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Llama 3.1 405B Instruct vs Kimi K2 Instruct: the real cost to run each

The honest, $0-markup cost to run Llama 3.1 405B Instruct (Meta, 405B) 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.

Llama 3.1 405B Instruct vs Kimi K2 Instruct — cost comparison

Llama 3.1 405B InstructKimi K2 Instruct
Parameters405B1043B
Context window131.1K131.1K
LicenseCommercial OKCommercial OK
VRAM to run✓ ~290 GB (Q4_K_M)~703 GB (Q4_K_M)
Rent a GPU✓ $3.43/hr$20.64/hr
Your API key✓ $0.80/1M (last-known)$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: Llama 3.1 405B Instruct →
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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