Ternary Bonsai 2 9B vs Kimi K3
Ternary Bonsai 2 9B took 7 min 4 s and $0.004 at list price, Kimi K3 took 22 min 52 s and $1.92 at list price. Kimi K3 took 3.2× as long and cost 427× as much.
Ternary Bonsai 2 9B
PrismML · $0.13/M out
Kimi K3
Moonshot AI · $15.00/M out · 9,870 HN pts
Pelican
Generate an SVG of a pelican riding a bicycle
Watch
Draw a mechanical wristwatch that shows the current local time, with a sweeping seconds hand and a date window. Make it look expensive.
Landing
Build the landing page for Lumen Cycles, a Copenhagen workshop that builds custom cargo bikes to order. Make it look like a real brand you would trust with 4,000 euros.
Breakout
Make a Breakout game I can play right now with the keyboard or the mouse. Give it several levels, a score and some juice.
Logo
Design a logo for Night Heron, an independent bookshop that only opens after dark.
About
Write the opening of the About us page for Patchbay, a three-person studio in Rotterdam that repairs vintage synthesizers. About 150 words.
Welcome to Patchbay. A dedicated three-person studio in Rotterdam, where analog warmth meets modern precision. Our workshop is a sanctuary for vintage synthesizers, circuit boards, and forgotten sounds. We operate on the belief that vintage gear deserves respect and careful handling. Every unit we restore is given a new life, preserving its unique character while ensuring it functions reliably. We work meticulously on instruments that shaped electronic music history. This isn't just repair; it is resurrection. Our artisans take the time to solder every connection and clean every capacitor, understanding that imperfections hold stories worth keeping. We aim to keep the legacy of analog synthesis alive. Whether you need a fix or advice on your collection's condition, we support the analog revival. Trust in our expertise to get your dreams humming again. In a digital world, we choose to sound the truth. We believe in the tangible sound of history.
Patchbay is a small workshop in Rotterdam where old synthesizers come back to life. We are three people — a former recording engineer, a self-taught circuit obsessive, and a classically trained pianist who fell in love with broken machines — and between us we have spent decades coaxing sound out of equipment the rest of the world gave up on.
We started Patchbay because we kept meeting the same problem: beloved instruments sitting silent in attics and studio corners, written off as unfixable. A Juno with a dead voice chip. A Prophet that drifts out of tune. A Moog that hums when it shouldn't. To us, none of these are lost causes. They are instruments with history in them, and they deserve careful hands, original parts where possible, and honest work.
Every synth that leaves our bench is played, tested, and listened to — because that is what it was made for.
Specs and numbers
| Ternary Bonsai 2 9B | Kimi K3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | PrismML | Moonshot AI |
| Made in | US | China |
| Released | 16 Oct 2026 | 16 Jul 2026 |
| Price in, per M tokens | $0.08 | $0.192 |
| Price out, per M tokens | $0.13 | $15.00 |
| Context | 262,144 tokens | 1,048,576 tokens |
| Weights | open | open |
| Hacker News points | — | 9,870 |
| Time for the six prompts | 7 min 4 s | 22 min 52 s |
| List price of the six prompts | $0.004 | $1.92 |
Ternary Bonsai 2 9B was cheaper: $1.91 less at list price, and less on each of the 6 prompts. Ternary Bonsai 2 9B was faster: 15 min 48 s less in total, and faster on 5 of the 6 prompts.
In the recording, Ternary Bonsai 2 9B's Breakout game stopped painting; Kimi K3's plays.
Rebuild this screen experiment: Kimi K3's rebuild matched the screenshot at 68%; Ternary Bonsai 2 9B was not in it. Tea Garden experiment: Kimi K3's game passed 5 of 5 checks; Ternary Bonsai 2 9B was not in it.