DeepSeek AI DeepSeek R1.0528 vs Moonshotai Kimi K2.5
DeepSeek AI DeepSeek R1.0528 vs Moonshotai Kimi K2.5: DeepSeek AI DeepSeek R1.0528 is cheaper by 37% on average. DeepSeek AI DeepSeek R1.0528 from Nebius (164,000-token context, reasoning, tool calls) vs. Moonshotai Kimi K2.5 from Together AI (256,000-token context, reasoning, tool calls). Use Agent Command Center to A/B both in shadow mode and pick the winner per workload.
Side-by-side cost
Live workload comparison
Same workload run through both models. The cheaper one is highlighted.
3,000
0256,000
400
0200,000
5,000
01,000,000
At this workload, Moonshotai Kimi K2.5 is 22% cheaper than DeepSeek AI DeepSeek R1.0528 — a savings of $113/month ($1,351/year).
Crossover: Moonshotai Kimi K2.5 is cheaper when output/input ≤ 0.75 (input-heavy workloads — RAG, retrieval). DeepSeek AI DeepSeek R1.0528 wins above (long-form generation).
Current workload ratio: 0.13 (400/3000)
Production recipe — Agent Command Center
strategy: cost-optimized
primary:
model: moonshotai-kimi-k2-5
provider: together-ai
fallback:
model: deepseek-ai-deepseek-r1-0528
provider: nebius
shadow: { sample_rate: 0.05 } # mirror 5% of traffic to compare quality live| DeepSeek AI DeepSeek R1.0528 | Moonshotai Kimi K2.5 | |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $0.800/M | $0.500/M |
| Output price | $2.40/M | $2.80/M |
| Context window | 164,000 | 256,000 |
| Max output | 164,000 | 256,000 |
| Function calling | ✓ | ✓ |
| Vision | — | ✓ |
| Audio input | — | — |
| Reasoning | ✓ | ✓ |
| Prompt caching | — | — |
| Structured output | — | — |
| Pricing verified | May 12, 2026 | May 12, 2026 |