Z.AI (Zhipu) GLM Pricing 2026: API Costs, Plans & Review
Complete guide to Zhipu AI GLM pricing in 2026. Compare GLM-5, GLM-4.7 FlashX, coding subscription plans, CNY pricing, and see if it fits your needs.
Z.AI (Zhipu) GLM Pricing Overview
Zhipu AI offers two pricing models: API pay-as-you-go in USD for global users and CNY-denominated subscription plans for Chinese developers.
API Pricing (Pay-as-you-go)
| Model | Input ($/1M tokens) | Output ($/1M tokens) | Cache Read ($/1M) | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GLM-5.1 | $0.828 | $3.310 | $0.179 | 200K |
| GLM-5 | $0.552 | $2.483 | $0.138 | 200K |
| GLM-5 (CNY) | ¥3.00 | ¥12.00 | — | 128K |
| GLM-4.7 FlashX | $0.50 | $3.00 | $0.10 | 200K |
| GLM-4.7 Flash | Free | Free | — | 128K |
Coding Subscription Plans (CNY)
| Plan | Price/mo | Rate Limit | Models |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coding Lite | ¥49 ($6.75) | 80 prompts/5h | GLM-4.7/4.6 |
| Coding Pro | ¥149 ($20.55) | 400 prompts/5h | GLM-5/4.7/4.6 |
| Coding Max | ¥469 ($64.70) | 1,600 prompts/5h | All models |
What You Get
API access:
- 200K context on most models
- OpenAI-compatible API
- Multimodal on GLM-5 (text, vision, audio)
- Free GLM-4.7 Flash tier available
Coding subscriptions:
- Access to GLM-5/4.7 through coding agents
- Compatible with Cline, Claude Code, OpenCode
- Counter-based (prompts/5h), not token-based
What Users Are Saying
"GLM-5 is a solid reasoning model — 92.7% on AIME 2026 is impressive. But the API reliability has been hit or miss; we get about 60% success rate during peak hours." — u/ai_researcher, Reddit r/LocalLLaMA
"The Coding Pro plan at ¥149/mo is decent value, but the per-5-hour rate limits are annoying. MiniMax's rolling 5h window is much more developer-friendly." — u/dev_cn, V2EX
"GLM-4.7 Flash being free is great for prototyping. We use it for dev/staging and switch to GLM-5 for production." — u/ml_engineer, Reddit r/LocalLLaMA
Pros & Cons
Pros:
- Strong reasoning benchmarks (92.7% AIME 2026)
- Free Flash tier for prototyping
- CNY subscription plans for Chinese developers
- MIT-licensed open-weight models
Cons:
- Reliability issues during peak hours (reported ~60% success rate)
- Coding plans use counter-based limits (prompts/5h), not flexible
- Lower global brand recognition
- Higher priced than MiniMax for comparable quality
Who Should Choose Z.AI (Zhipu)
- You need strong reasoning — GLM-5 leads in math and science benchmarks
- You're in China — CNY subscription plans are convenient
- You want free prototyping — GLM-4.7 Flash is genuinely free
- You need MIT-licensed open weights — self-host if API reliability is a concern
How Zhipu Compares to Alternatives
| Compared to | Zhipu Advantage | Alternative Advantage |
|---|---|---|
| MiniMax | Better reasoning (GLM-5) | Cheaper, more reliable API, better coding |
| DeepSeek V4 | Stronger reasoning benchmarks | Cheaper, more reliable, open source |
| OpenAI GPT-5 | Cheaper, open weights | Better quality, reliable API |
Verdict
Z.AI (Zhipu) GLM-5 is a strong reasoning model that excels in math and science. Its open-weight license and free Flash tier are genuine advantages. However, reliability concerns and less developer-friendly rate limits make it a secondary choice compared to MiniMax or DeepSeek for most production workloads. Best suited for Chinese developers who need CNY billing and strong reasoning capabilities.