Kimi K2 Thinking vs Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20
Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 costs 1.4x less per output token than Kimi K2 Thinking ($1.80 vs $2.50 per million). Updated October 22, 2026; 12 benchmarks have a result for both.
Kimi K2 Thinking or Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20: which to pick
Only Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 has a coding score, 39.5 on the Vibe Coding Index; Kimi K2 Thinking has none, so the two cannot be ranked on coding.
Pick Kimi K2 Thinking for a lower cost per solved task ($0.61 against $1.35) and work measured by CaseLaw (Vals AI), where it leads.
- Shared results
- 12
- Kimi K2 Thinking only
- 18
- Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 only
- 13
- 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
No call
Only Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 has a coding score, so no call is made.
One side not measured
Intelligence
AA Intelligence Index
No call
Only Kimi K2 Thinking has a AA Intelligence Index result, 22.0.
Directional only
Reasoning
GPQA Diamond
Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20
Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 leads, 87.4% against 78.5%.
Same board, both measured
Math
AIME
Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20
Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 leads, 86.0% against 85.4%.
Same board, both measured
Knowledge
MMLU Pro
Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20
Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 leads, 87.2% 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
Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20
Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 takes 1M tokens against 262K.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20
Kimi K2 Thinking $0.0019, Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 $0.0012 per turn.
List prices
Cost per solved task
One SWE-bench Verified task, solved
Kimi K2 Thinking
Kimi K2 Thinking $0.61, Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 $1.35.
Published attempt cost and pass rate
At a glance
- Coding index
- Kimi K2 Thinking not benchmarked, Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 39.5 from 2 benchmarks.
- Widest category
- Coding, 11.2 points apart on average over 3 shared benchmarks.
- Widest single gap
- LiveCodeBench (Vals AI): Kimi K2 Thinking 63.1% against Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 85.3%, 22.2 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
- Output price
- Kimi K2 Thinking $2.50 against Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 $1.80 per million output tokens, 1.4x apart.
- Context window
- Kimi K2 Thinking takes 262K tokens, Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 1M.
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 | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coding | 0 | 3 | ||
| Intelligence | 0 | 1 | ||
| Reasoning | 0 | 1 | ||
| Math | 0 | 1 | ||
| Knowledge | 1 | 4 | ||
| General | 0 | 1 | ||
| All shared boards | 1 | 11 |
CodingLike-for-likeSix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index03
| Benchmark | Kimi K2 Thinking | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| SWE-bench Verified | 63.4% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| LiveCodeBench (Vals AI) | 63.1% | 85.3% | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 |
| SWE-bench Verified (Vals AI) | 60.2% | 71.2% | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 |
| Vibe Code Bench (Vals AI) | Not measured | 15.7% | Only Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 measured |
| LiveCodeBench (Artificial Analysis run) | 85.3% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run) | 31.1% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| Terminal-Bench | 35.7% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| WeirdML | 42.8% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| ALE-Bench | 597.5 | 608.9 | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 |
| Neither model has a result on the other 30 boards here | |||
IntelligenceLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index01
| Benchmark | Kimi K2 Thinking | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | 22.0 | Not measured | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 145.8 | 146.2 | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 |
Agentic workDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index3 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Kimi K2 Thinking | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| τ²-Bench Telecom | 93.0% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| METR time horizons | 59.2% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| Vending-Bench 2 | Not measured | $1 | Only Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 38 boards here | |||
ReasoningLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index01
| Benchmark | Kimi K2 Thinking | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond | 78.5% | 87.4% | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 |
| MMMU Pro (Vals AI) | Not measured | 22.8% | Only Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 measured |
| GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | 83.8% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | 23.8% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| GPQA Diamond (Epoch AI run) | Not measured | 84.8% | Only Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 measured |
| Chess puzzles | Not measured | 8.0% | Only Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 measured |
| Mystery game puzzles | Not measured | 17.0% | Only Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 15 boards here | |||
MathLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index01
| Benchmark | Kimi K2 Thinking | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AIME | 85.4% | 86.0% | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 |
| MGSM (Vals AI) | 90.2% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| AA Math Index | 94.7 | Not measured | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| AIME 2025 (Artificial Analysis run) | 94.7% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| OTIS Mock AIME | Not measured | 86.7% | Only Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 8 boards here | |||
KnowledgeLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index14
| Benchmark | Kimi K2 Thinking | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| MMLU Pro | 81.1% | 87.2% | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 |
| LegalBench (Vals AI) | 80.2% | 85.1% | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 |
| CaseLaw (Vals AI) | 65.7% | 59.7% | Kimi K2 Thinking |
| CorpFin (Vals AI) | 60.6% | 65.3% | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 |
| TaxEval (Vals AI) | 71.7% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| MortgageTax (Vals AI) | Not measured | 60.8% | Only Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 measured |
| MedQA (Vals AI) | 92.6% | 95.2% | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 |
| MMLU Pro (Artificial Analysis run) | 84.8% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| SimpleQA Verified | Not measured | 25.4% | Only Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 9 boards here | |||
Web designDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index1 board, none shared
| Benchmark | Kimi K2 Thinking | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 | 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 index01
| Benchmark | Kimi K2 Thinking | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| SAGE (Vals AI) | Not measured | 30.4% | Only Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 measured |
| IFBench | 68.1% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| Long context reasoning (AA-LCR) | 72.0% | Not measured | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| DTBench | Not measured | 80.5% | Only Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 measured |
| LMCA | Not measured | 36.4% | Only Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 measured |
| CL-bench | 17.6% | 19.8% | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 |
| CL-bench Life | Not measured | 12.4% | Only Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 39 boards here | |||
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | Kimi K2 Thinking | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 | 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
Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 costs less
Repository review
50K input + 3K output tokens
Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 costs less
Agent loop
200K input + 10K output tokens
Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 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 | Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Moonshot AI | Qwen |
| Weights | Open weights | No public weights listed |
| Released | November 6, 2025 | April 27, 2026 |
| Context window | 262K | 1M |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.60 | $0.30 |
| Output $/Mtok | $2.50 | $1.80 |
| Coding index | Not benchmarked | 39.5 |
| Independent measurements behind it | 1 | 2 |
| Cost per solved task | $0.61 | $1.35 |
| Source | OpenRouter listing | OpenRouter listing |
Questions
Is Kimi K2 Thinking better than Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 for coding?
Only Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 has a coding score, 39.5 on the Vibe Coding Index; Kimi K2 Thinking has none, so the two cannot be ranked on coding. Pick Kimi K2 Thinking for a lower cost per solved task ($0.61 against $1.35) and work measured by CaseLaw (Vals AI), where it leads.
Which is cheaper, Kimi K2 Thinking or Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20?
Kimi K2 Thinking costs $0.60 per million input tokens and $2.50 per million output tokens; Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 costs $0.30 and $1.80. Per solved SWE-bench Verified task, Kimi K2 Thinking costs $0.61 and Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 $1.35.
Which has the bigger context window, Kimi K2 Thinking or Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20?
Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20, with 1M tokens against 262K.
How many benchmarks is the Kimi K2 Thinking vs Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20 comparison based on?
12 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 22, 2026. Kimi K2 Thinking's coding index rests on 1 independent benchmark and Qwen3.5 Plus 2026-04-20's on 2. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.