Kimi K2.6 vs Inkling 2 Small
Kimi K2.6 leads Inkling 2 Small on coding, 52.1 to 48.9 on the Vibe Coding Index, and Inkling 2 Small costs 4.0x less per output token ($1.00 vs $4.00 per million). Updated November 14, 2026; 30 benchmarks have a result for both.
Kimi K2.6 or Inkling 2 Small: which to pick
Pick Kimi K2.6 for coding: it scores 52.1 on the Vibe Coding Index against 48.9 for Inkling 2 Small.
Pick Inkling 2 Small for output tokens 4.0x cheaper ($1.00 vs $4.00 per million) and a larger context window (1.05M against 262K tokens).
- Shared results
- 30
- Kimi K2.6 only
- 82
- Inkling 2 Small only
- 21
- Like-for-like categories
- 6 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
Kimi K2.6
Kimi K2.6 scores 52.1 against 48.9.
3 benchmarks behind each score
Intelligence
AA Intelligence Index
No call
Only Inkling 2 Small has a AA Intelligence Index result, 30.6.
Directional only
Agentic work
AA Agentic Index
No call
Only Kimi K2.6 has a AA Agentic Index result, 20.5.
Directional only
Reasoning
GPQA Diamond
No call
Only Kimi K2.6 has a GPQA Diamond result, 89.1%.
Directional only
Knowledge
MMLU Pro
No call
Only Kimi K2.6 has a MMLU Pro result, 87.6%.
Directional only
Web design
Design Arena: websites
No call
Only Kimi K2.6 has a Design Arena: websites result, 1263.
Directional only
General
Vals Index
No call
Only Inkling 2 Small has a Vals Index result, 56.1%.
Directional only
Long documents
Listed context window
Inkling 2 Small
Inkling 2 Small takes 1.05M tokens against 262K.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
Inkling 2 Small
Kimi K2.6 $0.0029, Inkling 2 Small $0.0008 per turn.
List prices
Cost per solved task
One SWE-bench Verified task, solved
No call
Only Kimi K2.6 has the number, $0.35.
Directional only
At a glance
- Coding index
- Kimi K2.6 52.1 from 3 benchmarks, Inkling 2 Small 48.9 from 3 benchmarks.
- Widest category
- Agentic work, 28.6 points apart on average over 2 shared benchmarks.
- Widest single gap
- GDPval-AA: Kimi K2.6 1046 against Inkling 2 Small 1630, 48.7 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
- Output price
- Kimi K2.6 $4.00 against Inkling 2 Small $1.00 per million output tokens, 4.0x apart.
- Context window
- Kimi K2.6 takes 262K tokens, Inkling 2 Small 1.05M.
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 | Kimi K2.6 | Bars | Inkling 2 Small | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coding | 2 | 7 | ||
| Agentic work | 0 | 2 | ||
| Reasoning | 3 | 1 | ||
| Math | 0 | 1 | ||
| Knowledge | 2 | 0 | ||
| General | 10 | 2 | ||
| All shared boards | 17 | 13 |
CodingLike-for-likeSix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index27
| Benchmark | Kimi K2.6 | Inkling 2 Small | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| LMArena WebDev | 1509 | 1647 | Inkling 2 Small |
| AA Coding Index | 61.8 | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| LiveCodeBench (Vals AI) | 86.8% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| SWE-bench Verified (Vals AI) | 76.2% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| Terminal-Bench 4 (Vals AI) | Not measured | 12.6% | Only Inkling 2 Small measured |
| Vibe Code Bench (Vals AI) | 37.9% | 81.5% | Inkling 2 Small |
| Code migration (Vals AI) | 27.8% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| ProgramBench (Vals AI) | 0.0% | 0.5% | Inkling 2 Small |
| Terminal-Bench 2.1 (Vals AI) | 53.6% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| SWE-bench Multimodal (Vals AI) | Not measured | 43.1% | Only Inkling 2 Small measured |
| CyberBench (Vals AI) | Not measured | 72.7% | Only Inkling 2 Small measured |
| SciCode | 51.5% | 52.3% | Inkling 2 Small |
| Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run) | 43.9% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| Terminal-Bench 4.0 (Artificial Analysis run) | 0.5% | 13.1% | Inkling 2 Small |
| FrontierCode 2.0 | Not measured | 25.4% | Only Inkling 2 Small measured |
| WeirdML | 55.9% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| ALE-Bench | 1092.7 | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| LMArena Text: coding | 1489 | 1455 | Kimi K2.6 |
| LMArena Text: software and IT | 1484 | 1443 | Kimi K2.6 |
| LMArena WebDev: React | 1504 | 1660 | Inkling 2 Small |
| LMArena WebDev: HTML | 1486 | 1661 | Inkling 2 Small |
| LMArena WebDev: from an image | 1522 | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| SWE-Bench Pro V2 | Not measured | 97.7% | Only Inkling 2 Small measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 29 boards here | |||
IntelligenceDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index2 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Kimi K2.6 | Inkling 2 Small | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | Not measured | 30.6 | Only Inkling 2 Small measured |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 151.6 | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
Agentic workLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index02
| Benchmark | Kimi K2.6 | Inkling 2 Small | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Agentic Index | 20.5 | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| Design Arena: agents building web apps | 1268 | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| Design Arena: agents building full-stack apps | 1130 | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| Design Arena: agents building mobile apps | 1147 | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| Design Arena: agents building Android apps | 1152 | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| Design Arena: agents building Godot games | 1100 | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| Design Arena: agents building games | 1084 | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| Design Arena: HTML slides | 1080 | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| Design Arena: PowerPoint slides | 1095 | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| Design Arena: spreadsheets | 1276 | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| SREBench (Vals AI) | Not measured | 1.9% | Only Inkling 2 Small measured |
| Finance Agent (Vals AI) | 44.9% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| Tax Agent Bench (Vals AI) | 12.4% | 38.9% | Inkling 2 Small |
| Legal Research Bench (Vals AI) | 15.9% | 46.6% | Inkling 2 Small |
| Harvey's Legal Agent Benchmark (Vals AI) | Not measured | 21.7% | Only Inkling 2 Small measured |
| Excel Modeling Benchmark (Vals AI) | 57.9% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| BioMysteryBench (Vals AI) | Not measured | 70.0% | Only Inkling 2 Small measured |
| Terminal-Bench-Science (Vals AI) | Not measured | 2.9% | Only Inkling 2 Small measured |
| Vals Science Index | Not measured | 32.7% | Only Inkling 2 Small measured |
| τ²-Bench Telecom | 95.9% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| APEX-Agents | Not measured | 46.8% | Only Inkling 2 Small measured |
| OSWorld 2.0 | 4.6% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| Vending-Bench 2 | $6,205 | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| MCP Atlas | Not measured | 85.4% | Only Inkling 2 Small measured |
| Toolathlon-Verified | 58.0% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 19 boards here | |||
ReasoningLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index31
| Benchmark | Kimi K2.6 | Inkling 2 Small | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond | 89.1% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| MysteryMechanism (Vals AI) | Not measured | 25.2% | Only Inkling 2 Small measured |
| MMMU Pro (Vals AI) | 86.3% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | 91.1% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | 37.5% | 44.1% | Inkling 2 Small |
| HLE-Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 28.7% | Only Inkling 2 Small measured |
| CritPt v2, hard subset (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 35.0% | Only Inkling 2 Small measured |
| GPQA Diamond (Epoch AI run) | 90.8% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| ARC-AGI | Not measured | 96.5% | Only Inkling 2 Small measured |
| ARC-AGI-2 | Not measured | 81.7% | Only Inkling 2 Small measured |
| Chess puzzles | 20.0% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| Mystery game puzzles | 18.0% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| EBR-bench | 2.4% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts | 1470 | 1421 | Kimi K2.6 |
| LMArena Text: expert | 1492 | 1478 | Kimi K2.6 |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts in English | 1471 | 1424 | Kimi K2.6 |
| LMArena Vision: diagrams | 1298 | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| LMArena Vision: homework | 1310 | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 8 boards here | |||
MathLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index01
| Benchmark | Kimi K2.6 | Inkling 2 Small | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| OTIS Mock AIME | 96.1% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| FrontierMath, tiers 1 to 3 | 57.2% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| FrontierMath, tier 4 | 25.6% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| ProofBench | 16.0% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| LMArena Text: math | 1475 | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| LMArena Text: mathematical work | 1480 | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| MathArena | 23.0% | 42.4% | Inkling 2 Small |
| Neither model has a result on the other 7 boards here | |||
KnowledgeLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index20
| Benchmark | Kimi K2.6 | Inkling 2 Small | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| MMLU Pro | 87.6% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| LegalBench (Vals AI) | 84.7% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| CaseLaw (Vals AI) | 61.2% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| CorpFin (Vals AI) | 66.7% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| TaxEval (Vals AI) | 74.7% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| MortgageTax (Vals AI) | 65.8% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| MedCode (Vals AI) | 40.1% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| AA-Omniscience | Not measured | 16.1 | Only Inkling 2 Small measured |
| SimpleQA Verified | 34.9% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| LMArena Text: science | 1468 | 1409 | Kimi K2.6 |
| LMArena Text: medicine and healthcare | 1456 | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| LMArena Text: legal and government | 1461 | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| LMArena Text: business and finance | 1445 | 1415 | Kimi K2.6 |
| Neither model has a result on the other 8 boards here | |||
Web designDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index8 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Kimi K2.6 | Inkling 2 Small | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design Arena: websites | 1263 | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| Design Arena: UI components | 1257 | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| Design Arena: game dev | 1239 | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| Design Arena: data viz | 1246 | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| Design Arena: 3D | 1247 | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| Design Arena: all code categories | 1262 | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| Design Arena: SVG | 1170 | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| Design Arena: ASCII art | 1152 | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 1 board here | |||
GeneralLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index102
| Benchmark | Kimi K2.6 | Inkling 2 Small | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vals Index | Not measured | 56.1% | Only Inkling 2 Small measured |
| Public Benefits Bench (Vals AI) | 56.6% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| SAGE (Vals AI) | Not measured | 88.6% | Only Inkling 2 Small measured |
| MedScribe (Vals AI) | 78.2% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| Vals Multimodal Index | 56.4% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| IFBench | 76.0% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| Long context reasoning (AA-LCR) | 81.0% | 83.3% | Inkling 2 Small |
| GDPval-AA | 1046 | 1630 | Inkling 2 Small |
| DTBench | 90.9% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| LMCA | 37.3% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| Furniture assembly | 21.7% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| ExploitBench | 18.4% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| LMArena Text | 1455 | 1403 | Kimi K2.6 |
| LMArena Text: instruction following | 1451 | 1408 | Kimi K2.6 |
| LMArena Text: creative writing | 1433 | 1348 | Kimi K2.6 |
| LMArena Vision | 1282 | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| LMArena Text: English | 1460 | 1418 | Kimi K2.6 |
| LMArena Text: non-English | 1446 | 1390 | Kimi K2.6 |
| LMArena Text: Chinese | 1521 | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| LMArena Text: German | 1454 | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| LMArena Text: Japanese | 1440 | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| LMArena Text: Korean | 1427 | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| LMArena Text: French | 1471 | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| LMArena Text: Spanish | 1464 | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| LMArena Text: Russian | 1446 | 1377 | Kimi K2.6 |
| LMArena Text: Polish | 1438 | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| LMArena Text: multi-turn | 1454 | 1408 | Kimi K2.6 |
| LMArena Text: longer queries | 1468 | 1403 | Kimi K2.6 |
| LMArena Text: writing and language | 1439 | 1381 | Kimi K2.6 |
| LMArena Text: entertainment and media | 1428 | 1359 | Kimi K2.6 |
| LMArena Vision: English | 1287 | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| LMArena Vision: Chinese | 1347 | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| LMArena Vision: reading text | 1292 | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| LMArena Vision: humor | 1280 | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| LMArena Vision: creative writing | 1273 | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| LMArena Document | 1450 | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| EQ-Bench 4 | 1191 | Not measured | Only Kimi K2.6 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 12 boards here | |||
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Kimi K2.6 | Inkling 2 Small | 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
Inkling 2 Small costs less
Repository review
50K input + 3K output tokens
Inkling 2 Small costs less
Agent loop
200K input + 10K output tokens
Inkling 2 Small 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 | MoonshotAI Kimi K2.6 | Thinking Machines Inkling 2 Small |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Moonshot AI | Thinking Machines |
| Weights | Open weights | Open weights |
| Released | April 20, 2026 | November 9, 2026 |
| Context window | 262K | 1.05M |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.95 | $0.30 |
| Output $/Mtok | $4.00 | $1.00 |
| Coding index | 52.1 | 48.9 |
| Independent measurements behind it | 3 | 3 |
| Cost per solved task | $0.35 | Not computable |
| Source | OpenRouter listing | OpenRouter listing |
Questions
Is Kimi K2.6 better than Inkling 2 Small for coding?
Pick Kimi K2.6 for coding: it scores 52.1 on the Vibe Coding Index against 48.9 for Inkling 2 Small. Pick Inkling 2 Small for output tokens 4.0x cheaper ($1.00 vs $4.00 per million) and a larger context window (1.05M against 262K tokens).
Which is cheaper, Kimi K2.6 or Inkling 2 Small?
Kimi K2.6 costs $0.95 per million input tokens and $4.00 per million output tokens; Inkling 2 Small costs $0.30 and $1.00. Cost per solved task is known for Kimi K2.6 only.
Which has the bigger context window, Kimi K2.6 or Inkling 2 Small?
Inkling 2 Small, with 1.05M tokens against 262K.
How many benchmarks is the Kimi K2.6 vs Inkling 2 Small comparison based on?
30 benchmarks have a result for both models as of November 14, 2026. Kimi K2.6's coding index rests on 3 independent benchmarks and Inkling 2 Small's on 3. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.