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Moonshot AI has rapidly expanded the Kimi family over the past year, and Chat-O offers every publicly available model. This guide maps the complete Kimi lineup so you can match each model to the right workload.
| Model | Released | Context | Parameters | Tiers | Key Strength |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kimi K2 | Early 2026 | 200K | ~100B | Balanced | General coding, daily driver |
| Kimi K2 Thinking | Early 2026 | 200K | ~100B | Power | Visible chain-of-thought reasoning |
| Kimi K2.5 | Early 2026 | 256K | ~100B | Balanced | Multimodal tasks, code generation |
| Kimi K2.5 Thinking | Early 2026 | 256K | ~100B | Power | Reasoning, complex problem solving |
| Kimi K2.6 | Apr 20, 2026 | 256K | ~200B | Balanced | Long-horizon coding, multi-agent orchestration |
| Kimi K2.7 Code | Jun 12, 2026 | 256K | ~200B | Balanced | End-to-end programming |
| Kimi K3 | Jul 16, 2026 | 1M | 2.8T | Power | Frontier reasoning, agentic workflows |
Kimi K2 launched as a strong general-purpose model with a 200K context window. It competes directly with models like DeepSeek V3 and Qwen Max on coding and general knowledge tasks. The Thinking variant adds visible chain-of-thought reasoning for problems that benefit from step-by-step analysis.
Kimi K2 is the baseline: fast, reliable, and affordable in the Balanced tier. Use it for everyday coding, syntax debugging, and API integration. It is not the most powerful Kimi, but it is the most efficient for routine work.
Kimi K2 Thinking is the reasoning upgrade: when you need to see the model’s work, switch to the Power tier version. It is ideal for debugging sessions where understanding the reasoning process matters more than the final answer.
K2.5 extended the context window to 256K and added multimodal capabilities. These models can process images alongside text, making them suitable for tasks that involve diagrams, screenshots, or handwritten notes.
| Capability | K2 | K2.5 | Improvement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Context Window | 200K | 256K | +28% |
| Image Support | No | Yes | New modality |
| Coding Quality | Good | Very Good | Notable improvement |
| Reasoning | Basic | Enhanced | Stronger chain-of-thought |
These three models represent Moonshot AI’s latest thinking about what specialized models should look like.
Kimi K2.6 (April 20, 2026) introduced long-horizon coding and multi-agent orchestration capabilities. It handles complex end-to-end coding tasks that require maintaining context across many files and steps. Available in the Balanced tier.
Kimi K2.7 Code (June 12, 2026) is a focused specialization of the K2.6 architecture for end-to-end programming. It is tuned to complete programming tasks reliably over long contexts, with fewer half-finished outputs. Available in the Balanced tier.
Kimi K3 (July 16, 2026) is the flagship: 2.8 trillion parameters, 1 million token context, multimodal reasoning. It is available in the Power tier and represents a generational leap over everything that came before.
| Your Current Model | Upgrade When | Upgrade To |
|---|---|---|
| K2 Balanced | You need image support | K2.5 Balanced |
| K2 Balanced | You need longer coding sessions | K2.6 or K2.7 Code |
| K2.5 Balanced | You need the full 1M context | K3 Power |
| K2.5 Thinking | You need multi-agent orchestration | K2.6 Balanced |
| Any Balanced | You need frontier reasoning depth | K3 Power |
The beauty of having the full Kimi family is that you can choose the cheapest model that meets your needs:
Every Kimi model in this guide is live in the Chat-O model dropdown. You can switch between them between messages. There is no commitment to any single model. Pick the right tool for each task, and change your mind as often as you like.
The Kimi family gives you one of the widest price-performance ranges of any model family on Chat-O: from a cost-effective Balanced-tier code assistant to a 2.8 trillion parameter reasoning engine. Use the full range. Sources: