Kimi Code is Moonshot AI’s developer coding subscription, selling the K-series models through a CLI, desktop app, and VS Code extension under a membership quota. The same membership is sold at a yen ladder on kimi.com and a dollar ladder on kimi.ai, and the entry tiers do not convert between them. Facts below verified as of 2026-09-26.
What it is #
Moonshot AI sells Kimi Code as the developer service inside a Kimi membership, with CLI, desktop, IDE, and third-party requests drawing on one shared quota. Third-party harnesses connect through OpenAI-compatible and Anthropic-compatible endpoints on api.kimi.com. Model access is tiered: K2.7 Code for every paying member, K3 at full 1M context from the mid tier up, with RMB-billed Extra Usage as overflow.
Status #
Active and restructuring quickly: K3 shipped into Kimi Code on July 17, 2026, and by late September a restructure had renamed tiers and dropped the weekly quota window for new members. The CLI is published on GitHub under MoonshotAI, with third-party coverage putting it at 3.2k stars in July 2026. Independent guides multiplied through 2026, which I read as real adoption.
Strengths #
- The $19 entry ($15 billed annually) undercuts Claude Pro and Cursor Pro while including a 1M-context frontier-class model at the mid tier.
- The yen ladder starts at ¥49 per month, well below the $19 international entry at any recent exchange rate.
- Anthropic-compatible endpoints mean Claude Code and OpenCode work without new tooling.
Cautions #
- Coding quota shares one pool with chat, Deep Research, and other Kimi features, so non-coding usage drains your coding allowance.
- The plan ladder moved twice in 2026, so quota rules at signup may not persist.
- A February 2026 checkout experiment offered personalized first months between $0.99 and $11.99, so two subscribers on one tier can pay different prices.
- One four-month user quit, reporting that higher tiers bought less inference per dollar, not more.
Pricing #
On kimi.ai: Moderato $19, Allegretto $39, Allegro $99, Vivace $199 per month, annual effective $15/$31/$79/$159 (as of 2026-09-26). On kimi.com: Andante ¥49, Moderato ¥99, Allegretto ¥199, Allegro ¥699 per month (as of 2026-09-26). Under the new ladder, Go has no coding quota, Plus and above include Kimi Code, and Pro and above unlock K3 at 1M context. Extra Usage is pay-as-you-go overflow with a ¥25 minimum top-up, generally non-refundable.
Price history #
| Date | Plan | Change | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-07-17 | Moderato to Vivace | Listed $19/$39/$99/$199 with time-limited promos at $15/$31/$79/$159; Kimi and Kimi Code separation announced | |
| 2026-09-26 | Same tiers | Promos became standard annual pricing; new plans released at unchanged prices, weekly window dropped for new members |
Compared to #
MiniMax Coding Plan (../minimax-coding-plan/index.md) meters tokens across modalities instead of time windows, cheaper at the top end but carrying 2026 billing-change baggage. NanoGPT (../nanogpt/index.md) fits when open-weight breadth matters more than one lab’s flagship. Claude Code or Cursor remain the picks when reliability per hour beats price per hour.
Bottom line #
Recommended for cost-sensitive daily coders who want K3’s 1M context at $15 to $39 per month and accept quota churn. Not for teams needing contract-stable plan terms after two restructures in one year. I will claim something arguable: the ¥49 China-market ladder proves this product profits at roughly a third of the international price, which makes $19 a regional tax, not a cost.
Changes #
- 2026-09-26 - Created.
See also #
- MiniMax Coding Plan - the other first-party Chinese coding plan, token-metered where Kimi is window-metered.
- NanoGPT - the gateway alternative when model breadth beats model loyalty.
- OpenCode - a harness that drives Kimi Code’s Anthropic-compatible endpoint.
- Model selection for coding tasks - pick the model before the plan.
References #
https://www.kimi.com/code/en - official product page; surfaces and the K3 1M-context claim.
https://www.kimi.ai/help/membership/membership-pricing - dollar pricing $19/$39/$99/$199 monthly, $15/$31/$79/$159 annual, as of 2026-09-26.
https://www.digitalapplied.com/blog/kimi-code-k3-hands-on-setup-plans-cache-2026 - July 17, 2026 snapshot of listed vs promo prices and the separation banner.
https://aihackers.net/value/deals/kimi-haggle/ - documented February 2026 first-month offers of $0.99 to $11.99, marked historical.
https://www.noemititarenco.com/blog/kimi-code-plan-after-4-months-of-use-honest-review/ - skeptical four-month user review and cancellation rationale.