GLM 5 API Pricing
Z.ai (GLM) · context window 205K · prices updated 2026-10-30
Where GLM 5 sits on price
At $3.20 per million output tokens, GLM 5 is a mid tier model — 1.5× the median output price of $2.20, which puts it cheaper than 43% and pricier than 57% of the models we track. It sits 12th cheapest of the 18 Z.ai (GLM) models we track. Output costs 3.2× input, the usual spread — trim both, starting with the answer length.
Cached input is 80% cheaper. On an input-heavy workload you need roughly a 31% cache-hit rate to take 25% off the input line — reachable for chatbots and agents that resend the same system prompt and history.
What real workloads cost on GLM 5
These three workloads are the ones teams actually run on a mid-priced model — a $3.20/1M model is not bought for the same job as one ten times the price.
| Workload | Per request | Per month |
|---|---|---|
| Support chatbot — 500 conversations/day (5K in / 1.4K out) Conversation history re-sent each turn — the classic prompt-caching win. | $0.0095 | $142 |
| Document pipeline — 10K docs/day (3K in / 500 out) Batch-friendly: no user waiting, so a ~50% batch discount usually applies. | $0.0046 | $1380 |
| Small app — 1K requests/day (500 in / 150 out) The baseline most side projects actually run at. | $0.001 | $29.40 |
Model your exact traffic in the API cost calculator — it preloads GLM 5 with caching and batch options.
GLM 5 price history
Z.ai (GLM) last raised GLM 5's output price on Oct 21, 2026 (+67% per output token), from $0.6/$1.92 to $1.00/$3.20 per 1M in/out. That is one of 4 repricings in the 89 days we have tracked it — worth knowing before you hard-code today's rate into a budget.
| Date | Input /1M | Output /1M | Output change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 2, 2026 (tracking began) | $0.95 | $2.55 | — |
| Aug 14, 2026 | $0.6 | $1.92 | -25% |
| Oct 15, 2026 | $1.00 | $3.20 | +67% |
| Oct 20, 2026 | $0.6 | $1.92 | -40% |
| Oct 21, 2026 | $1.00 | $3.20 | +67% |
Change-points from our daily price snapshots (tracking since Aug 2, 2026; intraday moves between snapshots are not captured).
GLM 5 vs Qwen3.6 27B
The closest-priced alternative from another vendor is Qwen3.6 27B (Alibaba (Qwen)) — priced within a rounding error on output, with $0.68 less per million input tokens. When two models land this close on price, the decision is quality on your own workload, not the price sheet: run 50 real requests through both and compare.
See Qwen3.6 27B pricing →Cheaper alternatives
More Z.ai (GLM) models
Frequently asked questions
› How much does the GLM 5 API cost?
GLM 5 costs $1.00 per million input tokens and $3.20 per million output tokens, with cached input at $0.2 per million (80% cheaper). That works out to roughly 312,500 output tokens per dollar.
› What does the support chatbot workload cost on GLM 5?
Support chatbot — 500 conversations/day (5K in / 1.4K out) costs about $0.0095 per request and $142 per month on GLM 5. Conversation history re-sent each turn — the classic prompt-caching win.
› What does it cost to fill GLM 5's 205K context window?
Sending 205K of input in a single request costs $0.2048 at $1.00 per million tokens — before any output. With prompt caching that same fill drops to about $0.041 on repeat requests. This is why large context windows are cheap to advertise and expensive to actually use.
› Is GLM 5 worth the price?
GLM 5 sits in the middle of the market (12 of 18 by price within Z.ai (GLM)). The honest test is a routing experiment: send the same 200 real requests to this model and to a tier below, and compare failure rate against the price gap — most teams find a majority of traffic never needed the pricier model.