GLM 4.7 vs Kimi K3

Z.ai · China  |  Moonshot AI · China · Updated June 2026

Quick verdict

Pick GLM 4.7 for genuinely permissive open weights — an mit-licensed 358b mixture-of-experts with no commercial restrictions or strong agentic coding for the price — 73.8% on swe-bench verified undercut most closed frontier models at launch. Pick Kimi K3 for largest open-weight model at release — 2.8t sparse moe, self-hostable or 1m-token context with native vision (text, image and video). On a tight budget at scale, GLM 4.7 is the value pick.

GLM 4.7 (Z.ai) and Kimi K3 (Moonshot AI) are two of the models people most often weigh against each other in 2026. GLM 4.7 is an MIT-licensed 358B open mixture-of-experts with strong 73.8% SWE-Bench Verified coding — but two generations behind GLM 5.2. Kimi K3 is moonshot's 2.8-trillion-parameter open-weight model — the largest open AI at release, with a 1M context and strong self-reported coding scores. They diverge most on price and context window — each quantified below from the models' real specs.

Key differences at a glance

Side-by-side specs

SpecGLM 4.7Kimi K3
ProviderZ.ai (China) Moonshot AI (China)
ReleasedDecember 22, 2025 July 27, 2026
Context window200K (~304 pages) 1M (~1,573 pages)
Price (in/out)$0.6/$2.2 per 1M tokens $3/$15 per 1M tokens
Open weight?Yes — self-hostable Yes — self-hostable
Modalitiestext, code text, image, video, code
SWE-Bench Verified73.8% Not published
MRCR v2 @ 1MNot published Not published

Who wins what

Genuinely permissive open weights — an MIT-licensed 358B mixture-of-experts with no commercial restrictions

GLM 4.7

Kimi K3 is comparatively weak here — 2.8T params need serious hardware to self-host — weights are free, running is not

Strong agentic coding for the price — 73.8% on SWE-Bench Verified undercut most closed frontier models at launch

GLM 4.7

At $0.6/$2.2 per 1M tokens it undercuts Kimi K3 ($3/$15 per 1M tokens), and that gap compounds at volume.

An unusually generous 128K maximum output, which suits bulk refactors and long generation

GLM 4.7

An MIT-licensed 358B open mixture-of-experts with strong 73.8% SWE-Bench Verified coding — but two generations behind GLM 5.2 — and it runs cheaper at $0.6/$2.2 per 1M tokens.

Largest open-weight model at release — 2.8T sparse MoE, self-hostable

Kimi K3

GLM 4.7 is comparatively weak here — text-only with no vision, and self-hosting a 358B model is a serious hardware commitment

1M-token context with native vision (text, image and video)

Kimi K3

Its 1M window holds about 5.2× more than GLM 4.7's 200K in a single prompt.

Vendor reports 81.2 FrontierSWE and 88.3 Terminal-Bench 2.1 on its own harness

Kimi K3

GLM 4.7 is comparatively weak here — its Verified lead narrows sharply on harder evaluations like SWE-Bench Pro

Lowest cost at scale

GLM 4.7

At $0.6/$2.2 per 1M tokens, it is the cheaper of the two — the gap dominates the bill on high-volume workloads.

Largest single-prompt input

Kimi K3

Its 1M window is about 5.2× larger than GLM 4.7's 200K, fitting roughly 1,573 pages in one prompt.

Which should you pick?

A cost-sensitive startup shipping high volume

GLM 4.7

At $0.6/$2.2 per 1M tokens it undercuts Kimi K3, and on millions of tokens that margin decides the monthly bill.

Someone analysing very long documents or codebases

Kimi K3

Larger 1M window fits more in one prompt.

Anyone whose priority is genuinely permissive open weights — an mit-licensed 358b mixture-of-experts with no commercial restrictions

GLM 4.7

It is specifically built for that.

Anyone whose priority is largest open-weight model at release — 2.8t sparse moe, self-hostable

Kimi K3

That is its strongest area.

GLM 4.7: where it fits

An MIT-licensed 358B open mixture-of-experts with strong 73.8% SWE-Bench Verified coding — but two generations behind GLM 5.2. Released December 22, 2025 by Z.ai, it is built for genuinely permissive open weights — an MIT-licensed 358B mixture-of-experts with no commercial restrictions, strong agentic coding for the price — 73.8% on SWE-Bench Verified undercut most closed frontier models at launch, an unusually generous 128K maximum output, which suits bulk refactors and long generation, and cheap long-running agent loops thanks to aggressive prompt caching.

Its trade-offs are real: two generations behind — GLM 5, 5.1 and 5.2 have all shipped since, and new builds should default to those, its Verified lead narrows sharply on harder evaluations like SWE-Bench Pro, and text-only with no vision, and self-hosting a 358B model is a serious hardware commitment. At $0.6 in / $2.2 out per million tokens, it sits in the budget price band.

Kimi K3: where it fits

Moonshot's 2.8-trillion-parameter open-weight model — the largest open AI at release, with a 1M context and strong self-reported coding scores. Released July 27, 2026 by Moonshot AI, it is built for largest open-weight model at release — 2.8T sparse MoE, self-hostable, 1M-token context with native vision (text, image and video), vendor reports 81.2 FrontierSWE and 88.3 Terminal-Bench 2.1 on its own harness, and fresh-input pricing of $3/M (cached $0.30/M), flat across the full 1M context.

Its trade-offs: coding scores use Moonshot FrontierSWE, not standard SWE-Bench Verified, 2.8T params need serious hardware to self-host — weights are free, running is not, no independent benchmark reproduction yet at release, and image input but no audio or video. At $3 in / $15 out per million tokens, it sits in the mid price band.

The bottom line for this matchup

GLM 4.7 and Kimi K3 overlap enough that the right pick depends on your specific job. GLM 4.7 costs less per token; Kimi K3 holds the larger context; and each leads in its own area — GLM 4.7 for genuinely permissive open weights — an mit-licensed 358b mixture-of-experts with no commercial restrictions, Kimi K3 for largest open-weight model at release — 2.8t sparse moe, self-hostable. Rather than crowning one, run the same hard task through both once and let the results decide.

Want both GLM 4.7 and Kimi K3 without two subscriptions? LumiChats gives you these plus 40+ models under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day) — draft with one, cross-check with the other.

See pricing

Frequently asked questions

Is GLM 4.7 or Kimi K3 better for coding?

Public SWE-Bench figures are not available for Kimi K3, so the honest test is your own repository — run an identical real bug through both. By design, GLM 4.7 leans toward genuinely permissive open weights — an mit-licensed 358b mixture-of-experts with no commercial restrictions while Kimi K3 leans toward largest open-weight model at release — 2.8t sparse moe, self-hostable, and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.

Which is cheaper, GLM 4.7 or Kimi K3?

GLM 4.7 is cheaper — $0.6/$2.2 per 1M tokens vs $3/$15 per 1M tokens, roughly 5× apart on input.

Which has the bigger context window?

Kimi K3 — 1M vs 200K, about 5.2× larger. Useful only if the model actually reasons over the full window, which not all do.

Can I use both GLM 4.7 and Kimi K3 together?

Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you GLM 4.7, Kimi K3 and 40+ others under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day), so you can draft with one and cross-check with the other instead of buying two subscriptions.

Which is newer, GLM 4.7 or Kimi K3?

Kimi K3 — released July 27, 2026, about 7 months after GLM 4.7.

Related comparisons

Specifications and benchmarks reflect publicly reported figures as of June 2026 and may change as providers release updates. Always verify on your own workload.