AI Model Release Tracker - Timeline of Major AI Models from 2022-2026

Home/Compare/Claude Sonnet 4.5 vs Kimi K2.6

Claude Sonnet 4.5 vs Kimi K2.6

3 vs 0 benchmarks won

Anthropic
Claude Sonnet 4.5
Moonshot AI
Kimi K2.6
Overview
CompanyAnthropicMoonshot AI
Release dateSep 29 2025Apr 21 2026
Model type
Open sourceNoNo
Specifications
Parameters
Context window
Benchmarks
Science reasoning
GPQA Diamond
83.4%
Software engineering
SWE-Bench Verified
77.2%
Multimodal understanding
MMMU
68%
Timeline
Release gapClaude Sonnet 4.5 shipped 204 days before Kimi K2.6

Which is better: Claude Sonnet 4.5 or Kimi K2.6?

Claude Sonnet 4.5 leads Kimi K2.6 on 3 of the tracked benchmarks (GPQA Diamond, SWE-Bench Verified, MMMU). Claude Sonnet 4.5 shipped 204 days before Kimi K2.6, so benchmark comparisons should account for the intervening progress.

Published specifications for these two models are limited — see each model page for the latest details.

Direct benchmark comparisons are unavailable — at least one of these models has not published scores on GPQA Diamond, SWE-Bench Verified, or MMMU.

Frequently asked questions

When was Claude Sonnet 4.5 released?
Claude Sonnet 4.5 was released by Anthropic on Sep 29 2025.
When was Kimi K2.6 released?
Kimi K2.6 was released by Moonshot AI on Apr 21 2026.

Other comparisons