 Ki reached number 26 on the Finnish Top 40 and number 179 on the French Top 200, and appeared on the UK Indie and UK Rock charts. It sold 800 copies in its first week of release in the United States, and debuted at number 69 on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart. Critical reception of the album was generally positive. Jon Wiederhorn of Revolver said the album is "well worth a listen" and praised the heavier tracks such as "Disruptr" and "Heaven's End", saying, "Townsend mostly contains his rage, but he's at his best when he loses it." Martin Popoff of Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles found the album to have an "odd identity", with "all sorts of things going on just under the surface" that rewarded multiple listens. David E. Gehlke of Blistering was less impressed, and found the album inconsistent. Gehlke described "Winter" as "lush and gorgeous", but felt that the album "fails to hit the mark" at other points, such as "Ain 't Never Gonna Win" and "Trainfire". Tyler Munro of Sputnikmusic said Ki showed Townsend "at his loosest and most dynamic", and praised Townsend's and Dorval's vocals, but felt the album was held back by musical repetition and its extended guitar jams. Greg Prato of Allmusic gave the album a moderate review, admiring Townsend's unpredictability but feeling the album was not "the most gripping or groundbreaking album" in Townsend's collection. Daniel Cairns of Chronicles of Chaos praised Ki as "a difficult, unusual collection of music" that "also might just be Townsend's best yet."
