---
title: Moonshot AI
slug: moonshot-ai
url: "https://toolweight.com/tools/moonshot-ai"
homepage: "https://www.moonshot.ai"
categories: llm-apis
last_verified: 2026-11-07
dataset_version: 0738be72
license: CC-BY-4.0
---

# Moonshot AI

> Kimi models, open-weight agentic performance at low cost

- Kimi K2 is the open-weight model most cited as competitive with closed frontier on agentic and tool-use benchmarks
- Released under a permissive modified-MIT licence
- First-party platform is inexpensive and OpenAI-compatible
- Weights also hosted by most routers here, the practical route if you cannot send data to a mainland-China endpoint

## Identity

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| Name | Moonshot AI |
| Company | Moonshot AI |
| One-liner | Kimi models, open-weight agentic performance at low cost |
| Site | https://www.moonshot.ai |
| Docs | https://platform.moonshot.ai/docs |
| Founded | 2023 |
| Open source | Yes |
| Licence | Modified MIT |
| Compared in | 1 |

## Where it is compared

### [LLM APIs](https://toolweight.com/compare/llm-apis)
Ranked **#13 of 18** on default weights.
| Field | Value | Confidence | Verified | Source | Note | Permalink |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Flagship model | Kimi K3 (kimi-k3) | Vendor-claimed | 2026-07-30 | https://platform.kimi.ai/docs/introduction | Moonshot's flagship, 2.8T params. platform.moonshot.ai now redirects to platform.kimi.ai. | https://toolweight.com/compare/llm-apis#moonshot-ai--flagship_model |
| Context window | 1,048,576 tokens | Vendor-claimed | 2026-07-30 | https://platform.kimi.ai/docs/pricing/chat-k3 | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/llm-apis#moonshot-ai--context_window |
| Max output | - | Unknown | - | - | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/llm-apis#moonshot-ai--max_output |
| Image input | ● | Vendor-claimed | 2026-07-30 | https://platform.kimi.ai/docs/introduction | Native visual understanding on K3. | https://toolweight.com/compare/llm-apis#moonshot-ai--vision |
| Audio in/out | ○ | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/llm-apis#moonshot-ai--audio_io |
| Open weights | ● | Vendor-claimed | 2026-01-15 | https://github.com/MoonshotAI/Kimi-K2 | Modified MIT licence with an attribution condition for very large deployments. | https://toolweight.com/compare/llm-apis#moonshot-ai--open_weights |
| OpenAI-compat API | ● | Vendor-claimed | 2026-07-30 | https://platform.kimi.ai/docs/guide/migrating-from-openai-to-kimi | Compatible with OpenAI's interface; swap base_url and api_key. | https://toolweight.com/compare/llm-apis#moonshot-ai--openai_compatible |
| TTFT p50 | - | Unknown | - | - | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/llm-apis#moonshot-ai--ttft_p50 |
| Output tok/s | - | Unknown | - | - | Slow on the first-party endpoint by most community reports; Groq and Cerebras serve the same weights far faster. | https://toolweight.com/compare/llm-apis#moonshot-ai--throughput_tps |
| $/M input | $3/M tok | Vendor-claimed | 2026-07-30 | https://platform.kimi.ai/docs/pricing/chat-k3 | K3 cache-miss rate; a cache hit bills $0.30/M. Note the jump from the far cheaper K2 generation. | https://toolweight.com/compare/llm-apis#moonshot-ai--price_in |
| $/M output | $15/M tok | Vendor-claimed | 2026-07-30 | https://platform.kimi.ai/docs/pricing/chat-k3 | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/llm-apis#moonshot-ai--price_out |
| $/M cache read | $0.3/M tok | Vendor-claimed | 2026-07-30 | https://platform.kimi.ai/docs/pricing/chat-k3 | Cache-hit input rate; automatic context caching. | https://toolweight.com/compare/llm-apis#moonshot-ai--cached_input |
| Batch discount | 40% | Vendor-claimed | 2026-11-07 | https://platform.kimi.ai/docs/pricing/chat | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/llm-apis#moonshot-ai--batch_discount |
| Tool use | ● | Vendor-claimed | 2026-07-30 | https://platform.kimi.ai/docs/guide/migrating-from-openai-to-kimi | Fully supports the modern tool-call API (the deprecated functions param is not). | https://toolweight.com/compare/llm-apis#moonshot-ai--tool_use |
| Schema output | ◐ | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/llm-apis#moonshot-ai--structured_output |
| Effort control | ◐ | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/llm-apis#moonshot-ai--reasoning_effort |
| Computer use | ○ | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/llm-apis#moonshot-ai--computer_use |
| MCP support | ○ | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/llm-apis#moonshot-ai--mcp_support |
| Cache TTL | Automatic, no fixed TTL | Vendor-claimed | 2026-07-30 | https://platform.kimi.ai/docs/guide/use-context-caching-feature-of-kimi-api | Cache lifecycle is managed automatically with no manual intervention; no explicit duration published. | https://toolweight.com/compare/llm-apis#moonshot-ai--prompt_cache_ttl |
| Continuity policy | Dated model IDs (the -0905 style suffix) are used and remain addressable, which is better than DeepSeek's rolling aliases. No published deprecation policy or notice window. As with the other open-weight labs, the real guarantee is the licence, download the checkpoint and continuity is your problem, not theirs. | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/llm-apis#moonshot-ai--continuity_policy |
| Notice period | - | Unknown | - | - | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/llm-apis#moonshot-ai--deprecation_notice |
| Pinnable versions | ● | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/llm-apis#moonshot-ai--pinned_snapshots |
| Zero retention | ○ | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/llm-apis#moonshot-ai--zero_retention |
| Trains on your data | ◐ | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/llm-apis#moonshot-ai--trains_on_data |
| AU region | ○ | Inferred | 2026-01-15 | - | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/llm-apis#moonshot-ai--au_region |
| API since | 2023 | Inferred | - | - | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/llm-apis#moonshot-ai--launch_year |
| Positioning | Open-weight agentic performance at open-weight prices | Inferred | - | - | - | https://toolweight.com/compare/llm-apis#moonshot-ai--positioning |

**Verdict.** Kimi K2 is the strongest case that open weights caught up on agentic work; reach it through Groq, Fireworks or Together.

## Alternatives

- [Qwen](https://toolweight.com/tools/alibaba-qwen), Alibaba's model family, huge open-weight range, closed flagship
- [Amazon Bedrock](https://toolweight.com/tools/amazon-bedrock), Multi-vendor model access inside your existing AWS account
- [Anthropic](https://toolweight.com/tools/anthropic), Claude models, built around long agentic runs and tool use
- [Cerebras](https://toolweight.com/tools/cerebras), Wafer-scale inference, the fastest tokens per second available
- [Cohere](https://toolweight.com/tools/cohere), Enterprise-focused models built for RAG and private deployment
- [DeepSeek](https://toolweight.com/tools/deepseek), Frontier-adjacent models at a small fraction of Western prices
- [Fireworks AI](https://toolweight.com/tools/fireworks-ai), Fast open-weight inference with strong structured-output support
- [Google Gemini](https://toolweight.com/tools/google-gemini), Gemini via AI Studio for prototyping or Vertex AI for production
- [Groq](https://toolweight.com/tools/groq), Custom LPU silicon serving open-weight models at extreme speed
- [Meta Llama](https://toolweight.com/tools/meta-llama), Open-weight Llama models, hosted almost everywhere but Meta
- [Mistral AI](https://toolweight.com/tools/mistral-ai), European lab with an open-weight lineage and EU-resident hosting
- [OpenAI](https://toolweight.com/tools/openai), GPT models plus audio, images and embeddings on one bill

## Logo & brand colours

SVG files: https://toolweight.com/teams/moonshot-ai/logo.svg and https://toolweight.com/teams/moonshot-ai/mono.svg. JSON: https://toolweight.com/api/v1/brands/moonshot-ai.

| Hex | oklch |
| --- | --- |
| #000000 | oklch(0.0% 0.000 0.0) |

## Licence and attribution

Data from Toolweight (https://toolweight.com), licensed CC-BY-4.0.

- Licence: [CC-BY-4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
- Canonical HTML: https://toolweight.com/tools/moonshot-ai
- Machine-readable: https://toolweight.com/tools/moonshot-ai.md · https://toolweight.com/api/v1 · https://toolweight.com/mcp
- Toolweight takes no affiliate revenue and sells no placements.