API cost decision in 10 seconds

🔥Kimi K2.6 vs 🔥GLM 5.1

Pick Kimi K2.6 when budget and context both matter.

Pricing data updated:  Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick Kimi K2.6 when budget and context both matter.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Kimi K2.6 is estimated at $2.48 vs $2.52 for GLM 5.1, saving $0.04 (1.8% lower).

Cost-first pickKimi K2.6
Context-first pickKimi K2.6
Sample savings$0.041.8%
10x traffic gap$0.45

Kimi K2.6 is cheaper on the standard workload and also has the larger context window. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $0.45. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cheaper input Kimi K2.6 $0.73 vs $0.98 / 1M

Kimi K2.6 is $0.25 cheaper per 1M input tokens (25.5% lower; 1.34x difference).

Cheaper output GLM 5.1 $3.49 vs $3.08 / 1M

GLM 5.1 is $0.41 cheaper per 1M output tokens (11.7% lower; 1.13x difference).

Larger context Kimi K2.6 262.14K vs 202.75K

Kimi K2.6 has 59.39K more context (1.29x larger).

Sample workload Kimi K2.6 $2.48 vs $2.52

Kimi K2.6 is $0.04 cheaper on the standard workload (1.8% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.
Kimi K2.6 Calculating… Estimated API cost
GLM 5.1 Calculating… Estimated API cost
Cheaper for this workload Calculating… Difference: calculating…

This estimate uses normalized public API pricing per 1M tokens. It is a planning aid, not a billing quote. Verify provider pricing, limits, and terms before production use.

Quick Decision

Verdict

Kimi K2.6 has the lower input price; GLM 5.1 has the lower output price; Kimi K2.6 offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Kimi K2.6 is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $2.48 for Kimi K2.6 and $2.52 for GLM 5.1.

Best Fit

Choose Kimi K2.6 when you care most about lower input-token price, and larger context window.

Choose GLM 5.1 when you care most about lower output-token price.

Decision Notes
  • On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Kimi K2.6 is estimated at $2.48 vs $2.52 for GLM 5.1, saving $0.04 (1.8% lower).
  • Kimi K2.6 is $0.04 cheaper on the standard workload (1.8% lower).
  • Kimi K2.6 is $0.25 cheaper per 1M input tokens (25.5% lower; 1.34x difference).
  • GLM 5.1 is $0.41 cheaper per 1M output tokens (11.7% lower; 1.13x difference).
  • Kimi K2.6 has 59.39K more context (1.29x larger).
Head-to-Head Specs
Feature🔥Kimi K2.6
(MoonshotAI)		🔥GLM 5.1
(Z.ai)
Input Price
prompt tokens per 1M		$0.73$0.98
Completion Price
per 1M tokens		$3.49$3.08
Sample Workload Cost
1M input + 500K output		$2.48$2.52
Context Window262.14K202.75K
Release Date
Popularity Rank
current rank		#7#20

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use caseBetter pickWhy
Budget-constrained productionKimi K2.6On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Kimi K2.6 is estimated at $2.48 vs $2.52 for GLM 5.1, saving $0.04 (1.8% lower).
High-volume input processingKimi K2.6Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbotsGLM 5.1Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document workKimi K2.6A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

Same-provider lower-cost swaps
  • Kimi K2.5 can replace Kimi K2.6 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $1.35.
  • Kimi K2 0711 can replace Kimi K2.6 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $1.72.
  • Kimi K2 Thinking can replace Kimi K2.6 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $1.85.
  • Kimi K2 0905 can replace Kimi K2.6 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $1.85.
Larger context near this budget
  • Grok 4.1 Fast offers 2M context with $0.45 sample workload cost.
  • Grok 4.20 offers 2M context with $2.5 sample workload cost.
  • Grok 4 Fast offers 2M context with $0.45 sample workload cost.
  • Owl Alpha offers 1.05M context with $0 sample workload cost.

Cheaper alternatives

Review low-cost models ranked by a standard 1M input plus 500K output workload.

Open cheapest models

Larger context alternatives

Find models with larger context windows for RAG, long documents, and codebase review.

Open largest context models

Provider catalogs

Compare models within provider hubs before choosing a final API vendor.

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MoonshotAI catalog

Review all tracked MoonshotAI models before deciding whether this matchup is the right shortlist.

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Z.ai catalog

Check other Z.ai models with comparable pricing, context, or release timing.

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Kimi K2.6

Kimi K2.6 is Moonshot AI's next-generation multimodal model, designed for long-horizon coding, coding-driven UI/UX generation, and multi-agent orchestration. It handles complex end-to-end coding tasks across Python, Rust, and Go, and...

GLM 5.1

GLM-5.1 delivers a major leap in coding capability, with particularly significant gains in handling long-horizon tasks. Unlike previous models built around minute-level interactions, GLM-5.1 can work independently and continuously on...