Kimi (Moonshot AI)
Moonshot AI's long-context assistant and open-weight K2 frontier model
Moonshot AI · Language Models
Launched Oct 2023 (Kimi Chat); Jul 2025 (Kimi K2)
Quick Answer
Kimi (Moonshot AI) is moonshot ai's long-context assistant and open-weight k2 frontier model, made by Moonshot AI. It offers a free tier with paid upgrades. Key uses: Long-document analysis, Coding assistance, Agentic tasks.
Last updated:
Users
Tens of millions of users in China
Valuation
~$3.3B+ (backed by Alibaba, Tencent, HongShan)
What is Kimi (Moonshot AI)?
Kimi is the AI assistant from Chinese lab Moonshot AI, known for exceptionally long context windows (up to 2M characters) and strong agentic and coding performance. The Kimi K2 model is a large open-weight mixture-of-experts model that matches frontier systems on coding and reasoning benchmarks while being freely downloadable. Kimi is widely used in China for research, document analysis, and web-grounded question answering.
What's new in Kimi (Moonshot AI) in 2026?
Kimi K2 (Jul 2025) released as an open-weight 1T-parameter MoE model with top agentic and coding scores; Kimi K1.5 reasoning model earlier in 2025; assistant reached tens of millions of users in China; K2 available via API and Hugging Face at low cost
How much does Kimi (Moonshot AI) cost?
Assistant
$0
- Kimi web/mobile assistant
- Long-context chat
- Web search
- Document upload
Open-Source (K2)
$0
- Open weights via Hugging Face
- Self-hostable
- Commercial use
API
Usage-based (low cost)
- OpenAI-compatible endpoint
- K2 model access
- Function calling
What can you do with Kimi (Moonshot AI)?
- Long-document analysis
- Coding assistance
- Agentic tasks
- Web-grounded research
- Chinese language tasks
Pros
- Extremely long context window
- Open-weight K2 model
- Strong coding & agentic benchmarks
- Free consumer assistant
- Competitive with GPT-4-class systems
Cons
- Chinese jurisdiction/data concerns
- Censorship on sensitive topics
- Less Western ecosystem support
- Self-hosting K2 needs heavy hardware
What are the best alternatives to Kimi (Moonshot AI)?
Compare Kimi (Moonshot AI) Head-to-Head
Frequently Asked Questions about Kimi (Moonshot AI)
How much does Kimi (Moonshot AI) cost?
Kimi (Moonshot AI) pricing: Assistant at $0; Open-Source (K2) at $0; API at Usage-based (low cost).
Is Kimi (Moonshot AI) free?
Kimi (Moonshot AI) offers a free tier with limited usage. Paid plans unlock additional features.
What is Kimi (Moonshot AI) used for?
Kimi (Moonshot AI) is used for: Long-document analysis, Coding assistance, Agentic tasks, Web-grounded research, Chinese language tasks.
What are the best alternatives to Kimi (Moonshot AI)?
Top alternatives to Kimi (Moonshot AI) include ChatGPT, Claude, DeepSeek, Qwen (Alibaba).
What platforms does Kimi (Moonshot AI) support?
Kimi (Moonshot AI) is available on: Web, iOS, Android, API, Hugging Face.
Details
Vendor
Moonshot AICategory
Language Models
Pricing Model
Launched
Oct 2023 (Kimi Chat); Jul 2025 (Kimi K2)
Website
kimi.moonshot.cnUnderlying Models
Platforms
Integrations
Ideal For
- Researchers
- Developers needing long context
- Cost-conscious teams
- Chinese-market applications