One agent session
1M input tokens and 100K output tokens, no caching.
- Input1M x $1 = $1.00
- Output0.1M x $3.20 = $0.32
$1.32per session
Z.ai - Open weights
GLM-5 pricing and specs
GLM-5 is an open-weights model from Z.ai that costs $1 per 1M input tokens and $3.20 per 1M output tokens on the first-party API, with a 200K-token context window.
Last verified from docs.z.ai. All sources
- Input / 1M
- $1
- Output / 1M
- $3.20
- Context
- 200K tokens
- Weights
- Open
Pricing per 1M tokens
| Item | Price / 1M tokens |
|---|---|
| Input | $1 |
| Output | $3.20 |
| Cache read | $0.20 |
Note: Previous generation, still priced. 744B total / 40B active parameters per the model page. Text-only input. Cached input storage is limited-time free.
Specs
- Context window
- 200,000 tokens
- Max output
- 128,000 tokens
- Release date
- Provider
- Z.ai
- API model id
glm-5- Vercel AI Gateway id
zai/glm-5- Weights
- Open weights
- License
- MIT
- Weights download
- huggingface.co
What GLM-5 costs in practice
Worked from the standard list rates above, with the math shown so you can swap in your own token counts.
A chat app
10,000 requests a day at 2K input and 500 output tokens each.
- Input20M x $1 = $20.00
- Output5M x $3.20 = $16.00
$36.00per day
$1,080.00 per 30-day month
The same session at a 90% cache hit
90% of the input is read from the prompt cache. The one-time cache write premium is not included.
- Cached input0.9M x $0.20 = $0.18
- Uncached input0.1M x $1 = $0.10
- Output0.1M x $3.20 = $0.32
$0.60per session
Compare with
| Model | Input / 1M | Output / 1M |
|---|---|---|
| GLM-5 (this page) | $1 | $3.20 |
| Amazon Nova ProAmazon | $0.80 | $3.20 |
| Qwen3.5-122B-A10BAlibaba Cloud (Qwen) | $0.40 | $3.20 |
| ERNIE 5.0Baidu | $0.84 | $3.38 |
| Gemini 3 Flash PreviewGoogle | $0.50 | $3 |
| GLM-4.5Z.ai | $0.60 | $2.20 |
| GLM-4.6Z.ai | $0.60 | $2.20 |
| GLM-4.7Z.ai | $0.60 | $2.20 |
| GLM-5.1Z.ai | $1.40 | $4.40 |
| GLM-5.2Z.ai | $1.40 | $4.40 |
| GLM-5.3Z.ai | $1.40 | $4.40 |
Related reading
- Anthropic's GLM-5.3 Cyber Report: The Numbers, the Backlash, and What Developers Should Take From ItAnthropic's GLM-5.3 cyber report: exploit numbers against Claude Mythos Preview, how its safeguards were stripped, the backlash, and the read for developers.
- GLM-5.3 Free and Cheap: Every Route and Price (October 2026)GLM-5.3 has no free hosted tier. Cheapest on October 9: Wafer via OpenRouter at $0.049/$3.39, Flash from $0.075/$0.25. Z.ai's promos ended October 7.
- Prime Agent: A Self-Improving Coding Harness Where Everything Is PythonPrime Agent is Prime Intellect's open-source coding harness with one tool, a persistent IPython kernel. How it works, its benchmarks, and Claude Code compared.
- Colibri: Run GLM 5.2 on a 32GB Laptop With Disk StreamingA solo developer built a 1,300-line C inference engine that runs the 744B GLM 5.2 model on consumer hardware by streaming routed experts from disk.
- GLM 5.2 Matches Human Bookkeeper Accuracy on UK VAT Returns - With Some CaveatsGLM 5.2 UK VAT return benchmark: how the model handled 59 transactions with near-human bookkeeper accuracy, where it erred, and why HN focused on liability.
- GLM 5.2 and the AI Margin Collapse ThesisGLM 5.2 and the AI margin collapse thesis: why open-weights models could squeeze frontier lab margins, where HN pushes back, and what it means for model choice.
FAQ
How much does GLM-5 cost per million tokens?
GLM-5 costs $1 per 1M input tokens and $3.20 per 1M output tokens on Z.ai's first-party API, per docs.z.ai on October 17, 2026. Per 1M tokens, cache reads cost $0.20.
What is GLM-5's context window?
GLM-5 has a 200,000-token context window and returns up to 128,000 output tokens per response.
Are GLM-5's weights open?
Yes. GLM-5's weights are published at https://huggingface.co/zai-org/GLM-5 under the MIT.
When was GLM-5 released?
Z.ai released GLM-5 on February 12, 2026.
Sources
Last verified from docs.z.ai.
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