API cost decision in 10 seconds

Kimi K2 0905 vs NewStep 3.7 Flash

Pick Step 3.7 Flash for lower cost; pick Kimi K2 0905 only if the larger context window matters more.

Page updated:  Data confirmed:  Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick Step 3.7 Flash for lower cost; pick Kimi K2 0905 only if the larger context window matters more.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Step 3.7 Flash is estimated at $0.77 vs $1.85 for Kimi K2 0905, saving $1.08 (58.1% lower).

Cost-first pickStep 3.7 Flash
Context-first pickKimi K2 0905
Sample savings$1.0858.1%
10x traffic gap$10.75

Kimi K2 0905 has more context, but Step 3.7 Flash saves $1.08 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $10.75. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

Step 3.7 Flash stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shapeToken mixBetter pickKimi K2 0905Step 3.7 Flash
Input-heavy / RAG5M input + 500K outputStep 3.7 Flash$4.25$1.57
Balanced workload1M input + 1M outputStep 3.7 Flash$3.1$1.35
Output-heavy chatbot1M input + 5M outputStep 3.7 Flash$13.1$5.95
Cheaper input Step 3.7 Flash $0.6 vs $0.2 / 1M

Step 3.7 Flash is $0.4 cheaper per 1M input tokens (66.7% lower; 3x difference).

Cheaper output Step 3.7 Flash $2.5 vs $1.15 / 1M

Step 3.7 Flash is $1.35 cheaper per 1M output tokens (54% lower; 2.17x difference).

Larger context Kimi K2 0905 262.14K vs 256K

Kimi K2 0905 has 6.14K more context (1.02x larger).

Sample workload Step 3.7 Flash $1.85 vs $0.77

Step 3.7 Flash is $1.08 cheaper on the standard workload (58.1% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.
Kimi K2 0905 Calculating… Estimated API cost
Step 3.7 Flash Calculating… Estimated API cost
Cheaper for this workload Calculating… Difference: calculating…

This estimate uses normalized public API pricing per 1M tokens. It is a planning aid, not a billing quote. Verify provider pricing, limits, and terms before production use.

Quick Decision

Verdict

Step 3.7 Flash has the lower input price; Step 3.7 Flash has the lower output price; Kimi K2 0905 offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Step 3.7 Flash is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $1.85 for Kimi K2 0905 and $0.77 for Step 3.7 Flash.

Best Fit

Choose Kimi K2 0905 when you care most about larger context window.

Choose Step 3.7 Flash when you care most about lower input-token price, and lower output-token price.

Decision Notes
  • On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Step 3.7 Flash is estimated at $0.77 vs $1.85 for Kimi K2 0905, saving $1.08 (58.1% lower).
  • Step 3.7 Flash is $1.08 cheaper on the standard workload (58.1% lower).
  • Step 3.7 Flash is $0.4 cheaper per 1M input tokens (66.7% lower; 3x difference).
  • Step 3.7 Flash is $1.35 cheaper per 1M output tokens (54% lower; 2.17x difference).
  • Kimi K2 0905 has 6.14K more context (1.02x larger).
Head-to-Head Specs
FeatureKimi K2 0905
(MoonshotAI)		NewStep 3.7 Flash
(StepFun)
Input Price
prompt tokens per 1M		$0.6$0.2
Completion Price
per 1M tokens		$2.5$1.15
Sample Workload Cost
1M input + 500K output		$1.85$0.77
Context Window262.14K256K
Release Date
Popularity#85#101

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use caseBetter pickWhy
Budget-constrained productionStep 3.7 FlashOn the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Step 3.7 Flash is estimated at $0.77 vs $1.85 for Kimi K2 0905, saving $1.08 (58.1% lower).
High-volume input processingStep 3.7 FlashLower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbotsStep 3.7 FlashLower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document workKimi K2 0905A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

Same-provider lower-cost swaps
  • Kimi K2.6 (free) can replace Kimi K2 0905 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
  • Kimi K2.5 can replace Kimi K2 0905 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $1.35.
  • Kimi K2 0711 can replace Kimi K2 0905 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $1.72.
  • Step 3.5 Flash can replace Step 3.7 Flash when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.24.
Larger context near this budget
  • Llama 4 Scout offers 10M context with $0.23 sample workload cost.
  • Owl Alpha offers 1.05M context with $0 sample workload cost.
  • DeepSeek V4 Flash offers 1.05M context with $0.2 sample workload cost.
  • MiMo-V2.5 offers 1.05M context with $0.28 sample workload cost.

Cheaper alternatives

Review low-cost models sorted by a standard 1M input plus 500K output workload.

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Larger context alternatives

Find models with larger context windows for RAG, long documents, and codebase review.

Open largest context models

Provider catalogs

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MoonshotAI catalog

Review all tracked MoonshotAI models before deciding whether this matchup is the right shortlist.

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StepFun catalog

Check other StepFun models with comparable pricing, context, or release timing.

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Kimi K2 0905

Kimi K2 0905 is the September update of [Kimi K2 0711](moonshotai/kimi-k2). It is a large-scale Mixture-of-Experts (MoE) language model developed by Moonshot AI, featuring 1 trillion total parameters with 32...

Step 3.7 Flash

Step 3.7 Flash is StepFun's latest high-efficiency multimodal Mixture-of-Experts model. It pairs a 196B-parameter language backbone with a vision encoder for native image and video understanding, activating roughly 11B parameters...