AI) | 50.2% | Not measured | Only Ling 3.0 Flash measured |
| SkillsBench (Vals AI) | 27.9% | Not measured | Only Ling 3.0 Flash measured |
| LiveCodeBench (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 85.3% | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| SciCode | 42.0% | Not measured | Only Ling 3.0 Flash measured |
| Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 31.1% | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| Terminal-Bench | Not measured | 35.7% | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| WeirdML | Not measured | 42.8% | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| ALE-Bench | Not measured | 597.5 | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 25 boards here | |||
IntelligenceLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index01
| Benchmark | Ling 3.0 Flash | Kimi K2 Thinking | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | 20.1 | 22.0 | Kimi K2 Thinking |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | Not measured | 145.8 | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
Agentic workDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index6 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Ling 3.0 Flash | Kimi K2 Thinking | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Agentic Index | 19.3 | Not measured | Only Ling 3.0 Flash measured |
| Finance Agent (Vals AI) | 30.3% | Not measured | Only Ling 3.0 Flash measured |
| Legal Research Bench (Vals AI) | 0.0% | Not measured | Only Ling 3.0 Flash measured |
| Excel Modeling Benchmark (Vals AI) | 25.0% | Not measured | Only Ling 3.0 Flash measured |
| τ²-Bench Telecom | Not measured | 93.0% | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| METR time horizons | Not measured | 59.2% | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 35 boards here | |||
ReasoningLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index21
| Benchmark | Ling 3.0 Flash | Kimi K2 Thinking | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond | 84.8% | 78.5% | Ling 3.0 Flash |
| GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | 85.5% | 83.8% | Ling 3.0 Flash |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | 23.7% | 23.8% | Kimi K2 Thinking |
| Neither model has a result on the other 19 boards here | |||
MathDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index4 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Ling 3.0 Flash | Kimi K2 Thinking | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AIME | Not measured | 85.4% | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| MGSM (Vals AI) | Not measured | 90.2% | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| AA Math Index | Not measured | 94.7 | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| AIME 2025 (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 94.7% | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 9 boards here | |||
KnowledgeLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index22
| Benchmark | Ling 3.0 Flash | Kimi K2 Thinking | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| MMLU Pro | 82.0% | 81.1% | Ling 3.0 Flash |
| LegalBench (Vals AI) | 79.7% | 80.2% | Kimi K2 Thinking |
| CaseLaw (Vals AI) | Not measured | 65.7% | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| CorpFin (Vals AI) | 61.9% | 60.6% | Ling 3.0 Flash |
| TaxEval (Vals AI) | 70.7% | 71.7% | Kimi K2 Thinking |
| MedQA (Vals AI) | Not measured | 92.6% | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| MedCode (Vals AI) | 32.3% | Not measured | Only Ling 3.0 Flash measured |
| MMLU Pro (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 84.8% | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 10 boards here | |||
Web designDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index1 board, none shared
| Benchmark | Ling 3.0 Flash | Kimi K2 Thinking | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design Arena: websites | Not measured | 1113 | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 8 boards here | |||
GeneralLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index10
| Benchmark | Ling 3.0 Flash | Kimi K2 Thinking | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Public Benefits Bench (Vals AI) | 50.7% | Not measured | Only Ling 3.0 Flash measured |
| MedScribe (Vals AI) | 80.9% | Not measured | Only Ling 3.0 Flash measured |
| IFBench | Not measured | 68.1% | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| Long context reasoning (AA-LCR) | 73.0% | 72.0% | Ling 3.0 Flash |
| CL-bench | Not measured | 17.6% | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 41 boards here | |||
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Ling 3.0 Flash | Kimi K2 Thinking | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neither model has a result on 5 boards here | |||
What each workload costs
Three fixed token mixes at each model's listed price, so per-token rates become a bill.
Chat turn
1K input + 500 output tokens
Ling 3.0 Flash costs less
Repository review
50K input + 3K output tokens
Ling 3.0 Flash costs less
Agent loop
200K input + 10K output tokens
Ling 3.0 Flash costs less
Listed OpenRouter rates, without cache or batch discounts. A workload that does not fit a model's context window would need splitting.
Specification differences
The leading value in a row is marked; a row with a missing value names no leader. Our two rows are marked in red.
| Specification | inclusionAI Ling 3.0 Flash | MoonshotAI Kimi K2 Thinking |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | inclusionAI | Moonshot AI |
| Weights | Open weights | Open weights |
| Released | July 23, 2026 | November 6, 2025 |
| Context window | 262K | 262K |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.0405 | $0.60 |
| Output $/Mtok | $0.1215 | $2.50 |
| Coding index | 29.6 | Not benchmarked |
| Independent measurements behind it | 2 | 1 |
| Cost per solved task | $0.05 | $0.61 |
| Source | OpenRouter listing | OpenRouter listing |
Questions
Is Ling 3.0 Flash better than Kimi K2 Thinking for coding?
Only Ling 3.0 Flash has a coding score, 29.6 on the Vibe Coding Index; Kimi K2 Thinking has none, so the two cannot be ranked on coding. Pick Kimi K2 Thinking for work measured by AA Intelligence Index or Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run), where it leads.
Which is cheaper, Ling 3.0 Flash or Kimi K2 Thinking?
Ling 3.0 Flash costs $0.0405 per million input tokens and $0.1215 per million output tokens; Kimi K2 Thinking costs $0.60 and $2.50. Per solved SWE-bench Verified task, Ling 3.0 Flash costs $0.05 and Kimi K2 Thinking $0.61.
Which has the bigger context window, Ling 3.0 Flash or Kimi K2 Thinking?
Neither: both take 262K tokens.
How many benchmarks is the Ling 3.0 Flash vs Kimi K2 Thinking comparison based on?
11 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 21, 2026. Ling 3.0 Flash's coding index rests on 2 independent benchmarks and Kimi K2 Thinking's on 1. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.