Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite vs Kimi K2.6
Wins 1 of 8 areas
Following instructions
Wins 6 of 8 areas
Coding · Agents · Reasoning · Images and charts · Math · Long documents
Kimi K2.6 is the stronger all-rounder.Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite is cheaper and better at following instructions.
Scores updated · 37 tests both models report · How we compare
Where each one wins
Tests won in each of the eight areas we test. Each piece is one test, so a longer bar means more evidence; grey means the two scored within a point of each other.
- CodingWriting and fixing software07Kimi K2.67 of 7 tests
- MathCompetition and research-level math05Kimi K2.65 of 5 tests
- ReasoningHard problems that need careful thinking04Kimi K2.64 of 4 tests
- AgentsCarrying out multi-step tasks on its own02Kimi K2.62 of 4 tests · 2 ties
- Images and chartsUnderstanding pictures, charts and video02Kimi K2.62 of 3 tests · 1 tie
- Long documentsFinding answers in very long texts01Kimi K2.61 of 1 test
- Following instructionsDoing exactly what it is asked10Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite1 of 1 test
- FactsGetting facts right instead of making them up11Even1 each
Long documents and following instructions rest on a single test each.
What it costs
Prices per million tokens, roughly 750,000 words. The bars show the cost of a million tokens read plus a million written.
Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite costs 43% less for the same work.
The biggest differences
The tests each model wins by the widest margin, up to three each. Scores are out of 100.
Where Kimi K2.6 pulls ahead
- Unpublished advanced math problemsFrontierMath Tiers 1-3 (v2)+31.2points ahead
- Harvard-MIT high-school math contest problemsHMMT Feb. 2026+29.1points ahead
- Fresh logic puzzles that change regularlyLiveBench · Reasoning+19.2points ahead
Where Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite pulls ahead
- Avoids making up answers it doesn't knowAA-Omniscience · Non-hallucination+6.1points ahead
- Follows detailed instructions exactlyLiveBench · Instruction Following+2.8points ahead
Every test, side by side
All 37 tests both models report. The winning score is in its model's colour; marks a score checked independently.
CodingKimi K2.6
- Terminal-Bench 2.1Kimi K2.6 by 12.353.665.9+12.3
- SciCodeKimi K2.6 by 10.241.351.5+10.2
- LMArena · WebDevKimi K2.6 by 69 rating points14401509+69 rating
- SWE-bench VerifiedKimi K2.6 by 5.27580.2+5.2
- SWE-bench ProKimi K2.6 by 4.454.258.6+4.4
- LiveBench · CodingKimi K2.6 by 2.576.178.6+2.5
- LiveBench · Agentic CodingKimi K2.6 by 1.645.346.9+1.6
AgentsKimi K2.6
- τ-Bench V3 · BankingKimi K2.6 by 5.817.523.3+5.8
- GDPValKimi K2.6 by 2.724.327+2.7
- OSWorld-Verifiedtie7473.1tie
- Terminal-Bench 4.0tie10.5tie
ReasoningKimi K2.6
- LiveBench · ReasoningKimi K2.6 by 19.260.279.4+19.2
- Humanity's Last ExamKimi K2.6 by 18.718.837.5+18.7
- CritPtKimi K2.6 by 808+8
- GPQA DiamondKimi K2.6 by 7.383.891.1+7.3
FactsEven
- AA-Omniscience · Non-hallucinationGemini 3.5 Flash Lite by 6.165.659.5+6.1
- AA-Omniscience · AccuracyKimi K2.6 by 3.129.532.6+3.1
Images and chartsKimi K2.6
- CharXiv (RQ)Kimi K2.6 by 10.276.586.7+10.2
- LMArena · VisionKimi K2.6 by 16 rating points12661282+16 rating
- MMMU-Protie7979.4tie
MathKimi K2.6
- FrontierMath Tiers 1-3 (v2)Kimi K2.6 by 31.22657.2+31.2
- HMMT Feb. 2026Kimi K2.6 by 29.163.692.7+29.1
- FrontierMath Tier 4Kimi K2.6 by 25.6025.6+25.6
- AIME 2026Kimi K2.6 by 14.282.296.4+14.2
- LiveBench · MathematicsKimi K2.6 by 10.673.784.3+10.6
Following instructionsGemini 3.5 Flash Lite
- LiveBench · Instruction FollowingGemini 3.5 Flash Lite by 2.867.264.4+2.8
Other results10 tests, not counted
Tests outside the eight areas. They are not counted above: several are summary scores built from other tests, or the same test under another name.
- Artificial Analysis Coding IndexKimi K2.6 by 12.549.361.8+12.5
- livebench_data_analysisKimi K2.6 by 11.853.365.1+11.8
- HLE (with tools)Kimi K2.6 by 11.542.554+11.5
- AA Agentic IndexKimi K2.6 by 6.215.922.1+6.2
- GDPval-AA v2Kimi K2.6 by 50 rating points11401190+50 rating
- AA IntelligenceKimi K2.6 by 4.822.227+4.8
- SWEBench Pro PublicKimi K2.6 by 4.454.258.6+4.4
- τ³-Bench BankingKimi K2.6 by 4.116.520.6+4.1
- livebench_languageKimi K2.6 by 3.371.875.1+3.3
- AA-Omnisciencetie5.25.3tie
Questions people ask
Which is better, Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite or Kimi K2.6?
Kimi K2.6 wins six of the eight areas we test: coding, agents, reasoning, images and charts, math and long documents. Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite wins following instructions, and costs 43% less. They are level on facts.
Which is better for coding?
Kimi K2.6. It wins 7 of the 7 coding tests both models report; Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite wins none.
Which is cheaper?
Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite costs $0.30 per million input tokens and $2.50 per million output tokens; Kimi K2.6 costs $0.95 and $4.00. That makes Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite about 43% cheaper for the same work.
How do you compare the two?
We use the 37 benchmark tests both models have published scores on. The verdict counts the 27 tests in the eight capability areas, and a gap under one point (ten on rating-style scales) counts as a tie. The other 10 are listed but not counted, because several are summary scores or repeat a test. Each score is the one shown on the model's own page.