Side-by-side comparison of pricing, 12 benchmarks, and generation speed.
| Metric | Kimi K2.5 (Reasoning) | Gemini 3 Flash Preview (Non-reasoning) |
|---|---|---|
| Input ($/M tokens) | $0.6 | $0.5 |
| Output ($/M tokens) | $3 | $3 |
Verdict. Kimi K2.5 (Reasoning) wins the overall benchmark matchup 2–0 across 2 overlapping categories, but raw benchmark score is only one input to the decision.
Pricing. Both models sit in the budget bracket for output-token pricing. At 1.0× the per-million-token cost, Gemini 3 Flash Preview (Non-reasoning) is meaningfully cheaper if your traffic is output-heavy (long completions, document generation, agent loops). Gemini 3 Flash Preview (Non-reasoning) makes more sense when output volume is low and absolute reasoning quality justifies the premium.
Strengths. Kimi K2.5 (Reasoning) is strongest on Coding Index (46.8), Intelligence Index (36.0). Gemini 3 Flash Preview (Non-reasoning) leads on Intelligence Index (27.9).
Speed. On throughput, Gemini 3 Flash Preview (Non-reasoning) generates tokens at 195 tok/s versus 43 tok/s — about 78% faster. On time-to-first-token, Gemini 3 Flash Preview (Non-reasoning) responds in 730ms vs 2840ms, which matters most for chat-style UIs.
Provider. Kimi and Google sell to overlapping but distinct developer audiences: Kimi tends to ship frontier reasoning models with premium positioning, while Google often prices more aggressively. Your existing vendor relationships, billing, and SLA preferences may matter as much as the raw numbers above.
Workload cost. Workload scenarios (per million requests at 30M input + 15M output tokens): Kimi K2.5 (Reasoning) costs $63.00 ($756/year); Gemini 3 Flash Preview (Non-reasoning) costs $60.00 ($720/year). At a smaller 5M-input/2M-output scale (single-developer tool or prototype): Kimi K2.5 (Reasoning) ≈ $9.00/run, Gemini 3 Flash Preview (Non-reasoning) ≈ $8.50/run. At agent/realtime scale (200M input / 100M output per million requests): Kimi K2.5 (Reasoning) ≈ $420/run, Gemini 3 Flash Preview (Non-reasoning) ≈ $400/run. Gemini 3 Flash Preview (Non-reasoning) becomes more attractive at higher volume — the absolute per-token pricing difference compounds when you ship at scale.
Recommendation. Both models have legitimate use cases — the right answer depends on whether you are optimizing for benchmark ceiling, latency, or unit cost. Start with the cheaper / faster model, evaluate against your specific task, and only switch if the upgrade shows a meaningful lift.
Head-to-head deltas
Data from Artificial Analysis API — 12 benchmarks
Gemini 3 Flash Preview (Non-reasoning) is cheaper overall. Its blended price (3:1 input/output ratio) is $1.13/M tokens vs $1.20/M for Kimi K2.5 (Reasoning).
Kimi K2.5 (Reasoning) wins 2 out of 12 benchmarks compared to 0 for Gemini 3 Flash Preview (Non-reasoning). See the detailed benchmark chart above for per-category results.
Gemini 3 Flash Preview (Non-reasoning) generates tokens faster at 195 tok/s vs 43 tok/s. However, Gemini 3 Flash Preview (Non-reasoning) has lower time-to-first-token (0.73s vs 2.84s).
Choose based on your priorities: Gemini 3 Flash Preview (Non-reasoning) for lower cost, Kimi K2.5 (Reasoning) for stronger benchmark performance, and Gemini 3 Flash Preview (Non-reasoning) for faster generation. For latency-sensitive apps, check the TTFT comparison above.