ChatGPT vs Kimi
We give ChatGPT a 3.8 GPA and Kimi a 3.6, out of 4.0. ChatGPT grades higher on the free plan. They get the same grade on value for money, features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
ChatGPT
OpenAI's general-purpose AI assistant for chat, images and voice
Kimi
AI assistant and agent for research, slides, documents and code
How we grade them
| 3.8GPAChatGPTExcellent | 3.6GPAKimiExcellent | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BPlus is $20 a month, which is the going rate, and Go is $8 if you need less. No bargain, though. Gemini's paid plan starts at $4.99, and Pro here runs $100 to $500. | BPlus is $15 a month billed annually, which is $180, or $19 monthly. That's about the going rate for a paid assistant. It brings Deep Research, Agent Swarm, Kimi Code, website deployment and 20GB of project storage. Goal mode waits for Pro, at $31. |
| Free plan and trial | AUnlimited text chats for free, which is most of what people do with it. Uploads, images, voice, deep research and memory are there too, each with a limit. | BThe free plan is called Adagio, and it's tight: 1 agent task at a time, 2 scheduled tasks, 2 projects and 500MB of project storage. Kimi Code and website deployment are marked as paid, and Plus is where Deep Research and Swarm are listed. |
| Features | AChat, image generation, real-time voice, web search and Deep Research reports in one app. Plus adds projects, scheduled tasks, custom GPTs and Codex, a coding agent. | ADeep Research runs as an agent task, and Agent Swarm splits big jobs across parallel sub-agents. It turns the results into slides, Word and Excel files or a website. The desktop app works on your local files with a browser agent, tasks can run on a schedule, and Kimi Code works in the terminal and IDEs. |
| Ease of use | A4.8 from about 11 million App Store ratings. You open it and type a question the way you'd text a friend. There's nothing to set up first. | A4.7 from about 5,200 App Store ratings. You ask in chat and it does the legwork. One thing to know: Work mode conversations stay on the desktop where you made them, and only Chat mode syncs to the web and your phone. |
| Platforms and integrations | AWeb, Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android, with your chats synced across all of them. There's an API for developers too, and Codex hooks into Slack. | AWeb, Mac, Windows, iPhone, Android and a browser extension for Chrome and Edge. Kimi Code plugs into VS Code, Cursor, Zed and JetBrains. Kimi Work needs Windows or an Apple-silicon Mac, and on Intel Macs the desktop app is chat only. |
| Best for | everyday questions, writing and images | turning research into slides and reports |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: ChatGPT and Kimi. How we grade
Where they differ
- ChatGPT starts at $8 per month (Go). Kimi starts at $15 per month, billed annually ($180), or $19 billed monthly.
- Only ChatGPT lists a Linux app.
- Only Kimi lists a browser extension.
- ChatGPT also covers AI search.
- Kimi also covers AI agents, app builder, research and presentations.
At a glance
| ChatGPT | Kimi | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $8 per month (Go) | $15 per month, billed annually ($180), or $19 billed monthly |
| Free plan | Unlimited text chats, with limits on uploads, image creation, voice chats, deep research and memory. | Adagio plan: 1 concurrent agent task, 2 scheduled tasks, 2 widget tasks, 2 projects and 500MB of project storage. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | OpenAI | Moonshot AI |
| Price read from | learn.chatgpt.com | kimi.com |
| Checked | Oct 9, 2026 | Oct 5, 2026 |
Who each one suits
ChatGPT
- General-purpose help with writing, questions and brainstorming
- People who want chat, voice, images and web search in one assistant
- Trying an AI assistant at no cost before paying
Kimi
- Turning research into slide decks, reports and spreadsheets
- Agent work that runs many subtasks in parallel
- Developers who want a coding agent in the terminal or IDE
Worth knowing
ChatGPT
- Pro is sold at three price points, $100, $200 or $500 per month, well above the $20 Plus plan.
- Business requires at least 2 users. SCIM, EKM and role-based access control are reserved for Enterprise and Edu.
- OpenAI's pricing page says the Go plan may include ads, and Wikipedia reports ad tests in the free version for logged-in adult US users since January 2026.
- The Linux desktop app is a preview, limited to recent Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora and Arch Linux releases on x64 and ARM64.
Kimi
- The free Adagio plan is limited to 1 concurrent agent task, 2 scheduled tasks, 2 projects and 500MB of project storage.
- Goal mode and Kimi Claw deployment start at Pro, and the 1M-token context is listed only on Max and Ultra.
- Kimi Work runs on Windows and Apple-silicon Macs; on Intel-based Macs the desktop app supports Kimi Chat only.
- Work mode conversations stay on the desktop where they were created; only Chat mode conversations sync to web and mobile.
Key features
ChatGPT
- Conversational help
- Answers questions, drafts and reworks text, explains topics and reads uploaded photos in a chat, with history synced across your devices.
- Image generation
- Creates original images from a description, or transforms existing images from a short instruction.
- Advanced Voice Mode
- Hold a real-time spoken conversation in the mobile app by tapping the soundwave icon.
- Search and Deep Research
- ChatGPT Search draws on the web for more up-to-date answers, and Deep Research generates a report from extensive web searches.
- Codex
- A coding agent that runs on the web, in a CLI, in an IDE extension and on iOS from the Plus plan, with integrations such as automatic code review and Slack.
- GPTs and agents
- GPTs customize ChatGPT's behavior for a specific use case, and ChatGPT agent carries out multi-step tasks.
Kimi
- Deep Research and Agent Swarm
- Runs research as an agent task. Agent Swarm splits large jobs such as literature reviews or long industry reports across parallel sub-agents.
- Slides, documents and spreadsheets
- Generates formatted presentations in the visual style of references you upload, and its Office agent works across PPT, Word, Excel and PDF files.
- Kimi Work on the desktop
- The desktop app reads and creates files in local folders, automates web tasks with a browser agent and adds dashboards, plugins and scheduled tasks.
- Website building
- Builds a website from a prompt. Paid plans include website deployment, and the plan cards list publishing sites with database support.
- Kimi Code
- A coding agent for the terminal and for IDEs including VS Code, Cursor, Zed and JetBrains. The pricing table marks it as available on the paid plans.
- Scheduled tasks and plugins
- Scheduled tasks run automatically and push results: 2 on Adagio, rising to 25 on Ultra. Plugins connect professional financial and economic databases.
Plans
ChatGPT
Free$0
Unlimited text chats, with limits on uploads, image creation, voice chats, deep research and memory.
Go$8
per month
More messages with tools, more uploads, image creation and voice chats than Free, and longer memory. OpenAI notes this plan may include ads.
Plus$20
per month
Advanced reasoning models, expanded deep research and memory, plus projects, scheduled tasks and custom GPTs.
Business$20
per user / month, billed annually
For 2 or more users: a dedicated workspace with admin controls, SAML SSO and MFA. $25 per user / month when billed monthly.
ProFrom $100
per month
A choice of three usage tiers at $100, $200 or $500 per month, with the highest limits, pro reasoning and an always-on agent.
Enterprise & EduCustom
Sold through sales, with priority request processing, SCIM, EKM, user analytics, domain verification and role-based access control.
Kimi
Adagio$0
1 concurrent agent task, 2 scheduled tasks, 2 projects and 500MB of project storage.
Plus$15
per month, billed annually ($180); $19 billed monthly
More agent credits, 2 concurrent agent tasks, Deep Research, website deployment, Kimi Code, Swarm, 10 scheduled tasks and 20GB of project storage.
Pro$31
per month, billed annually ($372); $39 billed monthly
2x agent credits, Goal mode, one-click Kimi Claw deployment, 15 scheduled tasks and 20 projects.
Max$79
per month, billed annually ($948); $99 billed monthly
5x agent credits, up to 1M tokens of context, 20 scheduled tasks, 100 projects and 50GB of project storage.
Ultra$159
per month, billed annually ($1,908); $199 billed monthly
10x agent credits, 4 concurrent agent tasks, 25 scheduled tasks, 100 projects and 50GB of project storage.
Ways to pay less
ChatGPT
- Annual discount
Business is cheaper when billed annually
OpenAI's pricing page lists Business at $20 per user / month when billed annually, against $25 per user / month when billed monthly.
Kimi
- Annual discount
Up to $480 a year off with annual billing
Kimi's pricing page prices annual billing at $15, $31, $79 and $159 a month against $19, $39, $99 and $199 billed monthly, and states a saving of up to $480.
