Pick Grok 4.6 for frontier-tier intelligence at a value price - artificial analysis intelligence index 61, tying gpt-5.6 sol or ranked #2 on artificial analysis's independent gdpval agentic test, behind only claude opus 5. Pick Kimi K2.7 Code for long-horizon agentic software engineering or token-efficient reasoning (~30% fewer than k2.6). Choose Kimi K2.7 Code if you need self-hosting or data privacy; Grok 4.6 if you want a managed API.
Grok 4.6 (xAI, US) and Kimi K2.7 Code (Moonshot AI, China) line up two different AI ecosystems against each other — a comparison that is as much about cost philosophy and openness as raw capability. Grok 4.6 is xAI's Grok 4.6 - frontier-level intelligence (AA Index 61, tying GPT-5.6 Sol) at a fraction of flagship pricing, and already in Cursor and Copilot. Kimi K2.7 Code is moonshot AI's open-weight 1T-parameter MoE model (32B active) tuned for long-horizon agentic coding, always reasoning yet ~30% more token-efficient than K2.6. They diverge most on price, context window and open vs. closed weights — each quantified below from the models' real specs.
Key differences
Price: Kimi K2.7 Code is about 2.1× cheaper on input ($0.95/$4 per 1M tokens vs $2/$6 per 1M tokens) — meaningful once you are processing millions of tokens a month.
Context window: Grok 4.6 holds 1.9× more — 500K (~750 pages) vs 256K (~393 pages). But effective recall usually fades long before the advertised ceiling, so the bigger number only helps if the model reasons over it.
Recency: Grok 4.6 is the newer model by about 2 months (released August 12, 2026), usually meaning fresher training data and capabilities.
Ecosystem: this is a US-vs-China matchup — they differ in pricing philosophy, data-residency options, and tooling ecosystems, not only benchmarks.
Specifications
Spec
Grok 4.6
Kimi K2.7 Code
Provider
xAI (US)
Moonshot AI (China)
Released
August 12, 2026
June 12, 2026
Context window
500K (~750 pages)
256K (~393 pages)
Price (in/out)
$2/$6 per 1M tokens
$0.95/$4 per 1M tokens
Open weight?
No — API only
Yes — self-hostable
Modalities
text, image, code
text, image, video, code
SWE-Bench Verified
Not published
Not published
MRCR v2 @ 1M
Not published
Not published
Who wins what
Frontier-tier intelligence at a value price - Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index 61, tying GPT-5.6 Sol: Grok 4.6 — XAI's Grok 4.6 - frontier-level intelligence (AA Index 61, tying GPT-5.6 Sol) at a fraction of flagship pricing, and already in Cursor and Copilot — and it carries the larger 500K context.
Ranked #2 on Artificial Analysis's independent GDPval agentic test, behind only Claude Opus 5: Grok 4.6 — XAI's Grok 4.6 - frontier-level intelligence (AA Index 61, tying GPT-5.6 Sol) at a fraction of flagship pricing, and already in Cursor and Copilot — and it is the newer of the two.
$2/$6 per million tokens - a fraction of Claude Opus 5 or GPT-5.6 Sol: Grok 4.6 — Its 500K window holds about 1.9× more than Kimi K2.7 Code's 256K in a single prompt.
Long-horizon agentic software engineering: Kimi K2.7 Code — Moonshot AI's open-weight 1T-parameter MoE model (32B active) tuned for long-horizon agentic coding, always reasoning yet ~30% more token-efficient than K2.6 — and it runs cheaper at $0.95/$4 per 1M tokens.
Token-efficient reasoning (~30% fewer than K2.6): Kimi K2.7 Code — Moonshot AI's open-weight 1T-parameter MoE model (32B active) tuned for long-horizon agentic coding, always reasoning yet ~30% more token-efficient than K2.6 — and its weights are open while Grok 4.6 is API-only.
Open-weight 1T MoE, self-hostable: Kimi K2.7 Code — Open weights make this possible at all — Grok 4.6 is API-only, so it cannot leave the vendor's servers.
Lowest cost at scale: Kimi K2.7 Code — At $0.95/$4 per 1M tokens, it is the cheaper of the two — the gap dominates the bill on high-volume workloads.
Largest single-prompt input: Grok 4.6 — Its 500K window is about 1.9× larger than Kimi K2.7 Code's 256K, fitting roughly 750 pages in one prompt.
Which should you pick?
A cost-sensitive startup shipping high volume: Kimi K2.7 Code — At $0.95/$4 per 1M tokens it undercuts Grok 4.6, and on millions of tokens that margin decides the monthly bill.
Someone analysing very long documents or codebases: Grok 4.6 — Larger 500K window fits more in one prompt.
A team with data-privacy or self-hosting needs: Kimi K2.7 Code — Open weights let you run it on your own hardware; Grok 4.6 is API-only.
Anyone whose priority is frontier-tier intelligence at a value price - artificial analysis intelligence index 61, tying gpt-5.6 sol: Grok 4.6 — It is specifically built for that.
Anyone whose priority is long-horizon agentic software engineering: Kimi K2.7 Code — That is its strongest area.
An enterprise with regional data-residency rules: Grok 4.6 or Kimi K2.7 Code — Origin (US vs China) affects where data is processed and which compliance regime applies — check the provider's terms for your region.
Grok 4.6: where it fits
XAI's Grok 4.6 - frontier-level intelligence (AA Index 61, tying GPT-5.6 Sol) at a fraction of flagship pricing, and already in Cursor and Copilot. Released August 12, 2026 by xAI, it is built for frontier-tier intelligence at a value price - Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index 61, tying GPT-5.6 Sol, ranked #2 on Artificial Analysis's independent GDPval agentic test, behind only Claude Opus 5, $2/$6 per million tokens - a fraction of Claude Opus 5 or GPT-5.6 Sol, and 500K-token context; available same-day in Cursor and (two days later) GitHub Copilot.
Its trade-offs are real: coding gains (DeepSWE 65.9, APEX-Agents 57.5) are xAI's own numbers, not independently reproduced, parameter count is undisclosed, text and image input only - not a full multimodal model, and fast-moving target: xAI says Grok 4.7 is only weeks away. At $2 in / $6 out per million tokens, it sits in the mid price band.
Kimi K2.7 Code: where it fits
Moonshot AI's open-weight 1T-parameter MoE model (32B active) tuned for long-horizon agentic coding, always reasoning yet ~30% more token-efficient than K2.6. Released June 12, 2026 by Moonshot AI, it is built for long-horizon agentic software engineering, token-efficient reasoning (~30% fewer than K2.6), open-weight 1T MoE, self-hostable, and multi-turn tool use with preserved reasoning.
Its trade-offs: only self-reported benchmarks; no SWE-Bench Verified, and thinking mode and sampling params can't be disabled. At $0.95 in / $4 out per million tokens, it sits in the budget price band.
The bottom line for this matchup
The defining split here is open vs. closed. Kimi K2.7 Code gives you weights you control — self-host it, fine-tune it, keep data in-house, pay only for hardware. Grok 4.6 gives you a managed, always-updated API with no infrastructure to run. Teams with GPUs, privacy requirements, or huge volume often favour the open model; teams that want zero ops and the latest capabilities favour the closed one. Capability is close enough that this operational question, not the benchmark, usually decides it.
Frequently asked questions
Is Grok 4.6 or Kimi K2.7 Code better for coding?
Public SWE-Bench figures are not available for either model, so the honest test is your own repository — run an identical real bug through both. By design, Grok 4.6 leans toward frontier-tier intelligence at a value price - artificial analysis intelligence index 61, tying gpt-5.6 sol while Kimi K2.7 Code leans toward long-horizon agentic software engineering, and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.
Which is cheaper, Grok 4.6 or Kimi K2.7 Code?
Kimi K2.7 Code is open-weight, so self-hosting means no per-token fee (you pay for hardware instead), while Grok 4.6 is API-metered at $2/$6 per 1M tokens. For most teams without GPUs, the API model is cheaper to start; at very high volume, self-hosting can win.
Which has the bigger context window?
Grok 4.6 — 500K vs 256K, about 1.9× larger. Useful only if the model actually reasons over the full window, which not all do.
Can I use both Grok 4.6 and Kimi K2.7 Code together?
Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you Grok 4.6, Kimi K2.7 Code and 40+ others under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day), so you can draft with one and cross-check with the other instead of buying two subscriptions.
Which is newer, Grok 4.6 or Kimi K2.7 Code?
Grok 4.6 — released August 12, 2026, about 2 months after Kimi K2.7 Code.
Grok 4.6 vs Kimi K2.7 Code
xAI · US | Moonshot AI · China · Updated June 2026
Quick verdict
Pick Grok 4.6 for frontier-tier intelligence at a value price - artificial analysis intelligence index 61, tying gpt-5.6 sol or ranked #2 on artificial analysis's independent gdpval agentic test, behind only claude opus 5. Pick Kimi K2.7 Code for long-horizon agentic software engineering or token-efficient reasoning (~30% fewer than k2.6). Choose Kimi K2.7 Code if you need self-hosting or data privacy; Grok 4.6 if you want a managed API.
Grok 4.6 (xAI, US) and Kimi K2.7 Code (Moonshot AI, China) line up two different AI ecosystems against each other — a comparison that is as much about cost philosophy and openness as raw capability. Grok 4.6 is xAI's Grok 4.6 - frontier-level intelligence (AA Index 61, tying GPT-5.6 Sol) at a fraction of flagship pricing, and already in Cursor and Copilot. Kimi K2.7 Code is moonshot AI's open-weight 1T-parameter MoE model (32B active) tuned for long-horizon agentic coding, always reasoning yet ~30% more token-efficient than K2.6. They diverge most on price, context window and open vs. closed weights — each quantified below from the models' real specs.
Key differences at a glance
▸Price: Kimi K2.7 Code is about 2.1× cheaper on input ($0.95/$4 per 1M tokens vs $2/$6 per 1M tokens) — meaningful once you are processing millions of tokens a month.
▸Context window: Grok 4.6 holds 1.9× more — 500K (~750 pages) vs 256K (~393 pages). But effective recall usually fades long before the advertised ceiling, so the bigger number only helps if the model reasons over it.
▸Recency: Grok 4.6 is the newer model by about 2 months (released August 12, 2026), usually meaning fresher training data and capabilities.
▸Ecosystem: this is a US-vs-China matchup — they differ in pricing philosophy, data-residency options, and tooling ecosystems, not only benchmarks.
Side-by-side specs
Spec
Grok 4.6
Kimi K2.7 Code
Provider
xAI (US)
Moonshot AI (China)
Released
August 12, 2026
June 12, 2026
Context window
500K (~750 pages)
256K (~393 pages)
Price (in/out)
$2/$6 per 1M tokens
$0.95/$4 per 1M tokens
Open weight?
No — API only
Yes — self-hostable
Modalities
text, image, code
text, image, video, code
SWE-Bench Verified
Not published
Not published
MRCR v2 @ 1M
Not published
Not published
Who wins what
Frontier-tier intelligence at a value price - Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index 61, tying GPT-5.6 Sol
Grok 4.6
XAI's Grok 4.6 - frontier-level intelligence (AA Index 61, tying GPT-5.6 Sol) at a fraction of flagship pricing, and already in Cursor and Copilot — and it carries the larger 500K context.
Ranked #2 on Artificial Analysis's independent GDPval agentic test, behind only Claude Opus 5
Grok 4.6
XAI's Grok 4.6 - frontier-level intelligence (AA Index 61, tying GPT-5.6 Sol) at a fraction of flagship pricing, and already in Cursor and Copilot — and it is the newer of the two.
$2/$6 per million tokens - a fraction of Claude Opus 5 or GPT-5.6 Sol
Grok 4.6
Its 500K window holds about 1.9× more than Kimi K2.7 Code's 256K in a single prompt.
Long-horizon agentic software engineering
Kimi K2.7 Code
Moonshot AI's open-weight 1T-parameter MoE model (32B active) tuned for long-horizon agentic coding, always reasoning yet ~30% more token-efficient than K2.6 — and it runs cheaper at $0.95/$4 per 1M tokens.
Token-efficient reasoning (~30% fewer than K2.6)
Kimi K2.7 Code
Moonshot AI's open-weight 1T-parameter MoE model (32B active) tuned for long-horizon agentic coding, always reasoning yet ~30% more token-efficient than K2.6 — and its weights are open while Grok 4.6 is API-only.
Open-weight 1T MoE, self-hostable
Kimi K2.7 Code
Open weights make this possible at all — Grok 4.6 is API-only, so it cannot leave the vendor's servers.
Lowest cost at scale
Kimi K2.7 Code
At $0.95/$4 per 1M tokens, it is the cheaper of the two — the gap dominates the bill on high-volume workloads.
Largest single-prompt input
Grok 4.6
Its 500K window is about 1.9× larger than Kimi K2.7 Code's 256K, fitting roughly 750 pages in one prompt.
Which should you pick?
A cost-sensitive startup shipping high volume
→ Kimi K2.7 Code
At $0.95/$4 per 1M tokens it undercuts Grok 4.6, and on millions of tokens that margin decides the monthly bill.
Someone analysing very long documents or codebases
→ Grok 4.6
Larger 500K window fits more in one prompt.
A team with data-privacy or self-hosting needs
→ Kimi K2.7 Code
Open weights let you run it on your own hardware; Grok 4.6 is API-only.
Anyone whose priority is frontier-tier intelligence at a value price - artificial analysis intelligence index 61, tying gpt-5.6 sol
→ Grok 4.6
It is specifically built for that.
Anyone whose priority is long-horizon agentic software engineering
→ Kimi K2.7 Code
That is its strongest area.
An enterprise with regional data-residency rules
→ Grok 4.6 or Kimi K2.7 Code
Origin (US vs China) affects where data is processed and which compliance regime applies — check the provider's terms for your region.
Grok 4.6: where it fits
XAI's Grok 4.6 - frontier-level intelligence (AA Index 61, tying GPT-5.6 Sol) at a fraction of flagship pricing, and already in Cursor and Copilot. Released August 12, 2026 by xAI, it is built for frontier-tier intelligence at a value price - Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index 61, tying GPT-5.6 Sol, ranked #2 on Artificial Analysis's independent GDPval agentic test, behind only Claude Opus 5, $2/$6 per million tokens - a fraction of Claude Opus 5 or GPT-5.6 Sol, and 500K-token context; available same-day in Cursor and (two days later) GitHub Copilot.
Its trade-offs are real: coding gains (DeepSWE 65.9, APEX-Agents 57.5) are xAI's own numbers, not independently reproduced, parameter count is undisclosed, text and image input only - not a full multimodal model, and fast-moving target: xAI says Grok 4.7 is only weeks away. At $2 in / $6 out per million tokens, it sits in the mid price band.
Kimi K2.7 Code: where it fits
Moonshot AI's open-weight 1T-parameter MoE model (32B active) tuned for long-horizon agentic coding, always reasoning yet ~30% more token-efficient than K2.6. Released June 12, 2026 by Moonshot AI, it is built for long-horizon agentic software engineering, token-efficient reasoning (~30% fewer than K2.6), open-weight 1T MoE, self-hostable, and multi-turn tool use with preserved reasoning.
Its trade-offs: only self-reported benchmarks; no SWE-Bench Verified, and thinking mode and sampling params can't be disabled. At $0.95 in / $4 out per million tokens, it sits in the budget price band.
The bottom line for this matchup
The defining split here is open vs. closed. Kimi K2.7 Code gives you weights you control — self-host it, fine-tune it, keep data in-house, pay only for hardware. Grok 4.6 gives you a managed, always-updated API with no infrastructure to run. Teams with GPUs, privacy requirements, or huge volume often favour the open model; teams that want zero ops and the latest capabilities favour the closed one. Capability is close enough that this operational question, not the benchmark, usually decides it.
Want both Grok 4.6 and Kimi K2.7 Code without two subscriptions? LumiChats gives you these plus 40+ models under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day) — draft with one, cross-check with the other.
Public SWE-Bench figures are not available for either model, so the honest test is your own repository — run an identical real bug through both. By design, Grok 4.6 leans toward frontier-tier intelligence at a value price - artificial analysis intelligence index 61, tying gpt-5.6 sol while Kimi K2.7 Code leans toward long-horizon agentic software engineering, and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.
Which is cheaper, Grok 4.6 or Kimi K2.7 Code?
Kimi K2.7 Code is open-weight, so self-hosting means no per-token fee (you pay for hardware instead), while Grok 4.6 is API-metered at $2/$6 per 1M tokens. For most teams without GPUs, the API model is cheaper to start; at very high volume, self-hosting can win.
Which has the bigger context window?
Grok 4.6 — 500K vs 256K, about 1.9× larger. Useful only if the model actually reasons over the full window, which not all do.
Can I use both Grok 4.6 and Kimi K2.7 Code together?
Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you Grok 4.6, Kimi K2.7 Code and 40+ others under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day), so you can draft with one and cross-check with the other instead of buying two subscriptions.
Which is newer, Grok 4.6 or Kimi K2.7 Code?
Grok 4.6 — released August 12, 2026, about 2 months after Kimi K2.7 Code.
Specifications and benchmarks reflect publicly reported figures as of June 2026 and may change as providers release updates. Always verify on your own workload.