API cost decision in 10 seconds

Nemotron 3 Ultra vs Kimi K2 0905

Pick Kimi K2 0905 for lower cost; pick Nemotron 3 Ultra 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 Kimi K2 0905 for lower cost; pick Nemotron 3 Ultra only if the larger context window matters more.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Kimi K2 0905 is estimated at $1.85 vs $2.4 for Nemotron 3 Ultra, saving $0.55 (22.9% lower).

Cost-first pickKimi K2 0905
Context-first pickNemotron 3 Ultra
Sample savings$0.5522.9%
10x traffic gap$5.5

Nemotron 3 Ultra has more context, but Kimi K2 0905 saves $0.55 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $5.5. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

Kimi K2 0905 stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shapeToken mixBetter pickNemotron 3 UltraKimi K2 0905
Input-heavy / RAG5M input + 500K outputKimi K2 0905$4.8$4.25
Balanced workload1M input + 1M outputKimi K2 0905$4.2$3.1
Output-heavy chatbot1M input + 5M outputKimi K2 0905$18.6$13.1
Cheaper input Tie $0.6 vs $0.6 / 1M

Both models report the same input price at $0.6 per 1M tokens.

Cheaper output Kimi K2 0905 $3.6 vs $2.5 / 1M

Kimi K2 0905 is $1.1 cheaper per 1M output tokens (30.6% lower; 1.44x difference).

Larger context Nemotron 3 Ultra 512.29K vs 262.14K

Nemotron 3 Ultra has 250.14K more context (1.95x larger).

Sample workload Kimi K2 0905 $2.4 vs $1.85

Kimi K2 0905 is $0.55 cheaper on the standard workload (22.9% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.
Nemotron 3 Ultra Calculating… Estimated API cost
Kimi K2 0905 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

both models tie on input price; Kimi K2 0905 has the lower output price; Nemotron 3 Ultra 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 $2.4 for Nemotron 3 Ultra and $1.85 for Kimi K2 0905.

Best Fit

Choose Nemotron 3 Ultra when you care most about larger context window.

Choose Kimi K2 0905 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 $2.4 for Nemotron 3 Ultra, saving $0.55 (22.9% lower).
  • Kimi K2 0905 is $0.55 cheaper on the standard workload (22.9% lower).
  • Both models report the same input price at $0.6 per 1M tokens.
  • Kimi K2 0905 is $1.1 cheaper per 1M output tokens (30.6% lower; 1.44x difference).
  • Nemotron 3 Ultra has 250.14K more context (1.95x larger).
Head-to-Head Specs
FeatureNemotron 3 Ultra
(NVIDIA)
Kimi K2 0905
(MoonshotAI)
Input Price
prompt tokens per 1M
$0.6$0.6
Completion Price
per 1M tokens
$3.6$2.5
Sample Workload Cost
1M input + 500K output
$2.4$1.85
Context Window512.29K262.14K
Release Date
Popularity#91#93

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 $2.4 for Nemotron 3 Ultra, saving $0.55 (22.9% lower).
High-volume input processingTieLower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbotsKimi K2 0905Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document workNemotron 3 UltraA larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

Larger context near this budget
  • Grok 4.20 offers 2M context with $2.5 sample workload cost.
  • Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent offers 2M context with $2.5 sample workload cost.
  • Llama 4 Scout offers 1.31M context with $0.25 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.

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

NVIDIA catalog

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

Open NVIDIA models

MoonshotAI catalog

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

Open MoonshotAI models
Nemotron 3 Ultra

NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Ultra is an open frontier-reasoning and orchestration model from NVIDIA, with 55B active parameters out of 550B total (MoE). Built on a hybrid Transformer-Mamba mixture-of-experts architecture, it...

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...