kimi-k2.5 vs llama-3.1-70b-instruct
kimi-k2.5 is 1.7× cheaper on input than llama-3.1-70b-instruct.
| kimi-k2.5 | llama-3.1-70b-instruct | |
|---|---|---|
| Input / 1M | $0.60 | $1.00 |
| Cached input / 1M | $0.10 | — |
| Output / 1M | $3.00 | $1.00 |
| Context window | 262K | 131K |
| Max output | 262K | 131K |
| Provider | Moonshot | Perplexity |
| Vision | Yes | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | No |
| Token count | estimated | estimated |
Capability for the money
Independent measurement · Artificial Analysis · read 2026-08-11Not the same tier: kimi-k2.5 leads llama-3.1-70b-instruct by 80.7 points on tool use (τ²-bench), for 1.2× the price.
Following instructions
extraction, classification, sticking to a format
IFBenchkimi-k2.5 +35.8
Tool use
multi-step agent work against real tools
τ²-benchkimi-k2.5 +80.7
Hard reasoning
graduate-level science and multi-step analysis
GPQA Diamondkimi-k2.5 +47.0
Averaged over the benchmarks both models sat, kimi-k2.5 returns 70.6 points of pass rate per dollar of blended price against 30.2 — the ratio that decides whether the dearer model earns its rate.
Each figure is a pass rate: the share of that test set the model answered correctly, measured by a third party rather than self-reported by the lab. Rows are different tests of different difficulty, so compare a model against the other model, not one row against the next. No published coding score for one of these models, so that lens is omitted. And a benchmark is not your workload — it narrows the shortlist, it does not pick for you.
Which to pick
- Cheaper input: kimi-k2.5
- Cheaper output: llama-3.1-70b-instruct
- Larger context: kimi-k2.5
- Better at following instructions: kimi-k2.5 (70.2% vs 34.4% on IFBench)
- Better at tool use: kimi-k2.5 (95.9% vs 15.2% on τ²-bench)
- Better at hard reasoning: kimi-k2.5 (87.9% vs 40.9% on GPQA Diamond)
List price is not production cost. Output length, cache hit rate, retries and task quality move the real number more than the headline rate does — price your own prompt on the token ledger before deciding.
Related comparisons
kimi-k2.5 detail · llama-3.1-70b-instruct detail · All Moonshot pricing · All comparisons