Model Comparison
Kimi K2.6 vs GLM-5.1Which is better in 2026?
Kimi K2.6 shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks. Kimi K2.6 is 1.5x cheaper per token.
Verdict: Kimi K2.6 vs GLM-5.1 — which is better?
Kimi K2.6 (by Moonshot AI) and GLM-5.1 (by Zhipu AI) are two of the AI models people compare most. Here is how they stack up on benchmarks, price and capabilities, and which one to pick in 2026.
Kimi K2.6 outperforms in 9 benchmarks (AIME 2026, BrowseComp, Finance Agent v2, GPQA, HMMT Feb 26, IMO-AnswerBench, LiveBench, SWE-Bench Pro, Toolathlon), while GLM-5.1 is better at 4 benchmarks (FrontierSWE, GDPval-AA, Humanity's Last Exam, Terminal-Bench 2.0). Kimi K2.6 shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.
On price, Kimi K2.6 is roughly 1.5x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Kimi K2.6 also accepts a larger context window (262,144 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.
Choose Kimi K2.6 if…
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 9 of 13 shared benchmarks
- cost matters — it's about 1.5x cheaper per token
- you process long inputs — it offers a 262,144 token context window
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Apr 2026
Choose GLM-5.1 if…
- you want predictable pricing at $1.40/M input and $4.40/M output
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
Kimi K2.6 outperforms in 9 benchmarks (AIME 2026, BrowseComp, Finance Agent v2, GPQA, HMMT Feb 26, IMO-AnswerBench, LiveBench, SWE-Bench Pro, Toolathlon), while GLM-5.1 is better at 4 benchmarks (FrontierSWE, GDPval-AA, Humanity's Last Exam, Terminal-Bench 2.0).
Kimi K2.6 shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Human preference votes
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Kimi K2.6 ($0.75/1M tokens) is 1.9x cheaper than GLM-5.1 ($1.40/1M tokens).
For output processing, Kimi K2.6 ($3.50/1M tokens) is 1.3x cheaper than GLM-5.1 ($4.40/1M tokens).
In conclusion, GLM-5.1 is more expensive than Kimi K2.6.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
Kimi K2.6 has 246.0B more parameters than GLM-5.1, making it 32.6% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Kimi K2.6 accepts 262,144 input tokens compared to GLM-5.1's 200,000 tokens. Kimi K2.6 can generate longer responses up to 131,072 tokens, while GLM-5.1 is limited to 128,000 tokens.
Input Capabilities
Supported data types and modalities
Kimi K2.6 supports multimodal inputs, whereas GLM-5.1 does not.
Kimi K2.6 can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
Kimi K2.6
GLM-5.1
License
Usage and distribution terms
Kimi K2.6 is licensed under Modified MIT License, while GLM-5.1 uses MIT.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
Modified MIT License
Open weights
MIT
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Kimi K2.6 was released on 2026-04-20, while GLM-5.1 was released on 2026-04-07.
Kimi K2.6 is 0 month newer than GLM-5.1.
Apr 20, 2026
2 months ago
1w newerApr 7, 2026
3 months ago
Knowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.
Unable to compare the recency of their training data.
Provider Availability
Kimi K2.6 is available from DeepInfra, Fireworks, Moonshot AI, Novita, Together. GLM-5.1 is available from FriendliAI, ZAI.
Kimi K2.6
GLM-5.1
Outputs Comparison
Key Takeaways
Kimi K2.6
View detailsMoonshot AI
GLM-5.1
View detailsZhipu AI
Detailed Comparison
Interactive Arena
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Kimi K2.6 and GLM-5.1 side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Kimi K2.6 vs GLM-5.1.