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Moonshot AI vs Nebius
Nebius lists Kimi models in its Token Factory, so this is partly first-party API versus a European host. Residency and SLAs favor Nebius; first access to K3 favors Moonshot.
By The Subconscious Team · Updated
Moonshot AI vs Nebius: key differences
Moonshot builds Kimi, and Nebius is one of the places Kimi can run. Nebius's Token Factory lists Kimi among 60+ open models behind an OpenAI-compatible API, with dedicated endpoints that offer optional EU or US placement, a 99.9% SLA, speculative decoding and autoscaling past 100M tokens per minute. Moonshot's own API serves Kimi K3 at $3 in and $15 out, with cached input at $0.30, plus Kimi Code in the terminal. Nebius's listing does not say which Kimi versions it carries, so it is worth confirming K3 availability before planning around it.
The broader trade is lab versus cloud. Moonshot ships the newest Kimi model first, and its launch showed the risk: demand overran its GPUs, and new API subscriptions paused on July 19 before reopening in batches. Nebius brings capacity from a raw GPU business that runs up to GB300 NVL72 racks, and it serves uploaded fine-tunes at the same token pricing. Since K3's weights are open, a team could fine-tune it and serve the checkpoint on Nebius, within the license's terms. Nebius has no free trial and a $25 minimum first payment.
What Moonshot AI and Nebius do
Moonshot AI
Moonshot AI is the Beijing lab behind the Kimi models. Its flagship Kimi K3 launched July 16, 2026 as a 2.8 trillion parameter mixture-of-experts model that activates 16 of 896 experts per token, with native vision and a 1M token context. It is the first open model in the 3T class, and full weights landed on Hugging Face on July 27. The hosted API costs $3 in and $15 out per million tokens, with cached input at $0.30, and it runs through an OpenAI-compatible endpoint, Kimi Code in the terminal, OpenRouter and Cloudflare Workers AI.
Example models: Kimi K3, Kimi K2.6
Full Moonshot AI profileNebius
Nebius is an Amsterdam-headquartered AI cloud and the strongest European alternative to the US hyperscalers. It sells raw NVIDIA GPU compute, from H100s at $2.15 an hour preemptible up to GB300 NVL72 racks, and it has begun adding Vera Rubin. Hyperscale buyers back it: a Microsoft capacity deal worth about $17.4B in September 2025, then a Meta agreement worth up to about $27B in March 2026.
Example models: DeepSeek V3, GPT-OSS
Full Nebius profileShould you choose Moonshot AI or Nebius?
Moonshot AI
Choose Moonshot AI for
- Earliest access to new Kimi releases
- Terminal coding through Kimi Code
- Cached input at $0.30 on K3
Nebius
Choose Nebius for
- European teams that need Kimi-class models kept in-region
- Dedicated endpoints with a 99.9% SLA
- Serving a fine-tuned open checkpoint at token pricing
Moonshot AI vs Nebius at a glance
| Attribute | Moonshot AI | Nebius |
|---|---|---|
| Model access | Open weights, custom license | Open weights, 60+ models |
| Flagship models | Kimi K3, Kimi K2.6 | DeepSeek, Qwen, GLM, Kimi, GPT-OSS |
| Speed | ~33 tok/s on Kimi K3 | Among top hosts on throughput |
| Price | $3 in, $15 out (Kimi K3) | From $0.06 per 1M input |
| Customization | Open weights to fine-tune | Serve uploaded fine-tunes |
| Deployment | API, Kimi Code, OpenRouter | Token Factory, dedicated, raw GPUs |
| Long context | 1M | Varies by model |
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Moonshot AI and Nebius?
Nebius lists Kimi models in its Token Factory, so this is partly first-party API versus a European host. Residency and SLAs favor Nebius; first access to K3 favors Moonshot.
When should I choose Moonshot AI over Nebius?
Earliest access to new Kimi releases; Terminal coding through Kimi Code; Cached input at $0.30 on K3.
When should I choose Nebius over Moonshot AI?
European teams that need Kimi-class models kept in-region; Dedicated endpoints with a 99.9% SLA; Serving a fine-tuned open checkpoint at token pricing.
Is Moonshot AI or Nebius cheaper?
Moonshot AI: $3 in, $15 out (Kimi K3). Nebius: From $0.06 per 1M input. The cheaper choice depends on the model and workload.
Which has more context, Moonshot AI or Nebius?
Moonshot AI: 1M. Nebius: Varies by model.
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