Kimi API Models — Complete Overview and Comparisons
Quick Answer
The Kimi API offers a powerful lineup of language models
designed for developers. These models include the flagship kimi-k2-5, the reasoning-focused kimi-k2-5-thinking, and the
cost-effective kimi-k2 standard and instruct variants. All
kimi api models feature a standard 128K context window and
full compatibility with the OpenAI chat completion format, allowing developers
to switch models easily by modifying the model parameter.
What is Kimi API Models
The kimi api models represent a suite of advanced large language models built by Moonshot AI. These models are optimized to deliver high-quality text generation, reasoning, and context understanding in English and multiple languages. By accessing the kimi model api, developers can integrate state-of-the-art artificial intelligence directly into their software.
Whether you require a highly analytical model that performs chain-of-thought reasoning or a lightweight, fast model for general instruction following, the kimi api has an optimized model ID for your use case.
Kimi K2.5 Thinking API
Deep reasoning model optimized for complex calculations, math, coding, and multi-step tasks.
Read more →Moonshot API Reference
Reference details regarding the underlying Moonshot platform architecture and endpoint integrations.
Read more →How Kimi API Models Work
All kimi api models run on Moonshot's scalable REST infrastructure. Requests are sent to the completions endpoint using JSON payloads. The API parses your system prompts, messages, and model parameters to return responses either as single blocks or as a live stream of tokens.
The standard model handles instructions immediately, while the reasoning models allocate additional tokens to run chain-of-thought steps, which are visible in the output or processed internally before delivering the final response.
How to Access Kimi API Models
To make a call to any model, construct a standard POST request. Below is a Python code example demonstrating how to invoke the flagship kimi-k2-5 model.
import openai
client = openai.OpenAI(
api_key="your_kimi_api_key_here",
base_url="https://api.moonshot.cn/v1"
)
response = client.chat.completions.create(
model="kimi-k2-5",
messages=[
{"role": "system", "content": "You are a helpful coding assistant."},
{"role": "user", "content": "Explain the difference between Kimi K2 and K2.5."}
],
temperature=0.3
)
print(response.choices[0].message.content)Kimi Models Comparison
Below is a comprehensive comparison of the active models available under the kimi api framework.
| Model Name | Model ID | Context Window | Input Price (1M) | Output Price (1M) | Primary Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kimi K2.5 Flagship | kimi-k2-5 | 128,000 tokens | $2.50 | $7.50 | General chat, coding, translation, complex instructions |
| Kimi K2.5 Thinking | kimi-k2-5-thinking | 128,000 tokens | $3.50 | $10.50 | Math problems, logical deduction, advanced coding reasoning |
| Kimi K2 Standard | kimi-k2 | 128,000 tokens | $1.20 | $3.60 | Cost-sensitive tasks, draft generation, high throughput |
| Kimi K2 Instruct | kimi-k2-instruct | 128,000 tokens | $1.50 | $4.50 | Structured data extraction, JSON output validation |
Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions About Kimi API
What is the flagship model in Kimi API?
The flagship model is kimi-k2-5, which offers state-of-the-art natural language processing, complex coding assistance, and image analysis with a 128K context window.
What is Kimi Thinking mode?
Kimi Thinking mode (kimi-k2-5-thinking) enables the model to perform internal chain-of-thought reasoning before responding, significantly improving math, coding, and logical reasoning accuracy.
Are Kimi models OpenAI compatible?
Yes, all models in the Kimi API are fully compatible with OpenAI completions. You can use official OpenAI SDKs by changing the base URL to platform.moonshot.cn.
What context window do Kimi API models support?
All current Kimi API models support a large context window of 128,000 tokens, enabling developers to process extensive documents and file uploads.
What is the difference between Moonshot and Kimi models?
Moonshot AI is the research organization, while Kimi is the product line. In the API console, models are designated with both brands, but the primary API endpoints and configurations are identical.
Conclusion
Selecting the right model from the kimi api relies on balancing reasoning depth, execution speed, and token cost. For standard tasks, the cost-effective kimi k2 api series provides optimal results, while complex debugging and reasoning tasks benefit from kimi k2.5 api. For detailed cost Breakdowns, check out the Kimi API Pricing Hub, or explore our Getting Started Guide to create your API keys.