Kimi K2 Thinking vs Qwen2.5 72B Instruct
Kimi K2 Thinking leads Qwen2.5 72B Instruct on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, 22.0 to 7.7, and Qwen2.5 72B Instruct costs 6.3x less per output token ($0.40 vs $2.50 per million). Updated October 21, 2026; 13 benchmarks have a result for both.
Kimi K2 Thinking or Qwen2.5 72B Instruct: which to pick
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding.
Pick Kimi K2 Thinking for a larger context window (262K against 33K tokens).
- Shared results
- 13
- Kimi K2 Thinking only
- 17
- Qwen2.5 72B Instruct only
- 40
- Like-for-like categories
- 7 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
Neither has a coding score yet.
One side not measured
Intelligence
AA Intelligence Index
Kimi K2 Thinking
Kimi K2 Thinking leads, 22.0 against 7.7.
Same board, both measured
Reasoning
GPQA Diamond
No call
Only Kimi K2 Thinking has a GPQA Diamond result, 78.5%.
Directional only
Math
AIME
No call
Only Kimi K2 Thinking has a AIME result, 85.4%.
Directional only
Knowledge
MMLU Pro
No call
Only Kimi K2 Thinking has a MMLU Pro result, 81.1%.
Directional only
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
Kimi K2 Thinking
Kimi K2 Thinking takes 262K tokens against 33K.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
Qwen2.5 72B Instruct
Kimi K2 Thinking $0.0019, Qwen2.5 72B Instruct $0.0006 per turn.
List prices
Cost per solved task
One SWE-bench Verified task, solved
No call
Only Kimi K2 Thinking has the number, $0.61.
Directional only
At a glance
- Coding index
- Kimi K2 Thinking not benchmarked, Qwen2.5 72B Instruct not benchmarked.
- Widest category
- Math, 80.7 points apart on average over 2 shared benchmarks.
- Widest single gap
- AA Math Index: Kimi K2 Thinking 94.7 against Qwen2.5 72B Instruct 14.0, 80.7 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
- Output price
- Kimi K2 Thinking $2.50 against Qwen2.5 72B Instruct $0.40 per million output tokens, 6.3x apart.
- Context window
- Kimi K2 Thinking takes 262K tokens, Qwen2.5 72B Instruct 33K.
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 Thinking | Bars | Qwen2.5 72B Instruct | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coding | 3 | 0 | ||
| Intelligence | 2 | 0 | ||
| Agentic work | 2 | 0 | ||
| Reasoning | 2 | 0 | ||
| Math | 2 | 0 | ||
| Knowledge | 1 | 0 | ||
| General | 1 | 0 | ||
| All shared boards | 13 | 0 |
CodingLike-for-likeSix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index30
| Benchmark | Kimi K2 Thinking | Qwen2.5 72B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| SWE-bench Verified | 63.4% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| LiveCodeBench (Vals AI) | 63.1% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| SWE-bench Verified (Vals AI) | 60.2% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| LiveCodeBench (Artificial Analysis run) | 85.3% | 27.6% | Kimi K2 Thinking |
| Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run) | 31.1% | 4.5% | Kimi K2 Thinking |
| Terminal-Bench | 35.7% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| WeirdML | 42.8% | 16.0% | Kimi K2 Thinking |
| ALE-Bench | 597.5 | Not measured | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| LMArena Text: coding | Not measured | 1292 | Only Qwen2.5 72B Instruct measured |
| LMArena Text: software and IT | Not measured | 1292 | Only Qwen2.5 72B Instruct measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 29 boards here | |||
IntelligenceLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index20
| Benchmark | Kimi K2 Thinking | Qwen2.5 72B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | 22.0 | 7.7 | Kimi K2 Thinking |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 145.8 | 129.0 | Kimi K2 Thinking |
Agentic workLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index20
| Benchmark | Kimi K2 Thinking | Qwen2.5 72B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| τ²-Bench Telecom | 93.0% | 34.5% | Kimi K2 Thinking |
| METR time horizons | 59.2% | 35.8% | Kimi K2 Thinking |
| BALROG | Not measured | 16.2% | Only Qwen2.5 72B Instruct measured |
| TheAgentCompany | Not measured | 5.7% | Only Qwen2.5 72B Instruct measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 37 boards here | |||
ReasoningLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index20
| Benchmark | Kimi K2 Thinking | Qwen2.5 72B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond | 78.5% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | 83.8% | 49.1% | Kimi K2 Thinking |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | 23.8% | 3.6% | Kimi K2 Thinking |
| GPQA Diamond (Epoch AI run) | Not measured | 49.1% | Only Qwen2.5 72B Instruct measured |
| BIG-Bench Hard | Not measured | 79.8% | Only Qwen2.5 72B Instruct measured |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts | Not measured | 1271 | Only Qwen2.5 72B Instruct measured |
| LMArena Text: expert | Not measured | 1245 | Only Qwen2.5 72B Instruct measured |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts in English | Not measured | 1279 | Only Qwen2.5 72B Instruct measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 14 boards here | |||
MathLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index20
| Benchmark | Kimi K2 Thinking | Qwen2.5 72B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AIME | 85.4% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| MGSM (Vals AI) | 90.2% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| AA Math Index | 94.7 | 14.0 | Kimi K2 Thinking |
| AIME 2025 (Artificial Analysis run) | 94.7% | 14.0% | Kimi K2 Thinking |
| OTIS Mock AIME | Not measured | 8.1% | Only Qwen2.5 72B Instruct measured |
| MATH level 5 | Not measured | 63.2% | Only Qwen2.5 72B Instruct measured |
| LMArena Text: math | Not measured | 1283 | Only Qwen2.5 72B Instruct measured |
| LMArena Text: mathematical work | Not measured | 1290 | Only Qwen2.5 72B Instruct measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 5 boards here | |||
KnowledgeLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index10
| Benchmark | Kimi K2 Thinking | Qwen2.5 72B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| MMLU Pro | 81.1% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| LegalBench (Vals AI) | 80.2% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| CaseLaw (Vals AI) | 65.7% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| CorpFin (Vals AI) | 60.6% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| TaxEval (Vals AI) | 71.7% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| MedQA (Vals AI) | 92.6% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| MMLU Pro (Artificial Analysis run) | 84.8% | 72.0% | Kimi K2 Thinking |
| MMLU | Not measured | 85.3% | Only Qwen2.5 72B Instruct measured |
| AI2 Reasoning Challenge | Not measured | 94.5% | Only Qwen2.5 72B Instruct measured |
| LMArena Text: science | Not measured | 1275 | Only Qwen2.5 72B Instruct measured |
| LMArena Text: medicine and healthcare | Not measured | 1258 | Only Qwen2.5 72B Instruct measured |
| LMArena Text: legal and government | Not measured | 1288 | Only Qwen2.5 72B Instruct measured |
| LMArena Text: business and finance | Not measured | 1253 | Only Qwen2.5 72B Instruct measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 5 boards here | |||
Web designDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index1 board, none shared
| Benchmark | Kimi K2 Thinking | Qwen2.5 72B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design Arena: websites | 1113 | Not measured | 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 | Kimi K2 Thinking | Qwen2.5 72B Instruct | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| IFBench | 68.1% | 36.9% | Kimi K2 Thinking |
| Long context reasoning (AA-LCR) | 72.0% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| DTBench | Not measured | 62.9% | Only Qwen2.5 72B Instruct measured |
| LMCA | Not measured | 13.4% | Only Qwen2.5 72B Instruct measured |
| CL-bench | 17.6% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| HellaSwag | Not measured | 84.8% | Only Qwen2.5 72B Instruct measured |
| WinoGrande | Not measured | 82.3% | Only Qwen2.5 72B Instruct measured |
| PIQA | Not measured | 82.6% | Only Qwen2.5 72B Instruct measured |
| LMArena Text | Not measured | 1269 | Only Qwen2.5 72B Instruct measured |
| LMArena Text: instruction following | Not measured | 1254 | Only Qwen2.5 72B Instruct measured |
| LMArena Text: creative writing | Not measured | 1221 | Only Qwen2.5 72B Instruct measured |
| LMArena Text: English | Not measured | 1283 | Only Qwen2.5 72B Instruct measured |
| LMArena Text: non-English | Not measured | 1252 | Only Qwen2.5 72B Instruct measured |
| LMArena Text: Chinese | Not measured | 1273 | Only Qwen2.5 72B Instruct measured |
| LMArena Text: German | Not measured | 1234 | Only Qwen2.5 72B Instruct measured |
| LMArena Text: Japanese | Not measured | 1180 | Only Qwen2.5 72B Instruct measured |
| LMArena Text: Korean | Not measured | 1188 | Only Qwen2.5 72B Instruct measured |
| LMArena Text: French | Not measured | 1280 | Only Qwen2.5 72B Instruct measured |
| LMArena Text: Spanish | Not measured | 1255 | Only Qwen2.5 72B Instruct measured |
| LMArena Text: Russian | Not measured | 1264 | Only Qwen2.5 72B Instruct measured |
| LMArena Text: multi-turn | Not measured | 1272 | Only Qwen2.5 72B Instruct measured |
| LMArena Text: longer queries | Not measured | 1281 | Only Qwen2.5 72B Instruct measured |
| LMArena Text: writing and language | Not measured | 1247 | Only Qwen2.5 72B Instruct measured |
| LMArena Text: entertainment and media | Not measured | 1211 | Only Qwen2.5 72B Instruct measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 22 boards here | |||
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Kimi K2 Thinking | Qwen2.5 72B Instruct | 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
Qwen2.5 72B Instruct costs less
Repository review
50K input + 3K output tokens
Qwen2.5 72B Instruct costs less
Agent loop
200K input + 10K output tokens
Qwen2.5 72B Instruct 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 Thinking | Qwen2.5 72B Instruct |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Moonshot AI | Qwen |
| Weights | Open weights | Open weights |
| Released | November 6, 2025 | September 19, 2024 |
| Context window | 262K | 33K |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.60 | $0.36 |
| Output $/Mtok | $2.50 | $0.40 |
| Coding index | Not benchmarked | Not benchmarked |
| Independent measurements behind it | 1 | 0 |
| Cost per solved task | $0.61 | Not computable |
| Source | OpenRouter listing | OpenRouter listing |
Questions
Is Kimi K2 Thinking better than Qwen2.5 72B Instruct for coding?
Neither model has a coding score yet, so the two cannot be ranked on coding. Pick Kimi K2 Thinking for a larger context window (262K against 33K tokens).
Which is cheaper, Kimi K2 Thinking or Qwen2.5 72B Instruct?
Kimi K2 Thinking costs $0.60 per million input tokens and $2.50 per million output tokens; Qwen2.5 72B Instruct costs $0.36 and $0.40. Cost per solved task is known for Kimi K2 Thinking only.
Which has the bigger context window, Kimi K2 Thinking or Qwen2.5 72B Instruct?
Kimi K2 Thinking, with 262K tokens against 33K.
How many benchmarks is the Kimi K2 Thinking vs Qwen2.5 72B Instruct comparison based on?
13 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 21, 2026. Kimi K2 Thinking's coding index rests on 1 independent benchmark and Qwen2.5 72B Instruct's on 0. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.