LLM Reference

Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs GLM-5

Claude Sonnet 4.6 (2026) and GLM-5 (2026) are frontier-tier reasoning models from Anthropic and Zhipu AI. Claude Sonnet 4.6 ships a 1m-token context window, while GLM-5 ships a 200k-token context window. On MMLU PRO, Claude Sonnet 4.6 leads by 1.3 pts. On pricing, GLM-5 costs $0.60/1M input tokens versus $3/1M for the alternative. This comparison covers specs, pricing, API access, capabilities, benchmarks, input and output token costs, and production fit for coding and agent workloads.

GLM-5 is ~400% cheaper at $0.60/1M; pay for Claude Sonnet 4.6 only for coding workflow support.

Decision scorecard

Local evidence first
SignalClaude Sonnet 4.6GLM-5
Best forreasoning-heavy apps, multimodal apps, and tool-calling agentsreasoning-heavy apps, tool-calling agents, and provider-routed production
Decision fitCoding, RAG, and AgentsCoding, RAG, and Agents
Context window1m200k
Cheapest output$15/1M tokens$2.08/1M tokens
Provider routes6 tracked7 tracked
Shared benchmarksMMLU PRO leader8 shared

Decision tradeoffs

Choose Claude Sonnet 4.6 when...
  • Claude Sonnet 4.6 holds a shared-benchmark lead on MMLU PRO, ahead by 1.3 points.
  • Claude Sonnet 4.6 has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
  • Claude Sonnet 4.6 uniquely exposes Vision, Multimodal, and Code execution in local model data.
  • Local decision data tags Claude Sonnet 4.6 for Coding, RAG, and Agents.
Choose GLM-5 when...
  • GLM-5 holds a shared-benchmark lead on LiveCodeBench, ahead by 1.9 points.
  • GLM-5 has the lower cheapest tracked output price at $2.08/1M tokens.
  • GLM-5 has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and route flexibility.
  • Local decision data tags GLM-5 for Coding, RAG, and Agents.

Monthly cost at traffic

Estimate token spend from the cheapest tracked input and output route or tier on this page.

Lower estimate GLM-5

Claude Sonnet 4.6

$6,150

Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenRouter

GLM-5

$1,000

Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenRouter

Estimated monthly gap: $5,150. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.

Switch friction

Claude Sonnet 4.6 -> GLM-5
  • Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter, GCP Vertex AI, and Vercel AI Gateway; start route-level A/B tests there.
  • GLM-5 is $12.92/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
  • Check replacement coverage for Vision, Multimodal, and Code execution before moving production traffic.
GLM-5 -> Claude Sonnet 4.6
  • Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter, GCP Vertex AI, and Vercel AI Gateway; start route-level A/B tests there.
  • Claude Sonnet 4.6 is $12.92/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
  • Claude Sonnet 4.6 adds Vision, Multimodal, and Code execution in local capability data.

Specs

Specification
Released2026-02-172026-02-11
Context window1m200k
Parameters—744B total, 40B active
ArchitectureDecoder OnlyMixture of Experts
LicenseProprietaryMITOSI-approved
OpennessProprietaryOpen source
WeightsNot releasedAvailable
CodeUnknownUnknown
Commercial useCommercial use: conditionalCommercial use: permitted
Knowledge cutoff2025-082025-11

Pricing and availability

Pricing attributeClaude Sonnet 4.6GLM-5
Input price$3/1M tokens$0.60/1M tokens
Output price$15/1M tokens$2.08/1M tokens
Providers
OpenRouterAnthropicAWS BedrockGCP Vertex AIMicrosoft FoundryVercel AI Gateway
Fireworks AIOpenRouterTogether AIGCP Vertex AINVIDIA NIMVercel AI Gateway

Capabilities

CapabilityClaude Sonnet 4.6GLM-5
VisionYesNo
MultimodalYesNo
ReasoningYesYes
JSON / Tool useYesYes
Structured outputsYesYes
Code executionYesNo
IDE integrationNoNo
Computer useYesNo
Parallel agentsYesNo

Benchmarks

BenchmarkClaude Sonnet 4.6GLM-5
MMLU PRO87.386.0
SWE-bench Verified79.677.8
Google-Proof Q&A89.986.0
AIME 202594.092.7
LiveCodeBench80.081.9
Humanity's Last Exam33.230.5
τ-bench87.582.1
SWE-rebench60.762.8

Continue comparing

Model pages
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Last reviewed: 2026-07-26. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.