GLM 5.1 vs Kimi K2 Thinking
GLM 5.1 leads Kimi K2 Thinking on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, 26.1 to 22.0, and Kimi K2 Thinking costs 1.8x less per output token ($2.50 vs $4.40 per million). Updated October 22, 2026; 20 benchmarks have a result for both.
GLM 5.1 or Kimi K2 Thinking: which to pick
Only GLM 5.1 has a coding score, 49.2 on the Vibe Coding Index; Kimi K2 Thinking has none, so the two cannot be ranked on coding.
Pick Kimi K2 Thinking for output tokens 1.8x cheaper ($2.50 vs $4.40 per million) and a larger context window (262K against 205K tokens).
- Shared results
- 20
- GLM 5.1 only
- 69
- Kimi K2 Thinking only
- 10
- Like-for-like categories
- 8 of 9
Only benchmarks that tested both models count toward a pick; a result only one model has is shown but not compared.
Which one for your work
Each card is decided by one number both models carry. Where only one has it, the card says so and makes no call.
Coding
Vibe Coding Index, six public coding benchmarks
No call
Only GLM 5.1 has a coding score, so no call is made.
One side not measured
Intelligence
AA Intelligence Index
GLM 5.1
GLM 5.1 leads, 26.1 against 22.0.
Same board, both measured
Agentic work
AA Agentic Index
No call
Only GLM 5.1 has a AA Agentic Index result, 23.9.
Directional only
Reasoning
GPQA Diamond
GLM 5.1
GLM 5.1 leads, 84.5% against 78.5%.
Same board, both measured
Math
AIME
GLM 5.1
GLM 5.1 leads, 91.9% against 85.4%.
Same board, both measured
Knowledge
MMLU Pro
GLM 5.1
GLM 5.1 leads, 86.9% against 81.1%.
Same board, both measured
Web design
Design Arena: websites
GLM 5.1
GLM 5.1 leads, 1290 against 1113.
Same board, both measured
Long documents
Listed context window
Kimi K2 Thinking
Kimi K2 Thinking takes 262K tokens against 205K.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
Kimi K2 Thinking
GLM 5.1 $0.0036, Kimi K2 Thinking $0.0019 per turn.
List prices
Cost per solved task
One SWE-bench Verified task, solved
GLM 5.1
GLM 5.1 $0.60, Kimi K2 Thinking $0.61.
Published attempt cost and pass rate
At a glance
- Coding index
- GLM 5.1 49.2 from 3 benchmarks, Kimi K2 Thinking not benchmarked.
- Widest category
- Web design, 22.1 points apart on average over 1 shared benchmark.
- Widest single gap
- Design Arena: websites: GLM 5.1 1290 against Kimi K2 Thinking 1113, 22.1 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
- Output price
- GLM 5.1 $4.40 against Kimi K2 Thinking $2.50 per million output tokens, 1.8x apart.
- Context window
- GLM 5.1 takes 205K tokens, Kimi K2 Thinking 262K.
Benchmark by benchmark
First the score: boards each model leads, per category, where both have a result. Then every board, a category to a fold; bars are each result on a 0 to 100 scale, so compare the two in a row, not one row with another.
| Category | GLM 5.1 | Bars | Kimi K2 Thinking | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coding | 5 | 0 | ||
| Intelligence | 2 | 0 | ||
| Agentic work | 1 | 0 | ||
| Reasoning | 3 | 0 | ||
| Math | 1 | 0 | ||
| Knowledge | 3 | 2 | ||
| Web design | 1 | 0 | ||
| General | 2 | 0 | ||
| All shared boards | 18 | 2 |
CodingLike-for-likeSix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index50
| Benchmark | GLM 5.1 | Kimi K2 Thinking | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| SWE-bench Verified | Not measured | 63.4% | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| LMArena WebDev | 1508 | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| AA Coding Index | 55.8 | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| LiveCodeBench (Vals AI) | 81.4% | 63.1% | GLM 5.1 |
| SWE-bench Verified (Vals AI) | 76.4% | 60.2% | GLM 5.1 |
| Vibe Code Bench (Vals AI) | 31.5% | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| Code migration (Vals AI) | 25.8% | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| ProgramBench (Vals AI) | 0.0% | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| Terminal-Bench 2.1 (Vals AI) | 56.9% | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| LiveCodeBench (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 85.3% | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| SciCode | 44.8% | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run) | 43.2% | 31.1% | GLM 5.1 |
| Terminal-Bench | Not measured | 35.7% | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| WeirdML | 57.1% | 42.8% | GLM 5.1 |
| ALE-Bench | 887.1 | 597.5 | GLM 5.1 |
| LMArena Text: coding | 1485 | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| LMArena Text: software and IT | 1484 | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| LMArena WebDev: React | 1505 | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| LMArena WebDev: HTML | 1508 | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 20 boards here | |||
IntelligenceLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index20
| Benchmark | GLM 5.1 | Kimi K2 Thinking | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | 26.1 | 22.0 | GLM 5.1 |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 149.8 | 145.8 | GLM 5.1 |
Agentic workLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index10
| Benchmark | GLM 5.1 | Kimi K2 Thinking | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Agentic Index | 23.9 | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| Design Arena: agents building web apps | 1175 | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| Design Arena: agents building full-stack apps | 1167 | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| Design Arena: agents building mobile apps | 1162 | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| Design Arena: agents building Android apps | 1182 | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| Design Arena: agents building Godot games | 1053 | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| Design Arena: agents building games | 1164 | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| Design Arena: HTML slides | 1120 | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| Design Arena: PowerPoint slides | 1163 | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| Design Arena: spreadsheets | 1315 | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| Finance Agent (Vals AI) | 44.8% | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| Legal Research Bench (Vals AI) | 27.9% | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| τ²-Bench Telecom | 97.7% | 93.0% | GLM 5.1 |
| APEX-Agents | 40.9% | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| METR time horizons | Not measured | 59.2% | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| Vending-Bench 2 | $5,634 | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 25 boards here | |||
ReasoningLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index30
| Benchmark | GLM 5.1 | Kimi K2 Thinking | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond | 84.5% | 78.5% | GLM 5.1 |
| GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | 86.8% | 83.8% | GLM 5.1 |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | 30.1% | 23.8% | GLM 5.1 |
| GPQA Diamond (Epoch AI run) | 89.9% | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| SimpleBench | 55.1% | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| Chess puzzles | 20.0% | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts | 1473 | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| LMArena Text: expert | 1478 | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts in English | 1482 | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 13 boards here | |||
MathLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index10
| Benchmark | GLM 5.1 | Kimi K2 Thinking | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AIME | 91.9% | 85.4% | GLM 5.1 |
| MGSM (Vals AI) | Not measured | 90.2% | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| AA Math Index | Not measured | 94.7 | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| AIME 2025 (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 94.7% | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| OTIS Mock AIME | 93.3% | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| FrontierMath, tiers 1 to 3 | 36.8% | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| ProofBench | 22.2% | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| LMArena Text: math | 1473 | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| LMArena Text: mathematical work | 1470 | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 4 boards here | |||
KnowledgeLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index32
| Benchmark | GLM 5.1 | Kimi K2 Thinking | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| MMLU Pro | 86.9% | 81.1% | GLM 5.1 |
| LegalBench (Vals AI) | 84.4% | 80.2% | GLM 5.1 |
| CaseLaw (Vals AI) | 51.5% | 65.7% | Kimi K2 Thinking |
| CorpFin (Vals AI) | 64.5% | 60.6% | GLM 5.1 |
| TaxEval (Vals AI) | 71.2% | 71.7% | Kimi K2 Thinking |
| MedQA (Vals AI) | Not measured | 92.6% | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| MedCode (Vals AI) | 41.6% | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| MMLU Pro (Artificial Analysis run) | Not measured | 84.8% | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| SimpleQA Verified | 34.0% | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| LMArena Text: science | 1478 | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| LMArena Text: medicine and healthcare | 1474 | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| LMArena Text: legal and government | 1465 | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| LMArena Text: business and finance | 1452 | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 5 boards here | |||
Web designLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index10
| Benchmark | GLM 5.1 | Kimi K2 Thinking | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design Arena: websites | 1290 | 1113 | GLM 5.1 |
| Design Arena: UI components | 1292 | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| Design Arena: game dev | 1265 | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| Design Arena: data viz | 1366 | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| Design Arena: 3D | 1336 | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| Design Arena: all code categories | 1268 | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| Design Arena: SVG | 1218 | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| Design Arena: ASCII art | 1141 | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 1 board here | |||
GeneralLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index20
| Benchmark | GLM 5.1 | Kimi K2 Thinking | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Public Benefits Bench (Vals AI) | 61.8% | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| MedScribe (Vals AI) | 72.3% | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| IFBench | 76.3% | 68.1% | GLM 5.1 |
| Long context reasoning (AA-LCR) | 73.7% | 72.0% | GLM 5.1 |
| CL-bench | Not measured | 17.6% | Only Kimi K2 Thinking measured |
| ExploitBench | 18.1% | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| LMArena Text | 1463 | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| LMArena Text: instruction following | 1453 | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| LMArena Text: creative writing | 1453 | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| LMArena Text: English | 1476 | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| LMArena Text: non-English | 1448 | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| LMArena Text: Chinese | 1515 | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| LMArena Text: German | 1467 | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| LMArena Text: Japanese | 1435 | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| LMArena Text: Korean | 1424 | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| LMArena Text: French | 1470 | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| LMArena Text: Spanish | 1468 | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| LMArena Text: Russian | 1454 | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| LMArena Text: Polish | 1449 | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| LMArena Text: multi-turn | 1473 | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| LMArena Text: longer queries | 1467 | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| LMArena Text: writing and language | 1454 | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| LMArena Text: entertainment and media | 1442 | Not measured | Only GLM 5.1 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 23 boards here | |||
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | GLM 5.1 | Kimi K2 Thinking | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neither model has a result on 5 boards here | |||
What each workload costs
Three fixed token mixes at each model's listed price, so per-token rates become a bill.
Chat turn
1K input + 500 output tokens
Kimi K2 Thinking costs less
Repository review
50K input + 3K output tokens
Kimi K2 Thinking costs less
Agent loop
200K input + 10K output tokens
Kimi K2 Thinking costs less
Listed OpenRouter rates, without cache or batch discounts. A workload that does not fit a model's context window would need splitting.
Specification differences
The leading value in a row is marked; a row with a missing value names no leader. Our two rows are marked in red.
| Specification | Z.ai GLM 5.1 | MoonshotAI Kimi K2 Thinking |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Z.ai | Moonshot AI |
| Weights | Open weights | Open weights |
| Released | April 7, 2026 | November 6, 2025 |
| Context window | 205K | 262K |
| Input $/Mtok | $1.40 | $0.60 |
| Output $/Mtok | $4.40 | $2.50 |
| Coding index | 49.2 | Not benchmarked |
| Independent measurements behind it | 3 | 1 |
| Cost per solved task | $0.60 | $0.61 |
| Source | OpenRouter listing | OpenRouter listing |
Questions
Is GLM 5.1 better than Kimi K2 Thinking for coding?
Only GLM 5.1 has a coding score, 49.2 on the Vibe Coding Index; Kimi K2 Thinking has none, so the two cannot be ranked on coding. Pick Kimi K2 Thinking for output tokens 1.8x cheaper ($2.50 vs $4.40 per million) and a larger context window (262K against 205K tokens).
Which is cheaper, GLM 5.1 or Kimi K2 Thinking?
GLM 5.1 costs $1.40 per million input tokens and $4.40 per million output tokens; Kimi K2 Thinking costs $0.60 and $2.50. Per solved SWE-bench Verified task, GLM 5.1 costs $0.60 and Kimi K2 Thinking $0.61.
Which has the bigger context window, GLM 5.1 or Kimi K2 Thinking?
Kimi K2 Thinking, with 262K tokens against 205K.
How many benchmarks is the GLM 5.1 vs Kimi K2 Thinking comparison based on?
20 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 22, 2026. GLM 5.1's coding index rests on 3 independent benchmarks and Kimi K2 Thinking's on 1. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.