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Precision Benchmarks

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© 2026 CompareLLM. Public benchmark data aggregated from Arena Elo, LiveBench, SWE-bench & OpenRouter.

Every score has a dated snapshot.

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  2. Comparisons
  3. Kimi Chat 1.5 vs Yi-Lightning

Pairwise benchmark snapshot · Aug 1, 2026

Kimi Chat 1.5 vs Yi-Lightning benchmark

In this head-to-head showdown, Yi-Lightning delivers higher overall intelligence and human-preferred responses (Elo 1,475 vs 1,420), while Yi-Lightning leads in SWE-bench software engineering benchmarks (63.4%), while Yi-Lightning is more budget-friendly at $0.14/1M per 1M output tokens. Review the complete breakdown below to determine which model best fits your performance and budget requirements.

Executive Comparison Verdict

Bottom Line: Yi-Lightning holds the advantage over Kimi Chat 1.5 in overall benchmark performance and human evaluation rankings. Choose Yi-Lightning for demanding workloads, or review the breakdown below to compare coding and pricing metrics.
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Verified Head-to-Head Advantage Breakdown

10 direct benchmark disciplines evaluated across capability, speed, and cost

Kimi Chat 1.5 (1)Yi-Lightning (9)
Kimi Chat 1.5
1 of 10 Wins
✓Context window
Yi-Lightning
9 of 10 Wins
✓Preference Elo✓Coding Elo✓LiveBench✓SWE-bench✓GPQA Diamond✓Time to first token✓Output speed✓Input price✓Output price
Moonshot
Leads 1 of 10 metrics
Kimi Chat 1.5

Moonshot ultra-long context model supporting up to 2 million tokens per request.

2M ContextElo 1,420$0.8/1M out
01.AI
Leads 9 of 10 metrics
Yi-Lightning

01.AI ultra-fast reasoning model delivering top LiveBench efficiency.

LightningElo 1,475$0.14/1M out

Kimi Series Lineage & Sibling Variants

4 models

Currently comparing Kimi Chat 1.5 vs Yi-Lightning. Alternative family tiers available.

Active: Kimi Chat 1.5
Kimi K3$2.5Kimi K2.5 Max$2Kimi K2$1.4
Top Rival Showdowns for Kimi Chat 1.5
All Matchups
Compare vs:vs Claude Opus 4.5vs GPT-5vs Gemini 3 Provs Grok 4.6vs DeepSeek V4 Pro
Preference LeaderYi-Lightning Wins

Yi-Lightning

Δ 55 Arena Elo pts

Throughput LeaderYi-Lightning Wins

Yi-Lightning

130 tok/s

Value per Dollar LeaderYi-Lightning Wins

Yi-Lightning

$0.14 / 1M output

Capability Percentiles

Relative percentile scores computed across all active models in the benchmark catalog.

Multi-Dimensional Capability Radar

Leaders Matchup Capability Radar

Comparing top Western standard models with China's leading frontier rival across 6 skill dimensions. Tap any spoke or dot to inspect.

Tap any node to inspect
Percentile 0–100
Head-to-Head Comparison

Overall Matchup Breakdown

Category wins across reasoning intelligence, generation speed, and token cost.

Kimi Chat 1.5 (1)vsYi-Lightning (9)
Kimi Chat 1.5: 1W (10%)Overall: Yi-LightningYi-Lightning: 9W (90%)
← Kimi Chat 1.5Yi-Lightning →
🏆Yi-Lightning(5/5)

Intelligence & Reasoning

Preference Elo, Coding proficiency, SWE-bench & LiveBench accuracy

Benchmark
Kimi Chat 1.5vsYi-Lightning
Preference Elo
1,420vs1,475+55
Coding Elo
1,390vs1,480+90
SWE-bench
51%vs63.4%+12.4%
LiveBench
58%vs65%+7%
GPQA Diamond
71.5%vs78%+6.5%
Kimi Chat 1.5: 0WYi-Lightning: 5W
🏆Yi-Lightning(2/2)

Speed & Latency

Generation throughput and time to first token responsiveness

Benchmark
Kimi Chat 1.5vsYi-Lightning
Output speed
95 tok/svs130 tok/s+35 tok/s
Time to first token
210 msvs150 ms+60 ms
Kimi Chat 1.5: 0WYi-Lightning: 2W
🏆Yi-Lightning(2/3)

Pricing & Capacity

Cost per million tokens and max context window length

Benchmark
Kimi Chat 1.5vsYi-Lightning
Output price
$0.8/1Mvs$0.14/1M+$0.66/1M
Input price
$0.2/1Mvs$0.14/1M+$0.06/1M
Context window
2Mvs16k+2M
Kimi Chat 1.5: 1WYi-Lightning: 2W

Side-by-Side Benchmark Matrix

Preference Elo+55
Kimi Chat 1.51,420
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Yi-Lightning1,475
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Coding Elo+90
Kimi Chat 1.51,390
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Yi-Lightning1,480
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
LiveBench+7%
Kimi Chat 1.558%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Yi-Lightning65%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
SWE-bench+12.4%
Kimi Chat 1.551%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Yi-Lightning63.4%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
GPQA Diamond+6.5%
Kimi Chat 1.571.5%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Yi-Lightning78%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Time to first token+60 ms
Kimi Chat 1.5210 ms
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Yi-Lightning150 ms
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Output speed+35 tok/s
Kimi Chat 1.595 tok/s
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Yi-Lightning130 tok/s
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Input price+$0.06/1M
Kimi Chat 1.5$0.2/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Yi-Lightning$0.14/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Output price+$0.66/1M
Kimi Chat 1.5$0.8/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Yi-Lightning$0.14/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Context window+2M
Kimi Chat 1.52M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
Yi-Lightning16k
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
BenchmarkKimi Chat 1.5Yi-LightningAdvantage Delta
Preference Elo
1,420
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
1,475
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+55
Coding Elo
1,390
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
1,480
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+90
LiveBench
58%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
65%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+7%
SWE-bench
51%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
63.4%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+12.4%
GPQA Diamond
71.5%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
78%
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+6.5%
Time to first token
210 ms
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
150 ms
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+60 ms
Output speed
95 tok/s
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
130 tok/s
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+35 tok/s
Input price
$0.2/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
$0.14/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+$0.06/1M
Output price
$0.8/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
$0.14/1M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+$0.66/1M
Context window
2M
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
16k
seed-bootstrap · Aug 1, 2026
+2M
Interactive Simulator (USD)

Workload Cost & Savings Calculator

Simulate monthly production API costs in USD (US Dollar).

Save up to 63% with Yi-Lightning
Monthly Volume50M tokens/mo
Quick Presets:
Token Ratio (In vs Out)70% In / 30% Out
RAG / Search (10% out)Coding / Chat (50% out)
Kimi Chat 1.5$19.00 / mo
In: $7Out: $12
Yi-Lightning$7.00 / mo
In: $4.9Out: $2.1
Estimated Cost Delta

Yi-Lightning is estimated to save $12.00/month ($144/year).

Based on 50M tokens (30% gen)

Key Selection Recommendations

  • 1
    Yi-Lightning:Pick Yi-Lightning when repo-level coding accuracy is the constraint.
  • 2
    Yi-Lightning:Pick Yi-Lightning when time-to-first-token matters more than peak Elo.
  • 3
    Kimi Chat 1.5:Pick Kimi Chat 1.5 for million-token RAG or long-document jobs.

Recommended Workload Routing

Repo / coding agentsYi-Lightning

Higher SWE-bench (63.4%).

High-volume chatYi-Lightning

Lower output list price ($0.14/1M).

Voice / low-latency UIYi-Lightning

Lower TTFT (150 ms).

Long-document RAGKimi Chat 1.5

Larger window (2M).

Screenshots / visionYi-Lightning

Yi-Lightning is the side marked multimodal in the catalog.

Target WorkloadRecommended PickEvaluation Rationale
Repo / coding agentsYi-LightningHigher SWE-bench (63.4%).
High-volume chatYi-LightningLower output list price ($0.14/1M).
Voice / low-latency UIYi-LightningLower TTFT (150 ms).
Long-document RAGKimi Chat 1.5Larger window (2M).
Screenshots / visionYi-LightningYi-Lightning is the side marked multimodal in the catalog.
Community Sentiment

Cast Your Matchup Vote

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CompareLLM AI Matrix

Verified Head-to-Head Telemetry

LIVE BENCHMARK
VS
Moonshot

Kimi Chat 1.5

Elo 1,420
SWE-bench51%
Speed (tok/s)95 tok/s
Input / 1M Tokens$0.2/1M
Output / 1M Tokens$0.8/1M
01.AI

Yi-Lightning

Elo 1,475
SWE-bench63.4%
Speed (tok/s)130 tok/s
Input / 1M Tokens$0.14/1M
Output / 1M Tokens$0.14/1M

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better overall, Kimi Chat 1.5 or Yi-Lightning?
Yi-Lightning has the higher preference Elo in our latest snapshot (1,475). “Better” still depends on coding, price, and latency — see the table.
Which is better at coding, Kimi Chat 1.5 or Yi-Lightning?
Yi-Lightning leads SWE-bench at 63.4% vs 51%. SWE-bench is one harness, not your repo.
Which is cheaper to run in production?
Yi-Lightning output tokens are $0.14/1M versus $0.8/1M. Input prices and retry rates still move the real bill.
Which is faster, Kimi Chat 1.5 or Yi-Lightning?
Yi-Lightning has the lower time-to-first-token (150 ms vs 210 ms). Tokens/sec is a separate column if you care about long completions.
Which has the larger context window?
Kimi Chat 1.5 accepts 2M tokens versus 16k.
Can I self-host either model?
Neither model is marked open-weights here. You are comparing hosted APIs.
Are these scores from CompareLLM’s own evals?
No. V1 aggregates public leaderboards (and optional first-party latency pings). Each cell names its source and date. Read /methodology.
What does preference Elo mean on this page?
Preference Elo is a crowd vote from LMArena / Arena. People see two hidden answers and pick the one they like more. The model that wins more often gets a higher Elo. That means people preferred it — not that it passed a school test. It is not SWE-bench, not accuracy, and not a number we invent. Kimi Chat 1.5 and Yi-Lightning Elo cells are dated snapshots from the named source — we do not compute Arena ourselves.

Similar Head-to-Head Comparisons

All Kimi Chat 1.5 matchups →|All Yi-Lightning matchups →
Kimi Chat 1.5 vs Kimi K2 (next kimi)Yi-Lightning vs Yi-Large (previous other)Yi-Lightning vs Ernie 4.5 Turbo (next other)Kimi K2.5 Max vs Yi-LightningKimi K3 vs Yi-LightningYi-Large vs Kimi Chat 1.5