Gemma 4 E4B (Reasoning) vs Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning)
Which is better for the money: Gemma 4 E4B (Reasoning) by Google or Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning) by Kimi? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-10-25.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning) scores 18.1 points higher (27.0 vs 8.9) but costs 104× as much to run the benchmark ($1528 vs $14.7; premium vs budget cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning) when you need intelligence above 8.9, and Gemma 4 E4B (Reasoning) when 8.9 is enough.
| Metric | Gemma 4 E4B (Reasoning) | Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 8.9 | 27.0 | +203.4% Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning) is 3.0× more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $14.68 | $1,528.20 | +10310.1% Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning) is 104× more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 57.72s | 60.02s | +4.0% Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning) is 4.0% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.02 / $0.10 | $0.95 / $4.00 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image, Speech, Video | Text, Image, Video |
Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning) vs Gemma 4 E4B (Reasoning): 203.4% more intelligence, 10310.1% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 4.0% slower end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- Gemma 4 E4B (Reasoning) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6 Luna (Low) scores 21.50 for $10.6.
- Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) scores 51.80 for $1082.
Gemma 4 E4B (Reasoning)Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning)Today's Pareto frontierOpen-weights frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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Accept: text/markdown or ?format=md returns this page as Markdown. JSON: /api/v1/compare/gemma-4-e4b/kimi-k2-6 · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/gemma-4-e4b/kimi-k2-6?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill