Shortlist by what you need
Start here if you know why you are leaving Kimi.
Want the closest match?
DeepSeekMost similar to Kimi in what it does, its category and its price.
Visit (opens DeepSeek in a new tab)Need a free plan?
ClaudeHas a free plan, rated 4.7 out of 5.
Visit (opens Claude in a new tab)Want to pay less than Kimi?
HuggingChat
From $9/mo, against from $19/mo for Kimi.
Visit (opens HuggingChat in a new tab)Want the best rated?
Mistral Le ChatRated 4.4 out of 5 in our review, against 4.3 for Kimi.
Visit (opens Mistral Le Chat in a new tab)
At a glance
Green means better than Kimi, red means worse. Prices are starting prices per month.
| Tool | Our rating | Starts at | Free plan | Best for | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 KimiBaseline | 4.3 | $19/mo | Yes | Moonshot AI's long-context model, with a 2025 coding breakout | |
| DeepSeek | 4.5+0.2 | Free | Yes | The 2025 model that rattled markets with its training cost claims | vs Kimi |
| Mistral Le Chat | 4.4+0.1 | $14/mo$5 less | Yes | Europe's answer to US and Chinese AI labs | vs Kimi |
| Claude | 4.7+0.4 | $17/mo$2 less | Yes | Built by former OpenAI safety researchers around a written constitution | vs Kimi |
 Manus | 4.1−0.2 | $39/mo$20 more | Yes | A 2025 autonomous agent that browses, builds, and ships tasks alone | vs Kimi |
| HuggingChat | 4.0−0.3 | $9/mo$10 less | Yes | A neutral interface for trying open-weight models, not one house model | vs Kimi |
 ERNIE Bot | 4.1−0.2 | Free | Yes | Repositioned as a search assistant under a new Chinese name | vs Kimi |
 Z.ai | 4.2−0.1 | $10/mo$9 less | Yes | Zhipu AI's free chat interface for its GLM model family | vs Kimi |
 Qwen Chat | 4.3Same | Free | Yes | The consumer face of one of the world's most-downloaded open models | vs Kimi |
The alternatives in detail
In order of how closely each one matches Kimi.
DeepSeek
4.5Free
vs Kimi+0.2
The 2025 model that rattled markets with its training cost claims.
- Open-weight models available for independent deployment
- Reasoning-focused model variants alongside general chat
- Backed by quantitative hedge fund High-Flyer
Open-weight release allows independent verification and deployment
Data handling and privacy practices warrant independent research given its origin
Mistral Le Chat
4.4$14/mo
vs Kimi$5 less+0.1
Europe's answer to US and Chinese AI labs.
- Built by Europe's leading independent AI lab
- Open-weight model releases alongside proprietary options
- Strong multilingual performance across European languages
Clear alternative for data sovereignty and non-US, non-Chinese AI needs
Smaller consumer feature set than the largest US competitors
Claude
4.7$17/mo
vs Kimi$2 less+0.4
Built by former OpenAI safety researchers around a written constitution.
- Constitutional AI training approach
- Strong performance on long-context document and code analysis
- Claude Code for agentic software development
Strong track record on long-context and coding-heavy tasks
Smaller third-party plugin ecosystem than the largest competitor
Manus
4.1$39/mo
vs Kimi$20 more−0.2
A 2025 autonomous agent that browses, builds, and ships tasks alone.
- Autonomous multi-step task execution with minimal supervision
- Web browsing, code writing, and file creation in one agent
- Can deploy working results like websites independently
Demonstrated unusually high autonomy for a publicly available agent
Very new product, longer-term reliability is still being established
HuggingChat
4.0$9/mo
vs Kimi$10 less−0.3
A neutral interface for trying open-weight models, not one house model.
- Chat interface for multiple open-weight models
- No single proprietary house model, model-agnostic by design
- Tool integrations for web search and code execution
Genuinely open, model-agnostic design unlike proprietary competitors
Open-weight models can trail top proprietary models on some benchmarks
ERNIE Bot
4.1Free
vs Kimi−0.2
Repositioned as a search assistant under a new Chinese name.
- Built on Baidu's ERNIE model family
- One of the earliest major Chinese ChatGPT competitors
- Rebranded as Wenxiaoyan in China, repositioned as a search assistant
Backed by China's largest search engine and its data advantages
Recent rebranding may cause confusion between old and new naming
Z.ai
4.2$10/mo
vs Kimi$9 less−0.1
Zhipu AI's free chat interface for its GLM model family.
- Built on Zhipu AI's GLM model family
- One of China's more established AI labs, founded in 2019
- Free chat interface
Backed by one of China's longer-established AI research labs
Less international brand recognition than some newer competitors
Qwen Chat
4.3Free
vs KimiSame
The consumer face of one of the world's most-downloaded open models.
- Consumer interface for Alibaba's widely used open-weight Qwen models
- Multimodal chat including image understanding
- Free to use
Backed by one of the most widely adopted open model families available
Consumer app itself is less differentiated than the open model ecosystem behind it
FAQ
Questions people ask
Is Kimi free?
Kimi has a free plan, and paid plans start from $19/mo.
What is the best free alternative to Kimi?
Claude is the highest-rated alternative here with a free plan (4.7 out of 5). Other free options: DeepSeek, Mistral Le Chat, Qwen Chat.
What is the cheapest alternative to Kimi?
Among paid plans, HuggingChat has the lowest starting price (from $9/mo). If you need it free, start with Claude.
How did you pick these alternatives?
We match tools on what they do, their category and their price, using the details in our directory. Ratings come from our reviews and reader reviews.