GLM-5.3 (Max) vs Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning)
Which is better for the money: GLM-5.3 (Max) by Z AI or Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning) by Kimi? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-10-25.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
GLM-5.3 (Max) scores 17.8 points higher (44.8 vs 27.0) but costs 1.6× as much to run the benchmark ($2503 vs $1528; flagship vs premium cost classes). Pick GLM-5.3 (Max) when the extra intelligence is worth the premium, otherwise Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning).
| Metric | GLM-5.3 (Max) | Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 44.8 | 27.0 | −39.7% Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning) is 39.7% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $2,503.48 | $1,528.20 | −39.0% Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning) is 39.0% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 31.62s | 60.02s | +89.8% Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning) is 89.8% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $1.40 / $4.40 | $0.95 / $4.00 | |
| Input modalities | Text | Text, Image, Video |
Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning) vs GLM-5.3 (Max): 39.7% less intelligence, 39.0% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 89.8% slower end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- GLM-5.3 (Max) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, Claude Opus 5.5 (High, Default Fallback) scores 53.60 for $2172.
- Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) scores 51.80 for $1082.
GLM-5.3 (Max)Kimi K2.6 (Reasoning)Today's Pareto frontierOpen-weights frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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Accept: text/markdown or ?format=md returns this page as Markdown. JSON: /api/v1/compare/glm-5-3/kimi-k2-6 · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/glm-5-3/kimi-k2-6?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill