API cost decision in 10 seconds

🔥GPT-5.5 vs 🔥Kimi K2.6

Pick Kimi K2.6 for lower cost; pick GPT-5.5 only if the larger context window matters more.

Pricing data updated:  Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick Kimi K2.6 for lower cost; pick GPT-5.5 only if the larger context window matters more.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Kimi K2.6 is estimated at $2.48 vs $20 for GPT-5.5, saving $17.52 (87.6% lower).

Cost-first pickKimi K2.6
Context-first pickGPT-5.5
Sample savings$17.5287.6%
10x traffic gap$175.25

GPT-5.5 has more context, but Kimi K2.6 saves $17.52 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $175.25. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

Kimi K2.6 stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shapeToken mixBetter pickGPT-5.5Kimi K2.6
Input-heavy / RAG 5M input + 500K output Kimi K2.6 $40 $5.39
Balanced workload 1M input + 1M output Kimi K2.6 $35 $4.22
Output-heavy chatbot 1M input + 5M output Kimi K2.6 $155 $18.18
Cheaper inputKimi K2.6$5 vs $0.73 / 1M
Cheaper outputKimi K2.6$30 vs $3.49 / 1M
Larger contextGPT-5.51.05M vs 262.14K
Sample workloadKimi K2.6$20 vs $2.48

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.
GPT-5.5Calculating…Estimated API cost
Kimi K2.6Calculating…Estimated API cost
Cheaper for this workloadCalculating…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 K2.6 has the lower input price, Kimi K2.6 has the lower output price, and GPT-5.5 offers the larger context window.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $20 for GPT-5.5 and $2.48 for Kimi K2.6.

Best Fit

Choose GPT-5.5 when you care most about larger context window.

Choose Kimi K2.6 when you care most about lower input-token price, and lower output-token price.

Head-to-Head Specs
Feature🔥GPT-5.5
(OpenAI)		🔥Kimi K2.6
(MoonshotAI)
Input Price
prompt tokens per 1M		$5$0.73
Completion Price
per 1M tokens		$30$3.49
Sample Workload Cost
1M input + 500K output		$20$2.48
Context Window1.05M262.14K
Release Date2026-04-242026-04-20
Popularity#17#12
GPT-5.5

GPT-5.5 is OpenAI’s frontier model designed for complex professional workloads, building on GPT-5.4 with stronger reasoning, higher reliability, and improved token efficiency on hard tasks. It features a 1M+ token...

Kimi K2.6

Kimi K2.6 is Moonshot AI's next-generation multimodal model, designed for long-horizon coding, coding-driven UI/UX generation, and multi-agent orchestration. It handles complex end-to-end coding tasks across Python, Rust, and Go, and...

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use caseBetter pickWhy
Budget-constrained productionKimi K2.6On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Kimi K2.6 is estimated at $2.48 vs $20 for GPT-5.5, saving $17.52 (87.6% lower).
High-volume input processingKimi K2.6Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts or retrieved passages dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbotsKimi K2.6Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document workGPT-5.5A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages and source files.