--- title: "Is Kimi K2.6 still undominated? · Undominated.ai" canonical: https://undominated.ai/check/moonshotai__kimi-k2.6/ description: "Kimi K2.6: whether it is still undominated. If anything in this catalogue is both better and cheaper, it is named, as of Sep 23, 2026. Unrated stays unrated." --- # Is Kimi K2.6 still undominated? · Undominated.ai > Kimi K2.6: whether it is still undominated. If anything in this catalogue is both better and cheaper, it is named, as of Sep 23, 2026. Unrated stays unrated. # Is Kimi K2.6 a good deal? Whether anything in this catalogue beats Kimi K2.6 on both quality and price, and what you give up if it does. A computation on the current catalogue, not an opinion. 13 undominated of 136 · Sep 23, 2026 [1 · Choose & set workload](#check-input)[2 · Read verdict](#check-verdict)[3 · Inspect alternatives](#check-options) As of Sep 23, 2026, Kimi K2.6 is dominated for Balanced on LMArena. GLM 5.3 Flash scores 17.0 higher and costs 86% less, with a covering envelope. 13 of 136 rated, priced standard models are undominated. [Inspect model evidence](/models/moonshotai__kimi-k2.6/) [Compare differences & requirements](/compare/?models=moonshotai%2Fkimi-k2.6%2Cz-ai%2Fglm-5.3-flash) Current model Kimi K2.6 Balanced 3 tokens in per 1 out Balanced Summarise Chat Code gen Agentic Monthly spend (USD) Used only to say how many months a named switching cost would take to earn back. Leave blank to skip. Switching cost (USD) GLM 5.3 Flash is both better and cheaper than Kimi K2.6: 17.0 points higher on LMArena and 86% less per million tokens, $1.47 cheaper at this mix. [Kimi K2.6](https://undominated.ai/models/moonshotai__kimi-k2.6/) LMArena Elo · higher is better Scale starts at 1040 Elo ** 1454.9 Effective $/M · Balanced · lower is better ** $1.71/M [GLM 5.3 Flash](https://undominated.ai/models/z-ai__glm-5.3-flash/) LMArena Elo · higher is better Scale starts at 1040 Elo ** 1471.9 Effective $/M · Balanced · lower is better ** $0.237/M Kimi K2.6 takes text, image, returns up to 235,929 tokens from a 262,144-token context, and is listed by 22 sellers. Compared against 136 rated, priced models on this lens: 1 model dominates it and gives up nothing, 5 more dominate it but give something up. Kimi K2.6 scores 1454.9 at $1.71 per million tokens for this mix. ## Envelope-safe replacements Each row scores at least as high, costs no more, and covers this model’s context, output, modalities, tools, and reasoning. A cheaper narrower model is not listed here. | Model | LMArena | Effective $/M | You save | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [GLM 5.3 Flash](/models/z-ai__glm-5.3-flash/) | 1471.9 +17.0 | $0.237/M | 86% | ## Higher score, lower price, named losses Not a drop-in. The loss is why these are not a recommendation. | Model | LMArena | Effective $/M | You give up | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [Gemini 3.8 Flash](/models/google__gemini-3.8-flash/) | 1494.7 | $1.50/M | max output | | [Gemini 3.7 Flash](/models/google__gemini-3.7-flash/) | 1490.5 | $1.50/M | max output | | [Gemini 3.6 Flash](/models/google__gemini-3.6-flash/) | 1476.1 | $1.50/M | max output | | [GLM 5.3](/models/z-ai__glm-5.3/) | 1475.1 | $1.29/M | max output, image | | [GLM 5.2](/models/z-ai__glm-5.2/) | 1466.9 | $0.998/M | max output, image | 136 rated, priced standard models. Chartreuse is the frontier. Cobalt is the model you named, when it is not on the staircase. Copy watch URL [Open the frontier](/frontier/) The link keeps the model and mix, using the current catalogue. Monthly spend and switching cost stay in this browser tab and are left out of the link. ## Saved decision references Save the model, workload, catalogue date and capability-preservation rule in this browser. Spend, switching cost and bill contents are not saved. No account or notifications. Constraint: replacements must preserve the model’s capabilities; any losses remain named trade-offs. Historical decisions cannot be fully replayed from saved references: past prices, scores and capability evidence are not stored. Save this reference ## Continue your investigation - [Build a shortlist](/compare/) - [Inspect alternatives](/alternatives/) - [Check billing conditions](/traps/) - [Read model evidence](/models/)