Since the second half of 2025, Chinese LLM vendors have been rolling out Coding Plan subscriptions aimed at developers, replacing the traditional per-token billing with a fixed monthly fee and significantly lowering the barrier to AI-assisted programming. However, the platforms differ widely in pricing, quotas, response speed, and model support—and some even have hidden clauses like different metering units and strict limits, leaving many developers struggling to choose.
This article combines a hands-on Xiaohongshu test note, an in-depth cross-review from Cnblogs (博客园), and each platform’s official documentation to sort through 9 Chinese Coding Plans from the two core dimensions of price and speed, hoping to inform your purchasing decision.
1. Coding Plan billing models and pitfalls to avoid
Before comparing specific plans, it’s necessary to clarify the different metering units these vendors use, as this is the easiest place to trip up:
- API request count: Alibaba Cloud Bailian (百炼), Volcengine Ark (火山方舟), and Infinity (无问芯穹) use this. One user prompt can trigger 5–30 model calls in the backend, and each call counts as 1 API request (per Tencent Cloud’s official docs).
- Prompt count: Zhipu GLM and MiniMax use this. 1 Prompt is roughly equivalent to 1,200–1,600 API requests.
- Token metering: Kimi switched to this mode on January 28 of this year, billing by input/output tokens, and cache hit rate directly affects actual usable quota.
Because the metering units differ, comparing raw numbers is meaningless. For example, Bailian Lite’s “1,200 API requests every 5 hours” and Zhipu Lite’s “80 Prompts every 5 hours” may amount to similar real-world usage intensity.
2. Price and quota comparison
2.1 The big four platforms
According to the screenshots in the Xiaohongshu note and the Cnblogs compilation, the pricing strategies of Alibaba Cloud Bailian, Volcengine Ark, Tencent Cloud, and JD JoyCoder are highly convergent:
| Platform | Lite Plan | Pro Plan | Core quota (Lite) | Supported models |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alibaba Cloud Bailian | ¥40 (first month ¥7.9) | ¥200 | 1,200/5h, 9,000/week, 18,000/month | Qwen3.5-Plus, Qwen3-Coder-Next, GLM-4.7, Kimi-K2.5 |
| Volcengine Ark | ¥40 (first month ¥8.91) | ¥200 | Same as Bailian | Doubao-Seed-Code, DeepSeek-V3.2, GLM-4.7, Kimi-K2.5 |
| Tencent Cloud | ¥40 (first month ¥7.9) | ¥200 | Same as Bailian | Hunyuan series, MiniMax-M2.5, Kimi-K2.5, GLM-5 |
| JD JoyCoder | ¥40 | ¥200 | Same as Bailian | DeepSeek-V3.2, Kimi-K2.5, MiniMax-M2.7, GLM-5 |
2.2 Emerging AI vendors
Compared to the big four, emerging vendors’ pricing is more scattered:
| Platform | Entry price | Core quota | Billing | Highlights |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Infinity | ¥19.9/month | 1,000/5h, 6,000/week | API requests | Lowest monthly fee, multi-model aggregation |
| MiniMax | ¥29 (first month ¥9.9) | 40 Prompt/5h, no weekly cap | Prompt | Lowest entry price, no weekly limit |
| Kimi | ¥49 (Andante) | Per token (3x for a limited time) | Token | Native multimodal, 256K long context |
| Zhipu GLM | ¥49 (after the 2-month price increase) | 80 Prompt/5h, 400/week | Prompt | Pure in-house models, 20+ tool integrations |
| StepFun | Not tested | — | — | No hands-on data yet |
From a value-for-money standpoint:
- Budget-conscious users: Infinity (¥19.9) and MiniMax (¥29) have lower entry barriers.
- New users trying the waters: Alibaba Cloud Bailian’s first-month ¥7.9 is currently the lowest known trial price.
3. Hands-on speed tests: TTFT and TPS
The following speed data comes from a Xiaohongshu hands-on test note, tested under the conditions of “daytime @ 10K tokens,” measuring time to first token (TTFT) and TPS generation speed respectively. This data directly reflects the “responsiveness” of coding and code-generation efficiency.
3.1 Time to first token (TTFT)
| Platform | Fastest model | TTFT | Slowest model | TTFT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zhipu GLM | glm-5-turbo | 1.43s | glm-5 | 7.82s |
| Tencent | hunyuan-2.0-thinking | 2.51s | kimi-k2.5 | 12.38s |
| MiniMax | m2.1 | 2.44s | m2.5 | 5.54s |
| Alibaba | glm-4.7 | 2.76s | qwen3-coder-next | 11.58s |
| Infinity | deepseek-v3.2-thinking | 3.26s | kimi-k2.5 | 7.76s |
| Volcengine | doubao-seed-2.0-pro | 3.29s | glm-4.7 | 21.52s |
| JD | deepseek-v3.2 | ~5s | kimi-k2.5 | ~19s |
| Kimi | kimi-for-coding | 5.71s | — | — |
Observations: Zhipu GLM’s glm-5-turbo is the fastest of all at 1.43s TTFT; the time-to-first-token for some models on Volcengine and JD is notably higher, hitting 21.52s and 19s respectively, possibly related to platform scheduling policies or model deployment methods.
3.2 TPS generation speed
| Platform | Fastest model | TPS | Slowest model | TPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zhipu GLM | glm-4.5-air | 103 | glm-5 | 23 |
| Volcengine | doubao-seed-2.0-pro | 76 | kimi-k2.5 | 23 |
| Tencent | hunyuan-2.0-thinking | 76 | glm-5 | 30 |
| Alibaba | qwen3-coder-next | 67 | glm-4.7 | 41 |
| Infinity | minimax-m2.5 | 51 | kimi-k2.5 | 25 |
| MiniMax | m2.5 | 48 | m2.1 | 45 |
| JD | deepseek-v3.2 | 35 | glm-5 | 25 |
| Kimi | kimi-for-coding | 35 | — | — |
Observations: Zhipu’s glm-4.5-air reaches 103 TPS, significantly ahead of other platforms; Volcengine and Tencent’s Hunyuan/Doubao models also hit 76 TPS. JD and Kimi are relatively slow at around 35 TPS.
In addition, MiniMax officially claims its M2.5 model can reach 100+ TPS, which differs from the 48 TPS measured on the MiniMax platform in the Xiaohongshu note, indicating that the same model may perform differently when deployed on different platforms.
4. Platform reviews and buying recommendations
Combining price, quota, and speed data, here are recommendations for different usage scenarios:
New users / those wanting to try it cheap
- First choice: Alibaba Cloud Bailian Lite (first month ¥7.9). Rich model selection, backed by Alibaba Cloud infrastructure, with solid stability. Downsides: only the primary account is supported, and the config documentation isn’t beginner-friendly.
Budget-conscious, light use (monthly budget ≤ ¥30)
- First choice: Infinity Lite (¥19.9/month). Quota close to Bailian’s at half the price, ideal for light developers who code 2–3 times a week.
- Second choice: MiniMax Starter (¥29/month). No weekly cap; quota only refreshes every 5 hours, good for continuous use.
Daily development, moderate use (monthly budget ¥40–50)
- First choice: Alibaba Cloud Bailian Lite (regular ¥40) or Volcengine Ark Lite (regular ¥40). Both have transparent quotas and many model choices.
- Not recommended: Zhipu GLM (¥49 after the price increase, worse value) and Kimi (¥49, few tool integrations and quota heavily affected by cache).
Heavy development, full-stack, or multi-model switching
- First choice: Alibaba Cloud Bailian Pro or Volcengine Ark Pro (¥200/month). Around 5x the quota of Lite, with free switching between multiple models. Volcengine also supports Auto smart scheduling.
- If you prefer GLM’s in-house models, consider Zhipu GLM, but note its weekly limit and peak-time quota multipliers (3x during peak, 2x off-peak).
Pursuing ultimate response speed
- If time-to-first-token and generation speed are your top priorities, Zhipu GLM’s
glm-5-turbo(1.43s TTFT) andglm-4.5-air(103 TPS) perform best.
5. Summary
The Chinese Coding Plan market is iterating rapidly, with price wars and model wars running in parallel. When choosing, don’t fixate on surface prices; instead, focus on three core questions:
- What is the metering unit? API requests, Prompt counts, or tokens? Different units can’t be compared directly.
- How does the quota mechanism work? Refreshed every 5 hours, capped weekly, or capped monthly? This determines whether you can sustain high-intensity use.
- Is the speed responsive? TTFT and TPS directly affect the coding experience, and the same model can perform wildly differently across platforms.
A final reminder: plan policies change frequently across vendors (e.g., Zhipu’s price increase, Kimi switching to token billing, Alibaba Cloud discontinuing its Lite tier), so be sure to confirm the latest details on each platform’s official website before subscribing.
Data sources
- Xiaohongshu - Speed cross-test and price comparison of 9 China Coding Plans
- Cnblogs - Full comparison of 2026 mainstream China AI Coding Plans | Developer pitfall guide
- Tencent Cloud - Coding Plan overview
- Zhihu - Alibaba Cloud Bailian Coding Plan first purchase as low as ¥7.9
- Volcengine - Ark Coding Plan: AI coding service and pricing details
- Zhipu AI - GLM Coding Plan official site
- Zhihu - Hands-on MiniMax M2.5: open-source disruptor, value-for-money king?
Author: Cyber Herald
Original URL: https://torchtree.com/en/post/guonei-ai-coding-plan-xuan-gou-zhi-nan/
Publish Date: 2026-04-16
License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0