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Kimi K2 Instruct vs Kimi Linear 48B A3B Instruct: the real cost to run each

The honest, $0-markup cost to run Kimi K2 Instruct (Moonshot AI, 1043B) and Kimi Linear 48B A3B Instruct (moonshotai, 49.1B), side by side — free on your own machine, on your own rented GPU at the vendor's price, or via your own API key.

Kimi K2 Instruct vs Kimi Linear 48B A3B Instruct — cost comparison

Kimi K2 InstructKimi Linear 48B A3B Instruct
Parameters1043B49.1B
Context window✓ 131.1K8.2K
LicenseCommercial OKCommercial OK
VRAM to run~703 GB (Q4_K_M)✓ ~36 GB (Q4_K_M)
Rent a GPU$20.64/hr✓ $0.24/hr
Your API key$8.44/1M (est.)✓ $0.49/1M (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: Kimi K2 Instruct →
Full cost breakdown: Kimi Linear 48B A3B 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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