China AI Coding Pricing in 2026: Mainland vs Overseas Routes, Packages, and Benchmarks
The right package is not the one with the lowest converted sticker price. It is the one whose route, region, and quota model actually match your workflow. This guide starts with the public domestic and international price tables, then tells readers which plan is the best fit for cheap entry, daily use, overseas checkout, explicit API billing, and better value under real-world coding workloads.
- If you only want the cheapest paid mainland entry, MiMo Lite is displayed at about $4.88 per month (¥39), while Kimi Andante is $6.13 (¥49) and MiniMax Domestic Starter is $3.63 (¥29) — but they are different product types and should not be treated as interchangeable.
- If you want the cheapest dedicated mainland coding-plan route, Volcengine Ark Lite is displayed at $5 per month, while StepFun Flash Mini is $6.13 and Flash Plus is often the stronger daily-use value pick at $12.38.
- If you need a cleaner overseas USD package page, MiniMax Starter is $10 per month and BytePlus Lite is $10 per month on the public global Coding Plan table, with BytePlus marked as reference-only pricing.
- If your real question is API billing by deployment region rather than package price, Alibaba Bailian is the clearest public source because the same official page separates mainland, global, and international model pricing scopes.
Why BuyGLM now shows every package in USD
Public docs across these providers do not share one currency or one checkout pattern. Some pages are already in USD, some are in CNY, and some split the product by membership, package, or API route. BuyGLM therefore normalizes the package display into USD so the site is easier to scan.
That display rule does not erase the route difference. A Kimi membership is still not Moonshot API token pricing. A GLM DevPack subscription is still not Z.AI API billing. A Volcengine Ark Code Plan quota still only applies on its coding-plan route. The display is unified; the products are not.
The four product types that keep getting mixed together
If a pricing page and a benchmark page are talking about different products, the comparison is already broken. The correct first question is always “which route is this?”
| Product type | Typical provider example | What the buyer is actually paying for |
|---|---|---|
| Membership | Kimi Code membership | A personal or team-facing product entitlement with shared benefits |
| Coding Plan | GLM DevPack, Bailian Coding Plan, ARK Code Plan | A tool-first package route with dedicated keys, endpoints, or quotas |
| Token Plan | MiniMax Token Plan, MiMo Token Plan, StepPlan | A bundled package with requests, prompts, or shared credits |
| PAYG API | Moonshot Open Platform, MiniMax PAYG, Z.AI API | Direct model and tool billing by usage |
The fastest answer: which plan fits which buyer?
This table is the practical buying shortcut. It does not pretend that every provider can be ranked by one universal “best price” label, because the public routes do not work that way.
| Buyer situation | Best fit | Public signal | Why this is the value pick | Who should skip it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cheapest paid mainland entry | MiniMax Domestic Starter, MiMo Lite, or Kimi Andante | About $3.63 to $6.13 per month on BuyGLM | MiniMax Domestic Starter (¥29) is the lowest Token Plan entry; MiMo Lite (¥39) is the cheapest Token Plan with more models; Kimi Andante (¥49) is a membership with different benefits | Skip if you need a dedicated coding-plan endpoint or a clean overseas USD checkout |
| Cheapest dedicated mainland coding plan | Volcengine Ark Lite | $5 per month display | Lowest current coding-plan route with dedicated quota and coding-only base URL behavior | Skip if you need a public overseas package table or final official USD checkout |
| Balanced mainland daily-use package | StepFun Flash Plus | $12.38 per month display | A large jump in throughput versus entry tiers without moving into the $20-plus bracket; docs are clear about the route and overseas Stripe support | Skip if you want one official USD source page instead of a mainland CNY table |
| First-party GLM workflow | GLM Lite for budget, GLM Pro for daily work | $18 or $72 per month | Best fit if you specifically want the official GLM DevPack route, MCP quotas, and first-party GLM tool support | Skip if the only goal is the absolute lowest entry price |
| Clean overseas USD package | MiniMax Starter or Plus | $10 or $20 per month | Official Token Plan pricing is already in USD and the route is easy to explain to overseas buyers | Skip if you specifically need a dedicated coding-plan product instead of a token-plan route |
| Overseas ByteDance-family coding plan | BytePlus Lite or Pro | $10 or $50 per month regular | This is the actual public overseas ModelArk Coding Plan table instead of a guessed FX conversion from mainland ARK | Skip if you need a non-reference final checkout price before procurement |
| Explicit deployment-region API pricing | Alibaba Bailian | $25 per month package plus separate deployment tables | Best public example when the real buying question is mainland vs global vs international inference cost | Skip if you only want the cheapest individual coding package |
How to judge value instead of just picking the lowest sticker price
Value is not just “lowest price divided by hype.” Value means buying the route that matches the workflow you will actually run. That is why a slightly higher monthly plan can still be the more economical decision after a week of real usage.
| Decision rule | Lowest visible number | Better value choice | Why the better-value pick wins |
|---|---|---|---|
| You only need occasional personal use | MiniMax Domestic Starter, MiMo Lite, or Kimi Andante | Stay with the cheapest paid entry unless you already know you will hit route limits quickly | At this level, the sticker price matters more than the benchmark spread |
| You need a dedicated coding-plan route, not a membership | A cheap membership can still look lower | Volcengine Ark Lite or StepFun Flash Mini | The right route matters more than saving one or two dollars if the cheaper product is the wrong product |
| You code every day and do not want to babysit quotas | An entry tier can look cheaper | StepFun Flash Plus, MiniMax Plus, or GLM Pro depending region and route | Mid tiers often have the better cost-per-usable-day because they reduce early quota pain and repeated plan switching |
| You buy from outside mainland China | Converted mainland CNY prices may look cheapest | MiniMax or BytePlus | For overseas buyers, a clean public USD route is usually more valuable than the lowest converted display number |
| You care about the inference bill by deployment region | Any cheap package entry point | Alibaba Bailian deployment pricing | When the real spend is API traffic, the package sticker price can be the least important number on the page |
Public package pricing that is actually published
| Provider | Public package signal | Important caveat |
|---|---|---|
| GLM | DevPack Lite $18/month, Pro $72/month, Max $160/month | This is the DevPack subscription route; API billing is separate |
| Kimi | BuyGLM display: $6.13, $12.38, and $24.88 monthly from the official mainland membership page (Andante ¥49, Moderato ¥99, Allegretto ¥199) | Three domestic tiers; usage estimates on the page are approximate planning values and the live membership flow should still be rechecked |
| MiniMax Global | Standard: Starter $10, Plus $20, Max $50 monthly; Highspeed: Plus-HS $40, Max-HS $80 monthly | Global Token Plan on platform.minimax.io; separate from domestic platform and PAYG billing |
| MiniMax Domestic | Standard: Starter ¥29, Plus ¥49, Max ¥119; Highspeed: Plus-HS ¥98, Max-HS ¥199 | Domestic Token Plan on platform.minimaxi.com with separate CNY pricing and lower quotas |
| MiMo | BuyGLM display: $4.88, $12.38, $41.13, and $82.38 monthly; first-purchase promo values are shown separately | The page can also show locale-dependent USD marketing copy |
| StepFun | BuyGLM display: $6.13, $12.38, $24.88, and $87.38 monthly | StepPlan balance is separate from normal account balance |
| Alibaba Bailian | BuyGLM display: $25/month for Coding Plan Pro | Lite stopped new purchase on March 20, 2026 and stopped renewal or upgrade on April 13, 2026 at 18:00 UTC+8 |
| Volcengine Ark | BuyGLM display: Lite $5/month or $15/quarter; Pro $25/month or $75/quarter | March 2026 first-purchase promos were paused; compare overseas demand against BytePlus global instead of doing FX math |
| BytePlus ModelArk | Global Coding Plan reference table: Lite $10/month, Pro $50/month; new-user entries $5 and $25 monthly | The global pricing page marks these prices as reference-only and says final fees depend on the order page |
Where mainland vs overseas pricing is real, and where it is just a route split
Alibaba is still the clearest example of why route notes matter even when BuyGLM normalizes prices to USD. Its model-pricing page explicitly separates mainland, global, and international deployment scopes. For qwen3-max, that means you cannot say “overseas price” as if there were only one overseas answer.
In the current public tables, the qwen3-max mainland and Global (Virginia) 0-32K rate can match, while the International (Singapore) table is materially higher. That is a provider-published route difference, not a display-formatting issue.
| Provider | Mainland signal | Overseas or global signal | What readers should not do |
|---|---|---|---|
| GLM | Current public DevPack checkout is shown in USD | API route remains separate from DevPack | Do not treat DevPack like prepaid API credit |
| Kimi | Source page pricing is in CNY; BuyGLM displays the converted USD amount | The overseas membership flow is separate and should be checked live | Do not mix Kimi Code membership with Moonshot API pricing |
| MiniMax | Domestic platform (minimaxi.com) publishes CNY pricing: Standard ¥29–¥119, Highspeed ¥98–¥199 | Global platform (minimax.io) publishes USD pricing: Standard $10–$50, Highspeed $40–$80 monthly | Do not compare domestic CNY quotas directly with global USD quotas — they differ significantly |
| MiMo | Source page anchors mainland package prices and promotions; BuyGLM normalizes them to USD | Marketing can switch currency by locale | Do not present the marketing currency switch as a universal official price table |
| StepFun | Source page publishes mainland list prices; BuyGLM normalizes them to USD | Official docs say overseas checkout supports Stripe | Do not assume the StepPlan package balance is the same as the standard account balance |
| Alibaba Bailian | Coding Plan package source page is in CNY; BuyGLM displays it in USD | The model-pricing page separately publishes Global and International deployment scopes in addition to the mainland table | Do not present the overseas tables as a simple FX conversion of the mainland table |
| Volcengine Ark | Docs and official notices publish mainland route and current regular package pricing | No separate overseas public ARK Code Plan price table was found in this audit | Do not revive the paused first-purchase promo as if it were still the current list price |
| BytePlus ModelArk | This is the overseas route for the ByteDance family, not the mainland ARK table | Global Coding Plan prices are already listed in USD and marked reference-only | Do not treat the BytePlus global table as mainland ARK converted at 1:8 |
Benchmark signals that are safe to cite
| Provider or model | Public signal | How to use it |
|---|---|---|
| GLM-5.1 | 45.3 on a 113-task provider widget | Treat it as a provider widget, not as a universal cross-site leaderboard |
| Kimi K2.5 | SWE-Bench Verified 76.8, Terminal-Bench 2.0 50.8, LiveCodeBench v6 85.0 | Useful when the question is model quality, not when the question is membership pricing |
| MiniMax M2.7 | SWE-Pro 56.22, SWE Multilingual 76.5, Terminal Bench 2 57.0, Toolathon 46.3 | Strong evidence for coding and agentic quality on the model side |
| Bailian / StepFun / Volcengine packages | Package pages do not lead with a benchmark matrix | In these cases the route, key, endpoint, and quota matter more than a benchmark screenshot |
These are vendor-published signals that are useful for shortlisting. They should not replace the live package page when you write the pricing section.
Provider widget, 113 coding tasks.
SWE-Bench Verified in the official K2.5 blog.
SWE-Pro in the official M2.7 release.
Bailian, StepFun, and Volcengine package docs are more route-first than benchmark-first, which is itself useful context for buyers. Source: Official Kimi K2.5 blog.
Domestic vs international plans: where the real differences are
Many providers now run parallel domestic and international platforms with different pricing, quotas, model access, and payment methods. The gap is not just a currency conversion — it reflects fundamentally different billing routes, regulatory environments, and target audiences.
Domestic plans are priced in CNY, often with lower sticker prices, and typically support WeChat Pay or Alipay. International plans are priced in USD, support Stripe or credit cards, and may have different quota structures even within the same provider family.
| Provider | Domestic platform & price range | International platform & price range | Key difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| GLM | DevPack on z.ai: $18–$160/month (USD) | Same DevPack route; no separate domestic CNY table | GLM is one of the few providers that publishes DevPack pricing directly in USD for both routes |
| Kimi | Mainland membership: ¥49–¥199/month (Andante to Allegretto) | Overseas membership: $19–$199/month (Moderato to Vivace) | Domestic has 3 tiers; international has different tier names and pricing. Membership is separate from Moonshot API billing |
| MiniMax | Domestic platform.minimaxi.com: Standard ¥29–¥119, Highspeed ¥98–¥199 | Global platform.minimax.io: Standard $10–$50, Highspeed $40–$80 | Two entirely separate platforms. Domestic plans have lower prices AND lower quotas than global plans. Domestic supports WeChat; global supports Stripe |
| MiMo | Domestic Token Plan: ¥39–¥659/month (Lite to Ultra) | Global Token Plan: USD pricing on separate page | MiMo runs separate domestic and international billing with locale-dependent pricing display |
| StepFun | Mainland StepPlan: ¥49–¥699/month on platform.stepfun.com | International StepPlan: $6.99–$99/month on platform.stepfun.ai | Two separate platforms with different currency and checkout. Overseas billing supports Stripe; mainland supports WeChat |
| Alibaba Bailian | Coding Plan Pro: ¥200/month on domestic route | International Coding Plan Pro: $50/month on alibabacloud.com | Separate international base URL (coding-intl.dashscope.aliyuncs.com). Deployment pricing also varies by region (mainland, Virginia, Singapore) |
| Volcengine / BytePlus | Mainland ARK Code Plan: ¥40–¥200/month on volcengine.com | Global BytePlus Coding Plan: $10–$50/month on byteplus.com | Volcengine (mainland) and BytePlus (global) are the same ByteDance family on different platforms. BytePlus prices are marked reference-only |
Which route gives you the best value?
The right pick depends on three things: where you pay (mainland vs overseas), how you pay (WeChat vs Stripe), and what you pay for (membership vs coding plan vs token plan vs PAYG API). Start with the payment method, then narrow by route type, then compare quotas at the same tier.
| Your situation | Best domestic pick | Best international pick | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| You are in mainland China with WeChat Pay | MiniMax Domestic Starter (¥29/mo) for cheapest Token Plan entry, or Volcengine Ark Lite (¥40/mo) for cheapest coding-plan route | Not applicable | Domestic CNY routes offer the lowest entry prices and native payment support |
| You are overseas with credit card or Stripe | Skip domestic unless you have a CNY payment method | MiniMax Starter ($10/mo) or BytePlus Lite ($10/mo) | Both publish clean USD pricing. MiniMax Token Plan has broader tool support; BytePlus is the official overseas ByteDance route |
| You want the most models in one plan | Bailian Coding Plan Pro (¥200/mo): qwen3.6-plus, qwen3-coder-plus, qwen3-max, kimi-k2.5, glm-5, MiniMax-M2.5 | Bailian International Pro ($50/mo): same model lineup on the international base URL | Bailian aggregates the most third-party models in a single coding plan |
| You need the fastest inference speed | MiniMax Domestic Highspeed Plus (¥98/mo) or Max (¥199/mo) | MiniMax Global Highspeed Plus ($40/mo) or Max ($80/mo) | Highspeed plans use MiniMax-M2.7-Highspeed with ~100 TPS, roughly 3x standard generation speed |
| You want step-by-step API billing transparency | Alibaba Bailian mainland deployment tables show exact per-token CNY pricing by context length | Alibaba Bailian international deployment tables show per-token pricing for Singapore and Virginia | Bailian is the only provider that publishes explicit mainland, global, and international deployment pricing on one page |
| You need a dedicated coding-plan route with special keys | Volcengine Ark Pro (¥200/mo) or Bailian Pro (¥200/mo) | BytePlus Pro ($50/mo) or Bailian International Pro ($50/mo) | Coding-plan routes use dedicated base URLs and package-specific keys that do not trigger PAYG charges |
If you only remember six buying rules, remember these
- If you just need the cheapest paid mainland entry, start with MiniMax Domestic Starter (¥29), MiMo Lite (¥39), or Kimi Andante (¥49), then confirm that you actually want a membership or token-plan route rather than a dedicated coding plan.
- If you need the cheapest dedicated mainland coding-plan route, start with Volcengine Ark Lite and compare it against StepFun Flash Mini or Flash Plus instead of against memberships.
- If you want first-party GLM workflow support, compare GLM Lite and Pro against your real 5-hour volume rather than against the lowest sticker price elsewhere.
- If you buy from outside mainland China and want the least confusing public checkout path, start with MiniMax or BytePlus before you start comparing converted CNY pages.
- If your spend will be mostly API traffic rather than subscription quota, start with Alibaba Bailian deployment pricing or the direct API tables from Kimi and MiniMax instead of using package prices as proxies.
- Use the compare tool when you need source-currency context, mainland-vs-overseas notes, and billing-route warnings side by side; use the guides when you need the decision logic behind those numbers.
If the route is clear, the package choice becomes much easier
That is the goal of this guide: keep package pricing, API pricing, regional billing, and real scenario fit in the right lanes so readers can actually pick the right plan.
Sources and official links
- GLM subscription page
- Kimi membership pricing
- Official Kimi K2.5 pricing
- Kimi K2.5 blog
- MiniMax Token Plan pricing
- MiniMax M2.7 release
- MiMo Token Plan
- StepFun StepPlan overview
- Alibaba Bailian Coding Plan
- Alibaba Model Pricing
- Volcengine ARK Code Plan overview
- Volcengine ARK Code Plan pricing notice
- BytePlus ModelArk pricing
- BytePlus ModelArk region availability
Frequently asked questions
Are overseas prices for these products just mainland prices multiplied by an exchange rate?
Not necessarily. BuyGLM normalizes CNY package prices into USD at 1:8 for readability, but providers can still use separate regional routes, separate global tables, or different live billing flows.
What should a mainland buyer check first after reading this guide?
Check whether the job is really a membership job, a dedicated coding-plan job, or an API job. For mainland buyers, that one choice matters more than chasing the smallest displayed monthly number.
What should an overseas buyer check first after reading this guide?
Start with whether you need a clean overseas USD package route or a region-specific API route. MiniMax and BytePlus are the easiest public USD package examples, while Alibaba Bailian is the clearest route if deployment region changes the real bill.
Why does BuyGLM still mention the old Volcengine first-purchase promo at all?
Only as historical context. The compare board and homepage now anchor on the current regular Lite and Pro prices, while the paused March 2026 promo is kept as a caveat so readers do not confuse old screenshots with the active list price.
What is the cleanest provider-published mainland-vs-global example in this audit?
Alibaba Bailian, because its model-pricing docs explicitly separate mainland, global, and international deployment price tables on the official page.