Chinese AI tools · 9
Chinese AI tools, explained in English
Some of the strongest video models and open-weight language models now come from Chinese companies such as Kuaishou, MiniMax, DeepSeek, Alibaba and Moonshot AI. Most have international sites, but pricing, sign-up and payment often differ from the Chinese versions, and the details are spread across Chinese-language help pages.
We read both sides and summarise them here: what each tool costs in US dollars, whether there is a free plan, which accounts you can sign up with, and how to pay from outside China.
In short
On monthly billing, Kling and Vidu share the lowest entry price at $10/month. The others start at: Hailuo AI at $14.99, Dreamina at $15, Z.ai (GLM) at $18, Kimi at $19 per month. DeepSeek, Doubao, Dreamina, Hailuo AI, Kimi, Kling, Qwen, Vidu and Z.ai (GLM) all have a free plan. Each tool page lists exactly what the free plan includes.
Plans side by side
Price tracker →| Tool | Made by | Free tier | Paid from | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DeepSeek From China | DeepSeek | Yes | Usage-based | Verified Oct 29, 2026 |
| Doubao From China | ByteDance | Yes | Usage-based | Being verified |
| Dreamina From China | ByteDance | Yes | $15/mo | Being verified |
| Hailuo AI From China | MiniMax | Yes | $14.99/mo | Being verified |
| Kimi From China | Moonshot AI | Yes | $19/mo | Being verified |
| Kling From China | Kuaishou | Yes | $10/mo | Verified Oct 29, 2026 |
| Qwen From China | Alibaba | Yes | Usage-based | Verified Oct 29, 2026 |
| Vidu From China | Shengshu Technology | Yes | $10/mo | Verified Oct 29, 2026 |
| Z.ai (GLM) From China | Zhipu AI (Z.ai) | Yes | $18/mo | Verified Oct 29, 2026 |
Full pricing
DeepSeek
DeepSeek
Hangzhou-based lab with open-weight models, a free chat app and a low-cost pay-as-you-go API.
Doubao
ByteDance
ByteDance's AI assistant for mainland China, with free chat and video generation, paid membership tiers for heavier use, and Doubao models sold through the Volcano Engine API.
Dreamina
ByteDance
ByteDance's image and video generation site, part of CapCut. It runs ByteDance's own Seedance video and Seedream image models alongside third-party models such as Sora 2 and Veo 3.1, all paid for from one credit balance.
Hailuo AI
MiniMax
MiniMax's video generation app, known for fast text-to-video and image-to-video with strong motion.
Kimi
Moonshot AI
Moonshot AI's assistant, known for long-context reading, agentic tasks and open-weight K-series models.
Kling
Kuaishou
Kuaishou's text-to-video and image-to-video model, sold through an international web app with a credit-based plan.
Qwen
Alibaba
Alibaba's model family: a free international chat app, many open-weight models and a commercial API on Alibaba Cloud.
Vidu
Shengshu Technology
Shengshu Technology's video model, offering text-, image- and reference-to-video plus image generation. Sold on vidu.com with credit-based plans billed monthly or yearly.
Z.ai (GLM)
Zhipu AI (Z.ai)
Zhipu AI's international brand: a free GLM chat app, open-weight GLM models, a pay-as-you-go API and a GLM Coding Plan subscription for coding tools.
No tools match. Try a maker name such as Alibaba or OpenAI.
Head-to-head
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest Chinese AI tool?
On monthly billing, Kling and Vidu share the lowest entry price at $10/month. The others start at: Hailuo AI at $14.99, Dreamina at $15, Z.ai (GLM) at $18, Kimi at $19 per month.
Which Chinese AI tools have a free plan?
DeepSeek, Doubao, Dreamina, Hailuo AI, Kimi, Kling, Qwen, Vidu and Z.ai (GLM) all have a free plan. Each tool page lists exactly what the free plan includes.
Which Chinese AI tools release open-weight models?
DeepSeek, Kimi, Qwen and Z.ai (GLM) have all released open-weight models you can run yourself. Their chat apps and APIs are separate, hosted services.