Kimi K2.5 (Reasoning) vs Qwen3 Coder Next
Which is better for the money: Kimi K2.5 (Reasoning) by Kimi or Qwen3 Coder Next by Alibaba? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-08-17.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
Kimi K2.5 (Reasoning) scores 14.7 points higher (36.0 vs 21.3) but costs 1.2× as much to run the benchmark ($304 vs $250; both mid-range class). Pick Kimi K2.5 (Reasoning) when the extra intelligence is worth the premium, otherwise Qwen3 Coder Next.
| Metric | Kimi K2.5 (Reasoning) | Qwen3 Coder Next | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 36.0 | 21.3 | −40.8% Qwen3 Coder Next is 40.8% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $304.21 | $250.18 | −17.8% Qwen3 Coder Next is 17.8% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 75.95s | 4.63s | −93.9% Qwen3 Coder Next is 93.9% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.60 / $3.00 | $0.35 / $1.20 | |
| Input modalities | Not reported | Not reported |
Qwen3 Coder Next vs Kimi K2.5 (Reasoning): 40.8% less intelligence, 17.8% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 93.9% faster end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- Kimi K2.5 (Reasoning) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, Gemini 3.7 Flash (medium) scores 53.40 for $278.
- Qwen3 Coder Next is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-5.6 Luna (max) scores 52.30 for $172.
Kimi K2.5 (Reasoning)Qwen3 Coder NextToday's Pareto frontierOpen-weights frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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