Head to head · October 2026
GPT-5.6 Terra vs Kimi K3 API pricing
Kimi K3 costs 1.7 times less per token at an 80/20 mix. Input costs 1.5x more on GPT-5.6 Terra. Output costs 1.8x more on GPT-5.6 Terra.
OpenAI
GPT-5.6 Terra
General assistants, balanced cost and quality.
- Vendor
- OpenAI
- Type
- Frontier
- SayGM in / out
- $1.49 / $8.94
- OpenRouter in / out
- $2.11 / $12.66
- Blended, 80/20
- $2.980
- Per 100M tokens
- $298
- Output share of bill
- 60%
- SayGM vs OpenRouter
- 29% lower
Moonshot AI
Kimi K3
Open-weight coding and agent workloads.
- Vendor
- Moonshot AI
- Type
- Open weight, TEE variant available
- SayGM in / out
- $0.98 / $4.88
- OpenRouter in / out
- $0.42 / $9.50
- Blended, 80/20
- $1.760
- Per 100M tokens
- $176
- Output share of bill
- 55%
- SayGM vs OpenRouter
- 21% lower
§ 01
Monthly bill at three usage levels
Both models on SayGM. The bars show how the price ratio turns into dollars as volume grows.
- GPT-5.6 Terra on SayGM
- Kimi K3 on SayGM
Show data as a table
| GPT-5.6 Terra on SayGM | Kimi K3 on SayGM | |
|---|---|---|
| Side project (5M in · 1M out) | $16 | $9.78 |
| Production app (50M in · 15M out) | $209 | $122 |
| High volume (500M in · 100M out) | $1,639 | $978 |
§ 02
Verdict
A common pattern is to send routine requests to Kimi K3 and escalate to GPT-5.6 Terra on failure or low confidence. On one key, that is a model name change per request rather than a second provider account.
§ 03
Per-token prices
OpenRouter figures include its 5.5% top-up fee.
| Model | SayGMin / out | OpenRouterin / out, fee incl. | SayGM vs OpenRouter80/20 blend |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPT-5.6 TerraOpenAI | $1.49 / $8.94 | $2.11 / $12.66 | 29% lower |
| Kimi K3Moonshot AI · TEE variant | $0.98 / $4.88 | $0.42 / $9.50Cheapest provider | 21% lower |
§ 04
GPT-5.6 Terra vs Kimi K3 questions
Which is cheaper, GPT-5.6 Terra or Kimi K3?
Kimi K3 is about 1.7 times cheaper than GPT-5.6 Terra at an 80/20 input to output mix on SayGM, as of October 2026.
How much do GPT-5.6 Terra and Kimi K3 cost on OpenRouter?
Including the 5.5 percent top-up fee, GPT-5.6 Terra costs $2.11 input and $13 output per million tokens, and Kimi K3 costs $0.42 and $9.50.
Can I use GPT-5.6 Terra and Kimi K3 with one API key?
Yes. SayGM serves both through their native APIs on a single key, so simple tasks can go to Kimi K3 and hard ones to GPT-5.6 Terra, or both can run in a cascade model.
§ 05