Kimi K2 Thinking is $0.6 cheaper per 1M input tokens (50% lower; 2x difference).
API cost decision in 10 seconds
GLM 5V Turbo vs Kimi K2 Thinking
Pick Kimi K2 Thinking 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 Thinking when budget and context both matter.
On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Kimi K2 Thinking is estimated at $1.85 vs $3.2 for GLM 5V Turbo, saving $1.35 (42.2% lower).
Cost-first pickKimi K2 Thinking
Context-first pickKimi K2 Thinking
Sample savings$1.3542.2%
10x traffic gap$13.5
Kimi K2 Thinking is cheaper on the standard workload and also has the larger context window. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $13.5. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.
Cost sensitivity
Workload Sensitivity
Kimi K2 Thinking stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.
| Workload shape | Token mix | Better pick | GLM 5V Turbo | Kimi K2 Thinking |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Input-heavy / RAG | 5M input + 500K output | Kimi K2 Thinking | $8 | $4.25 |
| Balanced workload | 1M input + 1M output | Kimi K2 Thinking | $5.2 | $3.1 |
| Output-heavy chatbot | 1M input + 5M output | Kimi K2 Thinking | $21.2 | $13.1 |
Kimi K2 Thinking is $1.5 cheaper per 1M output tokens (37.5% lower; 1.6x difference).
Kimi K2 Thinking has 59.39K more context (1.29x larger).
Kimi K2 Thinking is $1.35 cheaper on the standard workload (42.2% lower).
Estimate your workload cost
Your Workload Cost
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
Kimi K2 Thinking has the lower input price; Kimi K2 Thinking has the lower output price; Kimi K2 Thinking offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Kimi K2 Thinking is cheaper for the standard workload.
For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $3.2 for GLM 5V Turbo and $1.85 for Kimi K2 Thinking.
Choose GLM 5V Turbo when its provider, model quality, latency, or availability is more important than the numeric price/context winner.
Choose Kimi K2 Thinking when you care most about lower input-token price, lower output-token price, and larger context window.
- On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Kimi K2 Thinking is estimated at $1.85 vs $3.2 for GLM 5V Turbo, saving $1.35 (42.2% lower).
- Kimi K2 Thinking is $1.35 cheaper on the standard workload (42.2% lower).
- Kimi K2 Thinking is $0.6 cheaper per 1M input tokens (50% lower; 2x difference).
- Kimi K2 Thinking is $1.5 cheaper per 1M output tokens (37.5% lower; 1.6x difference).
- Kimi K2 Thinking has 59.39K more context (1.29x larger).
| Feature | GLM 5V Turbo (Z.ai) | Kimi K2 Thinking (MoonshotAI) |
|---|---|---|
| Input Price prompt tokens per 1M | $1.2 | $0.6 |
| Completion Price per 1M tokens | $4 | $2.5 |
| Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output | $3.2 | $1.85 |
| Context Window | 202.75K | 262.14K |
| Release Date |
Use-Case Decision Matrix
| Use case | Better pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Budget-constrained production | Kimi K2 Thinking | On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Kimi K2 Thinking is estimated at $1.85 vs $3.2 for GLM 5V Turbo, saving $1.35 (42.2% lower). |
| High-volume input processing | Kimi K2 Thinking | Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill. |
| Long responses and chatbots | Kimi K2 Thinking | Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens. |
| RAG or long-document work | Kimi K2 Thinking | A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files. |
Related Alternatives
- GLM 4.5 Air (free) can replace GLM 5V Turbo when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
- GLM 4 32B can replace GLM 5V Turbo when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.15.
- GLM 4.7 Flash can replace GLM 5V Turbo when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.26.
- GLM 4.5 Air can replace GLM 5V Turbo when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.55.
- Llama 4 Scout offers 10M context with $0.23 sample workload cost.
- Grok 4.20 offers 2M context with $2.5 sample workload cost.
- Owl Alpha offers 1.05M context with $0 sample workload cost.
- Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite offers 1.05M context with $1 sample workload cost.
- No popular competitor is currently available.
Cheaper alternatives
Review low-cost models sorted by a standard 1M input plus 500K output workload.
Open cheapest modelsLarger context alternatives
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Open provider hubsZ.ai catalog
Review all tracked Z.ai models before deciding whether this matchup is the right shortlist.
Open Z.ai modelsMoonshotAI catalog
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Kimi K2 Thinking is Moonshot AI’s most advanced open reasoning model to date, extending the K2 series into agentic, long-horizon reasoning. Built on the trillion-parameter Mixture-of-Experts (MoE) architecture introduced in...