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DeepSeek-R1 vs Kimi K2 Instruct: the real cost to run each

The honest, $0-markup cost to run DeepSeek-R1 (DeepSeek, 671B) and Kimi K2 Instruct (Moonshot AI, 1043B), side by side — free on your own machine, on your own rented GPU at the vendor's price, or via your own API key.

DeepSeek-R1 vs Kimi K2 Instruct — cost comparison

DeepSeek-R1Kimi K2 Instruct
Parameters671B1043B
Context window✓ 163.8K131.1K
LicenseCommercial OKCommercial OK
VRAM to run✓ ~453 GB (Q4_K_M)~703 GB (Q4_K_M)
Rent a GPU✓ $9.73/hr$20.64/hr
Your API key✓ $1.60/1M$8.44/1M (est.)

Which should you pick?

VRAM, size, context and license are facts from the catalog and the shared cost engine; API prices are real where we have them (labeled "est." otherwise). We don't rank model quality or quote benchmarks here.

Full cost breakdown: DeepSeek-R1 →
Full cost breakdown: Kimi K2 Instruct →

Open the free Spanvero advisor → to compare them live for your exact workload and hardware.

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Spanvero · All comparisons · Prices as of 2026-07-06. $0 markup, your own accounts, we never resell compute. © 2026 Cynosure LLC.

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