- Kimi AI is the chatbot and model family built by Chinese AI lab Moonshot AI, with Kimi K3.1 Pro now the flagship model as of November 2026.
- Moonshot is retiring its older K2-series models (Kimi K2.6, K2.7 Code) by the end of December 2026, closing them to new users starting October 31, 2026.
- K3.1 Pro API pricing runs $2 per million input tokens and $10 per million output tokens, with a cheaper $0.20 cache-hit input rate.
- A separate “KIMIAI” token on the Solana blockchain is unrelated to Moonshot AI‘s chatbot and shows red flags common to low-transparency crypto listings.
| Key Facts | |
|---|---|
| Maker | Moonshot AI (Chinese AI lab) |
| Current flagship model | Kimi K3.1 Pro |
| Largest open-weights release | Kimi K3 (2.8 trillion parameters, released July 2026) |
| K3.1 Pro API pricing | $2 / million input tokens, $10 / million output tokens ($0.20 cache-hit input) |
| Legacy models being retired | Kimi K2.6 and K2.7 Code, closed to new users Oct 31, 2026, fully retired by end of December 2026 |
| Access | Chat app at kimi.com plus API access for developers |
What Is Kimi AI?
Kimi is the consumer-facing chatbot and model family from Moonshot AI, a Beijing-based AI lab that has become one of the most closely watched open-weights model developers outside the US. Kimi functions much like other general-purpose chatbots — answering questions, writing and summarizing text, and handling coding tasks — but Moonshot has built its reputation specifically on long-context handling and strong coding benchmarks, and on releasing many of its underlying models with open weights rather than keeping them fully closed.
The “Kimi” name covers both the free consumer chat product at kimi.com and the underlying K-series models that developers can call directly through Moonshot’s API, similar to how “ChatGPT” and “GPT” relate to each other at OpenAI.
How Kimi’s Model Lineup Works
Moonshot ships Kimi under a versioned K-series naming scheme. The K2 generation — including Kimi K2.6 and the coding-focused Kimi K2.7 Code — served as the workhorse lineup through much of 2026, priced at roughly $0.95 per million input tokens and $4.00 per million output tokens. Moonshot released Kimi K3 in July 2026, describing it as the largest open-weights model family yet shipped by any lab, at roughly 2.8 trillion parameters, with a significantly larger context window than the K2 generation. K3.1 Pro, the current flagship as of November 2026, refines that K3 base and now costs $2 per million input tokens and $10 per million output tokens for API access, with a discounted $0.20 rate for cached input tokens on repeated context.
Moonshot has already signaled the K2 series’ exit: it stopped accepting new users on the K2 lineup on October 31, 2026, and plans to retire K2.6 and K2.7 Code entirely by the end of December 2026, pushing both existing and new developers toward the K3 generation.
Kimi K2 vs. K3.1 Pro
| Aspect | Kimi K2 series (retiring) | Kimi K3.1 Pro (current) |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Closed to new users Oct 31, 2026; retiring by end of Dec 2026 | Current flagship, actively supported |
| Input price | ~$0.95 / million tokens | $2 / million tokens |
| Output price | ~$4.00 / million tokens | $10 / million tokens |
| Parameter scale | Smaller base generation | Built on the 2.8T-parameter K3 base |
| Best for | Legacy integrations being migrated off | New projects, longer-context and coding workloads |
Why Kimi Is Trending Right Now
Kimi’s search interest has climbed alongside Moonshot’s K3 rollout and the K2 retirement deadline, which together are pushing a wave of existing developers and curious users to re-evaluate which Kimi tier fits their needs before older endpoints disappear. Moonshot’s decision to retire a widely used, cheaper model line on a hard deadline — rather than simply leaving it running indefinitely — is itself an unusual move in a market where most vendors quietly deprecate old models over a much longer runway, and it’s driving a visible spike in “what should I migrate to” searches.
Getting Started with Kimi
For casual use, Kimi’s chat product at kimi.com works like most other AI chatbots: create an account, start a conversation, and use the free tier for everyday questions, writing, and coding help without touching the API directly. Developers who want to build on top of Kimi’s models go through Moonshot’s API console instead, generating an API key and choosing a specific model version — currently K3.1 Pro for new projects, since K2-series models are no longer accepting new signups. Anyone with an existing K2 integration should treat the October 31, 2026 new-user cutoff and the end-of-December retirement date as hard deadlines for migrating code over to a K3-generation model rather than assuming the old endpoints will keep working indefinitely.
Where Kimi Fits Among Competing Chatbots
Moonshot has pitched Kimi specifically around two strengths: long-context handling, meaning it can take in and reason over unusually large documents or codebases in a single request, and strong coding benchmark performance relative to its price point. That positioning has made Kimi a popular choice among developers comparing cost-per-token against Western alternatives, particularly for workloads involving large context windows where per-token pricing differences compound quickly. It hasn’t displaced the larger US-based chat products for mainstream consumer use, but within developer and open-weights communities, each new K-series release tends to generate its own round of benchmark comparisons.
The “KIMIAI” Token Confusion — It’s Not Moonshot’s Product
Separate from Moonshot’s chatbot, a cryptocurrency token trading under the name “KIMIAI” exists on the Solana blockchain. It has no connection to Moonshot AI. Reviewers note the token’s project page lacks an accessible whitepaper explaining its utility, distribution, or governance — a standard red flag for crypto listings — and that trading volume is thin and prices are volatile, consistent with a speculative, low-transparency token rather than a product tied to Moonshot’s actual AI services. Anyone encountering a “Kimi” token, presale, or wallet-connect prompt should treat it as unrelated to Moonshot AI and apply the same skepticism warranted by any unverified crypto asset riding a trending AI brand name.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Kimi AI free to use? The consumer chat product at kimi.com offers free access; API access to the underlying K-series models is metered and billed per token.
What happens to my app if it’s still using Kimi K2? Moonshot stopped onboarding new users to K2 models on October 31, 2026, and plans full retirement by the end of December 2026, so existing integrations should migrate to the K3 generation before then.
Is there an official Kimi cryptocurrency? No. Moonshot AI has not issued a token, and the “KIMIAI” token circulating on Solana is an unrelated, unaffiliated project.
Bottom Line
Kimi AI is Moonshot AI’s chatbot and open-weights model family, now headlined by Kimi K3.1 Pro after the July 2026 debut of the 2.8-trillion-parameter K3 base model. The current spike in interest tracks a real, time-sensitive event — Moonshot’s hard retirement deadline for the older K2 lineup — rather than a brand-new launch, and it has nothing to do with the unrelated KIMIAI token trading on Solana.
