Kimi Code vs Gemini CLI
Kimi Code and Gemini CLI side by side: what each one is, verified plan pricing and install commands where we have them, and the full review of each.
Kimi Code
Open-source terminal coding agent from Moonshot AI. Launched on Kimi K2.5 and now runs Kimi K3 with up to 1M tokens of context. Agent Swarm runs up to 100 parallel sub-agents.
Gemini CLI
Open sourceGoogle's open-source (Apache 2.0) terminal agent for Gemini models. Paid Gemini API, Vertex AI, and Code Assist Standard or Enterprise users keep access; unpaid tier and Google One users moved to Antigravity CLI on June 18, 2026.
At a glance
| Field | | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | AI Coding | AI Coding |
| Website | kimi.com | github.com |
| Pricing | Plus - $19/mo, or $15/mo billed annually ($180/yr); K3 included; Pro - $39/mo, or $31/mo billed annually ($372/yr); unlocks the 1M-token K3 context and the K2.7 Code HighSpeed tier; Max - $99/mo, or $79/mo billed annually ($948/yr); Ultra - $199/mo, or $159/mo billed annually ($1,908/yr); CLI is free and open source (MIT); usage comes from a Kimi membership or a pay-as-you-go Kimi Platform API key | Gemini API key or Vertex AI (pay-as-you-go) - cost based on model and token usage; Gemini Code Assist Standard - $22.80 per user per month, or $19 with an annual commitment; 1,500 requests per user per day; Gemini Code Assist Enterprise - $54 per user per month, or $45 with an annual commitment; 2,000 requests per user per day; Unpaid tier and Google One users - replaced by Antigravity CLI on June 18, 2026, per Google's quota page; Google AI Pro (1,500 requests per day) and Ultra (2,000) - still listed in the same page's quota table, which disagrees with Google's earlier announcement that they moved to Antigravity CLI; confirm before relying on it |
| Install | curl -fsSL https://code.kimi.com/kimi-code/install.sh | bash or irm https://code.kimi.com/kimi-code/install.ps1 | iex or npm install -g @moonshot-ai/kimi-code | npm install -g @google/gemini-cli or brew install gemini-cli or npx @google/gemini-cli |
| Models | Kimi Code runs Moonshot's K3 (k3 with up to 1M context on Pro and above, or k3-256k), K2.8 Preview (kimi-for-coding) and K2.7 Code HighSpeed (kimi-for-coding-highspeed, Pro and above). Switch with /model in the CLI; Anthropic, OpenAI, Google and other providers can be added in ~/.kimi-code/config.toml. | The /model command offers Auto (Gemini 3), which routes between Gemini 3 Pro and Gemini 3 Flash, Auto (Gemini 2.5), which routes between Gemini 2.5 Pro and Flash, or a manual pick. Pass --model to choose at startup. The docs note Gemini CLI has not been optimized for Gemini 4 Argon and point to Antigravity for that model. |
| Last verified | October 17, 2026 | October 17, 2026 |
In Depth
Kimi Code
Kimi Code is an open-source, terminal-based AI coding agent from Moonshot AI, now a TypeScript CLI released under the MIT license (the original Python kimi-cli, Apache 2.0, is archived). It launched on Kimi K2.5, a 1 trillion parameter mixture-of-experts model that activates 32 billion parameters per request, and as of October 2026 Moonshot runs it on Kimi K3 with up to 1M tokens of context, which makes it strong for long-document analysis and large codebase understanding. Agent Swarm coordinates up to 100 parallel sub-agents, cutting execution time on parallelizable tasks. The fact that Cursor built its Composer 2 on top of Kimi K2.5 was significant validation of the underlying model line.
Gemini CLI
Gemini CLI is Google's open-source terminal agent for Gemini models. It reads and edits large codebases, runs shell commands, connects MCP servers, takes project instructions from GEMINI.md files, checkpoints long sessions so you can resume them, and runs non-interactively with -p and --output-format json for scripts and CI, with a GitHub Action for pull request reviews and issue triage. The big 2026 change is who it is for. Google's quota and pricing page says unpaid tier and Google One users had Gemini CLI replaced by Antigravity CLI on June 18, 2026, yet the same page's quota table still lists Google AI Pro (1,500 requests per day) and Ultra (2,000), so confirm Pro or Ultra access before relying on it. Organizations on Gemini Code Assist Standard or Enterprise keep full access, and anyone can still run it with a paid Gemini API key or through Vertex AI. The GitHub README still describes the old free tier, so trust the quota page over it. If you are an individual developer who picked Gemini CLI because it was free, read the migration guide and look at Antigravity CLI; if your team already pays for Gemini through Google Cloud, Gemini CLI is still actively shipped, with weekly stable releases.
FAQ
Answers taken from each tool's verified fact sheet, with the date it was last checked.
How much does Kimi Code cost?
As of October 17, 2026: Plus - $19/mo, or $15/mo billed annually ($180/yr); K3 included; Pro - $39/mo, or $31/mo billed annually ($372/yr); unlocks the 1M-token K3 context and the K2.7 Code HighSpeed tier; Max - $99/mo, or $79/mo billed annually ($948/yr); Ultra - $199/mo, or $159/mo billed annually ($1,908/yr); CLI is free and open source (MIT); usage comes from a Kimi membership or a pay-as-you-go Kimi Platform API key. Source: Kimi Code product page and plans, Kimi Code docs overview, Migrating from kimi-cli, Kimi Code CLI getting started, MoonshotAI/kimi-code README, MoonshotAI/kimi-code releases.
How do I install Kimi Code?
Official install commands as of October 17, 2026: curl -fsSL https://code.kimi.com/kimi-code/install.sh | bash or irm https://code.kimi.com/kimi-code/install.ps1 | iex or npm install -g @moonshot-ai/kimi-code.
Which models does Kimi Code use?
As of October 17, 2026: Kimi Code runs Moonshot's K3 (k3 with up to 1M context on Pro and above, or k3-256k), K2.8 Preview (kimi-for-coding) and K2.7 Code HighSpeed (kimi-for-coding-highspeed, Pro and above). Switch with /model in the CLI; Anthropic, OpenAI, Google and other providers can be added in ~/.kimi-code/config.toml.
How much does Gemini CLI cost?
As of October 17, 2026: Gemini API key or Vertex AI (pay-as-you-go) - cost based on model and token usage; Gemini Code Assist Standard - $22.80 per user per month, or $19 with an annual commitment; 1,500 requests per user per day; Gemini Code Assist Enterprise - $54 per user per month, or $45 with an annual commitment; 2,000 requests per user per day; Unpaid tier and Google One users - replaced by Antigravity CLI on June 18, 2026, per Google's quota page; Google AI Pro (1,500 requests per day) and Ultra (2,000) - still listed in the same page's quota table, which disagrees with Google's earlier announcement that they moved to Antigravity CLI; confirm before relying on it. Source: google-gemini/gemini-cli README, Gemini CLI release notes, Model selection docs, Gemini CLI quota and pricing, Gemini Code Assist pricing, Google: transitioning Gemini CLI to Antigravity CLI.
How do I install Gemini CLI?
Official install commands as of October 17, 2026: npm install -g @google/gemini-cli or brew install gemini-cli or npx @google/gemini-cli.
Which models does Gemini CLI use?
As of October 17, 2026: The /model command offers Auto (Gemini 3), which routes between Gemini 3 Pro and Gemini 3 Flash, Auto (Gemini 2.5), which routes between Gemini 2.5 Pro and Flash, or a manual pick. Pass --model to choose at startup. The docs note Gemini CLI has not been optimized for Gemini 4 Argon and point to Antigravity for that model.
