API cost decision in 10 seconds

Kimi K2 0905 vs NewGrok Build 0.1

Pick Kimi K2 0905 when budget and context both matter.

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

Budget verdict

Pick Kimi K2 0905 when budget and context both matter.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Kimi K2 0905 is estimated at $1.85 vs $2 for Grok Build 0.1, saving $0.15 (7.5% lower).

Cost-first pickKimi K2 0905
Context-first pickKimi K2 0905
Sample savings$0.157.5%
10x traffic gap$1.5

Kimi K2 0905 is cheaper on the standard workload and also has the larger context window. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $1.5. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

Cost winner changes by workload shape: input-heavy / RAG favors Kimi K2 0905, balanced workload favors Grok Build 0.1, and output-heavy chatbot favors Grok Build 0.1.

Workload shapeToken mixBetter pickKimi K2 0905Grok Build 0.1
Input-heavy / RAG5M input + 500K outputKimi K2 0905$4.25$6
Balanced workload1M input + 1M outputGrok Build 0.1$3.1$3
Output-heavy chatbot1M input + 5M outputGrok Build 0.1$13.1$11
Cheaper input Kimi K2 0905 $0.6 vs $1 / 1M

Kimi K2 0905 is $0.4 cheaper per 1M input tokens (40% lower; 1.67x difference).

Cheaper output Grok Build 0.1 $2.5 vs $2 / 1M

Grok Build 0.1 is $0.5 cheaper per 1M output tokens (20% lower; 1.25x difference).

Larger context Kimi K2 0905 262.14K vs 256K

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

Sample workload Kimi K2 0905 $1.85 vs $2

Kimi K2 0905 is $0.15 cheaper on the standard workload (7.5% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.
Kimi K2 0905 Calculating… Estimated API cost
Grok Build 0.1 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

Kimi K2 0905 has the lower input price; Grok Build 0.1 has the lower output price; Kimi K2 0905 offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Kimi K2 0905 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 $2 for Grok Build 0.1.

Best Fit

Choose Kimi K2 0905 when you care most about lower input-token price, and larger context window.

Choose Grok Build 0.1 when you care most about lower output-token price.

Decision Notes
  • On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Kimi K2 0905 is estimated at $1.85 vs $2 for Grok Build 0.1, saving $0.15 (7.5% lower).
  • Kimi K2 0905 is $0.15 cheaper on the standard workload (7.5% lower).
  • Kimi K2 0905 is $0.4 cheaper per 1M input tokens (40% lower; 1.67x difference).
  • Grok Build 0.1 is $0.5 cheaper per 1M output tokens (20% lower; 1.25x difference).
  • Kimi K2 0905 has 6.14K more context (1.02x larger).
Head-to-Head Specs
FeatureKimi K2 0905
(MoonshotAI)
NewGrok Build 0.1
(xAI)
Input Price
prompt tokens per 1M
$0.6$1
Completion Price
per 1M tokens
$2.5$2
Sample Workload Cost
1M input + 500K output
$1.85$2
Context Window262.14K256K
Release Date
Popularity#70#119

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use caseBetter pickWhy
Budget-constrained productionKimi K2 0905On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Kimi K2 0905 is estimated at $1.85 vs $2 for Grok Build 0.1, saving $0.15 (7.5% lower).
High-volume input processingKimi K2 0905Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbotsGrok Build 0.1Lower 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 K2.5 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.
Larger context near this budget
  • Llama 4 Scout offers 10M context with $0.23 sample workload cost.
  • Grok 4.20 offers 2M context with $2.5 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.

Cheaper alternatives

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

Open cheapest models

Larger context alternatives

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

Open largest context models

Provider catalogs

Compare models within provider hubs before choosing a final API vendor.

Open provider hubs

MoonshotAI catalog

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

Open MoonshotAI models

xAI catalog

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

Open xAI models
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...

Grok Build 0.1

Grok Build 0.1 is xAI’s fast coding model trained specifically for agentic software engineering workflows. It supports text and image inputs with text output, and is optimized for interactive coding...