text model comparison
GLM-5.3 vs Kimi K3
GLM-5.3 and Kimi K3 are both current text models, from Z.ai and Moonshot Kimi. GLM-5.3 is 53% cheaper per 1M input tokens than Kimi K3, $1.40 vs $3. On Arena Text, GLM-5.3 scores 1481 Elo and Kimi K3 1488 Elo (Arena, measured October 28, 2026). Both accept about 1.05M tokens of context (1,048,576 and 1,000,000).
- Higher Arena Text
- Kimi K31488 Elo against 1481 Elo
- Lower price per 1M input tokens
- GLM-5.3$1.40 against $3
- Longer context window
- Kimi K31.05M tokens against 1M tokens
- Newer release
- GLM-5.3Aug 2026 against Jul 2026
Data verified November 3, 2026 · Dataset 2026-11-03
Side by side
GLM-5.3 and Kimi K3, line by line
Prices in effect today, compared at the same tier wherever both list one. The better value in each row is highlighted.
| Fact | GLM-5.3 | Kimi K3 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | ||
| Price per 1M input tokens | $1.40 (better) | $3 |
| Price per 1M output tokens | $4.40 (better) | $15 |
| Independent benchmarks | ||
| Arena Text | 1481 Elo (#16 of 51) | 1488 Elo (#9 of 51) (better) |
| Arena WebDev | 1623 Elo (#21 of 45) | 1656 Elo (#13 of 45) (better) |
| FrontierMath Tiers 1-3 (v2) | 68.8% (#25 of 42) | 72.2% (#22 of 42) (better) |
| GPQA Diamond | 90.9% (#23 of 41) | 93.1% (#17 of 41) (better) |
| SimpleQA Verified | 41% (#29 of 38) | 50.6% (#20 of 38) (better) |
| Specs | ||
| Provider | Z.ai | Moonshot Kimi |
| Release date | August 18, 2026 | July 16, 2026 |
| Access | API and open weights | API and open weights |
| Context window | 1,000,000 tokens | 1,048,576 tokens |
| Max output | 128,000 tokens | Not reported |
| Input | text | text, image |
| Output | text | text |
Charts
Against every current text model
Where GLM-5.3 and Kimi K3 land among the current models of their task, on every independent benchmark, on price and on context.
Where each stands
On Arena Text, GLM-5.3 ranks #16 and Kimi K3 #9 of 51 current models. Each bar is the share of current models it beats: on score, price and context.
Independent benchmarks
Arena Text
GLM-5.3:#16of 51
1,481 Elo · ahead of 68%
Kimi K3:#9of 51
1,488 Elo · ahead of 84%
Arena WebDev
GLM-5.3:#21of 45
1,623 Elo · ahead of 55%
Kimi K3:#13of 45
1,656 Elo · ahead of 70%
FrontierMath Tiers 1-3 (v2)
GLM-5.3:#25of 42
68.8% · ahead of 41%
Kimi K3:#22of 42
72.2% · ahead of 49%
GPQA Diamond
GLM-5.3:#23of 41
90.9% · ahead of 45%
Kimi K3:#17of 41
93.1% · ahead of 60%
SimpleQA Verified
GLM-5.3:#29of 38
41% · ahead of 22%
Kimi K3:#20of 38
50.6% · ahead of 49%
Price and context
Price per 1M input tokens
GLM-5.3:#27of 52
$1.40 · cheaper than 49%
Kimi K3:#42of 52
$3 · cheaper than 20%
Price per 1M output tokens
GLM-5.3:#26of 52
$4.40 · cheaper than 51%
Kimi K3:#41of 52
$15 · cheaper than 20%
Context window
GLM-5.3:#26of 64
1M tokens · longer than 22%
Kimi K3:#11of 64
1.05M tokens · longer than 67%
Quality against price
GLM-5.3 scores 1,481 at $2.15; Kimi K3 scores 1,488 at $6 (blended price per 1M tokens). The line joins the current models no other beats on both price and Arena Text score; hover any point to name it.
Quality against price: the data
| Model | Provider | Blended price per 1M tokens | Arena Text (Elo) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gemini 4 Argon | $4 | 1,520 | |
| Claude Opus 5.5 | Anthropic | $8 | 1,509 |
| Muse Wonder | Meta | $8 | 1,507 |
| Claude Fable 5 | Anthropic | $20 | 1,504 |
| Claude Fable 5.1 | Anthropic | $20 | 1,504 |
| Gemini 3.8 Flash | $1.50 | 1,496 | |
| Muse Spark 1.3 | Meta | $2 | 1,495 |
| Claude Opus 5 | Anthropic | $10 | 1,492 |
| Kimi K3 | Moonshot Kimi | $6 | 1,488 |
| GPT-5.6 Sol | OpenAI | $8 | 1,485 |
| Gemini 3.6 Flash | $3 | 1,483 | |
| GPT-5.5 | OpenAI | $11 | 1,482 |
| Claude Opus 4.8 | Anthropic | $10 | 1,482 |
| Qwen3.8-Max | Alibaba Qwen | $3 | 1,482 |
| GPT-6.1 Sol | OpenAI | $4 | 1,481 |
| GLM-5.3 | Z.ai | $2.15 | 1,481 |
| MiMo-V2.6-Pro | Xiaomi MiMo | $0.54 | 1,480 |
| Claude Sonnet 5.5 | Anthropic | $4 | 1,477 |
| GLM-5.3-Flash | Z.ai | $0.24 | 1,477 |
| GPT-6 Astra | OpenAI | $20 | 1,476 |
| DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash | DeepSeek | $0.52 | 1,476 |
| GPT-5.4 | OpenAI | $5.63 | 1,475 |
| Gemini 3 Flash Preview | $1.13 | 1,473 | |
| Grok 4.20 | xAI | $1.56 | 1,472 |
| GPT-5.6 Terra | OpenAI | $4.50 | 1,467 |
| Grok 4.5 | xAI | $3 | 1,465 |
| DeepSeek-V4-Pro | DeepSeek | $1.98 | 1,465 |
| Claude Sonnet 5 | Anthropic | $4 | 1,462 |
| GPT-6 Sol | OpenAI | $4 | 1,458 |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite | $0.85 | 1,456 | |
| Grok 4.6 | xAI | $3 | 1,455 |
| GPT-5.6 Luna | OpenAI | $0.45 | 1,453 |
| MiMo-V2.6-Flash | Xiaomi MiMo | $0.18 | 1,448 |
| Step 5 Preview | StepFun | $1.43 | 1,448 |
| Grok 4.3 | xAI | $1.56 | 1,442 |
| GPT-6 Luna | OpenAI | $0.20 | 1,441 |
| Grok 4.7 | xAI | $3 | 1,441 |
| Mistral Large 4 | Mistral AI | $1.05 | 1,432 |
| Claude Haiku 5.5 | Anthropic | $0.20 | 1,425 |
| GPT-4.1 | OpenAI | $3.50 | 1,415 |
| Solar Pro 4 | Upstage | $0.52 | 1,388 |
| GPT-4.1 mini | OpenAI | $0.70 | 1,383 |
| GPT-4.1 nano | OpenAI | $0.18 | 1,322 |
Cost
What each costs
Example workloads at each provider's listed rates, then every other rate either one lists. The cheaper figure in each row is highlighted.
The same work, priced
For 10M input and 2M output tokens, Kimi K3 costs 2.6 times as much as GLM-5.3, at each provider's listed rates.
10M input and 2M output tokens
Kimi K3 costs 2.6× as much
- GLM-5.3
- $22.80
- Kimi K3
- $60
The same, with 9M of the input tokens cached
Kimi K3 costs 2.8× as much
- GLM-5.3
- $12.54
- Kimi K3
- $35.70
| Workload or rate | GLM-5.3 | Kimi K3 |
|---|---|---|
| Example workloads | ||
| 10M input and 2M output tokens | $22.80 (better) | $60 |
| The same, with 9M of the input tokens cached | $12.54 (better) | $35.70 |
| Other listed rates | ||
| 1M input tokens, cached | $0.26 (better) | $0.30 |
Your own bill will differ. These figures use list prices and example workloads. The AI Model Cost Audit reviews your real usage, shortlists models that score as well for each task for less, and estimates the savings.
Launch price $100, regular price $150
Verdict
When to choose each
GLM-5.3
Where it leads
- Lower input and output prices, $1.40 and $4.40 vs $3 and $15 per 1M tokens
- Cheaper cached input, $0.26 vs $0.30 per 1M tokens
Best for
- Long-horizon agentic coding
- Self-hosted reasoning with permissive weights
Watch out for
- Text input only, and reasoning cannot be turned off: requests that disable thinking fail
- The licence requires a Z.ai security review before very large model-as-a-service operators use it commercially
Kimi K3
Where it leads
- Higher Arena Text score, 1488 Elo vs 1481 Elo
- Higher Arena WebDev score, 1656 Elo vs 1623 Elo
- Higher FrontierMath Tiers 1-3 (v2) score, 72.2% vs 68.8%
- Higher GPQA Diamond score, 93.1% vs 90.9%
- Higher SimpleQA Verified score, 50.6% vs 41%
- Accepts image input
Best for
- Teams that want a frontier-scale model they can also self-host, with one architecture across both paths
- Long-context work at mid-tier hosted pricing
Watch out for
- Hosted rates match Claude Sonnet 5 exactly at $3 / $15 while offering a larger context window, so the comparison turns on capability rather than price
- Running the open weights shifts cost to infrastructure, which the token rates recorded here do not represent
- Moonshot’s self-reported results place it ahead of Claude Opus 4.8 and GPT-5.5 but behind Claude Fable 5 and GPT-5.6 Sol; none of this was reproduced independently here
From benchmark to production
Building on GLM-5.3 or Kimi K3?
Public scores rarely hold on your own data. We test both models on your real tasks, then build the agent or pipeline around the one that wins.
AI Model Cost AuditLaunch price $100, regular price $150What the audit includes
FAQ
GLM-5.3 vs Kimi K3 FAQ
Which is cheaper, GLM-5.3 or Kimi K3?
GLM-5.3 is 53% cheaper per 1M input tokens than Kimi K3, $1.40 vs $3. For 10M input and 2M output tokens, GLM-5.3 costs $22.80 and Kimi K3 $60 at standard rates.
Which is cheaper with prompt caching, GLM-5.3 or Kimi K3?
GLM-5.3 charges $0.26 per 1M cached input tokens, 81% below its standard input rate, and Kimi K3 $0.30, 90% below. With 9M of 10M input tokens cached and 2M output tokens, GLM-5.3 costs $12.54 and Kimi K3 $35.70.
Which scores higher on independent benchmarks, GLM-5.3 or Kimi K3?
Kimi K3 leads on Arena Text, 1488 Elo to 1481 Elo; Kimi K3 leads on Arena WebDev, 1656 Elo to 1623 Elo; Kimi K3 leads on FrontierMath Tiers 1-3 (v2), 72.2% to 68.8%. Scores are independent evaluations, not either vendor's launch figures.
Which has the larger context window, GLM-5.3 or Kimi K3?
Both accept about 1.05M tokens of context (1,048,576 and 1,000,000).
How do GLM-5.3 and Kimi K3 differ in features?
GLM-5.3 takes text input; Kimi K3 takes text and image.
Further reading
More on GLM-5.3 and Kimi K3
Articles on GLM-5.3 and Kimi K3
- Qwen vs DeepSeek vs Kimi for Agents and CodingAugust 6, 2026
- Kimi K3 vs Opus 5 vs GPT-5.6 Sol: which model should you use?July 31, 2026
Related comparisons
- GLM-5.3 vs Mistral Large 4
- Claude Opus 5.5 vs Kimi K3
- Claude Opus 5.5 vs GLM-5.3
- GPT-6 Luna vs Kimi K3
- DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash vs GLM-5.3
- DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash vs Kimi K3
- Gemini 3.8 Flash vs GLM-5.3
- GPT-6 Astra vs Kimi K3
- DeepSeek-V4-Pro vs GLM-5.3
- Gemini 3.8 Flash vs Kimi K3
- Gemini 3.6 Flash vs GLM-5.3
- DeepSeek-V4-Pro vs Kimi K3
Production evaluation
Choosing between GLM-5.3 and Kimi K3?
Public benchmarks narrow the shortlist. We run both on your own tasks, data and cost limits, then build the routing and review controls to run the winner in production.
- A head-to-head evaluation on your real workload
- Routing between models by cost and difficulty