GLM API pricing explained: GLM-5.3, Flash, FlashX

GLM API pricing explained

Updated 2026-10-29. Official Z.ai prices, LMArena ranks.

Quick answer

GLM-5.3 costs $1.40 input, $0.26 cached and $4.40 output per 1M tokens on Z.ai's official pricing page, the same price as GLM-5.2 and GLM-5.1, so take the newest. It ranks #20 on Code Arena against #22 for 5.2 and #32 for 5.1. For 9x less, GLM-5.3 Flash ($0.15 / $0.50) still scores 25 out of 100 on Code Arena.

Model	Input	Cached	Output	Code Arena	Math board
GLM-5.3	$1.40	$0.26	$4.40	#20	#12
GLM-5.2	$1.40	$0.26	$4.40	#22	#20
GLM-5.1	$1.40	$0.26	$4.40	#32	#25
GLM-5	$1	$0.20	$3.20	#40	#39
GLM-4.7	$0.60	$0.11	$2.20	#41	#44
GLM-4.6	$0.60	$0.11	$2.20	#47	#48
GLM-5.3 FlashX	$0.37	$0.075	$1.25	n/a	n/a
GLM-5.3 Flash	$0.15	$0.03	$0.50	#21	#10

USD per 1M tokens, official list price, checked 2026-10-29. Z.ai's pricing page doesn't list context windows, so we show none.

Which GLM model to pick

Default: GLM-5.3. 3 models share the $1.40 / $4.40 price (GLM-5.3, GLM-5.2, GLM-5.1), and 5.3 ranks highest of them on Code Arena (#20) and on the math board (#12).
Budget: GLM-5.3 Flash at $0.15 in and $0.50 out. It ranks #21 on Code Arena, one place behind GLM-5.3, and #10 on the math board, ahead of it.
In between: GLM-5.3 FlashX at $0.37 in and $1.25 out. We have no LMArena rank for it, so it's a price step, not a measured one.
Older models: GLM-5 ($1 / $3.20), GLM-4.7 and GLM-4.6 ($0.60 / $2.20) cost less than 5.3 but rank lower (#40, #41 and #47 on Code Arena). GLM-5.3 Flash beats all three on rank and costs less than any of them.

What a month costs

List price, no discounts, our math. Medium is 20M input and 5M output tokens a month; heavy is 200M and 50M.

Model	Medium month	Heavy month
GLM-5.3 Flash	$5.50	$55.00
GLM-5.3 FlashX	$13.65	$136
GLM-4.7	$23.00	$230
GLM-4.6	$23.00	$230
GLM-5	$36.00	$360
GLM-5.3	$50.00	$500
GLM-5.2	$50.00	$500
GLM-5.1	$50.00	$500

GLM against the models people compare it with

GLM-5.3 vs Claude Sonnet 5.5: $2.15 vs $4 blended, #20 vs #3 on Code Arena.
GLM-5.3 vs DeepSeek V4 Pro, GLM-5.3 vs Qwen3.8 Max and GLM-5.3 vs MiniMax-M3.
Kimi K3.1 Pro vs GLM-5.3: Kimi ranks #6 and costs 1.9x more blended.

Sources

FAQ

How much does the GLM API cost?

GLM-5.3 costs $1.40 per 1M input tokens, $0.26 cached and $4.40 output. The lineup runs from $0.15 to $1.40 input, as of 2026-10-29.

Is GLM-5.3 more expensive than GLM-5.2?

No. GLM-5.3, GLM-5.2 and GLM-5.1 all list at $1.40 input and $4.40 output per 1M tokens.

What is the cheapest GLM model?

GLM-5.3 Flash at $0.15 input and $0.50 output per 1M tokens, then GLM-5.3 FlashX at $0.37 and $1.25.

Is GLM-5.3 cheaper than Claude Sonnet 5.5?

Yes. GLM-5.3 is $2.15 blended per 1M tokens against $4 for Claude Sonnet 5.5, about 1.9x less. Sonnet ranks #3 on Code Arena and GLM-5.3 #20.

What is the GLM-5.3 context window?

Z.ai's pricing page doesn't list it, so we don't state one.

Does GLM have cached input pricing?

Yes. Cached input is $0.26 per 1M tokens on GLM-5.3, $0.03 on GLM-5.3 Flash.