Claude Sonnet 5 vs GLM-5

Claude Sonnet 5 (2026) and GLM-5 (2026) are frontier-tier reasoning models from Anthropic and Zhipu AI. Claude Sonnet 5 ships a 1m-token context window, while GLM-5 ships a 200k-token context window. On SWE-bench Verified, Claude Sonnet 5 leads by 7.4 pts. On pricing, GLM-5 costs $0.60/1M input tokens versus $2/1M 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 ~233% cheaper at $0.60/1M; pay for Claude Sonnet 5 only for coding workflow support.

Decision scorecard

Local evidence first
SignalClaude Sonnet 5GLM-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$10/1M tokens$2.08/1M tokens
Provider routes5 tracked7 tracked
Shared benchmarksSWE-bench Verified leader3 shared

Decision tradeoffs

Choose Claude Sonnet 5 when...
  • Claude Sonnet 5 holds a shared-benchmark lead on SWE-bench Verified, ahead by 7.4 points.
  • Claude Sonnet 5 has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
  • Claude Sonnet 5 uniquely exposes Vision, Multimodal, and Code execution in local model data.
  • Local decision data tags Claude Sonnet 5 for Coding, RAG, and Agents.
Choose GLM-5 when...
  • 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 5

$4,100

Cheapest tracked route/tier: Anthropic

GLM-5

$1,000

Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenRouter

Estimated monthly gap: $3,100. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.

Switch friction

Claude Sonnet 5 -> GLM-5
  • Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter and GCP Vertex AI; start route-level A/B tests there.
  • GLM-5 is $7.92/1M 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 5
  • Provider overlap exists on GCP Vertex AI and OpenRouter; start route-level A/B tests there.
  • Claude Sonnet 5 is $7.92/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
  • Claude Sonnet 5 adds Vision, Multimodal, and Code execution in local capability data.

Specs

Specification
Released2026-06-302026-02-11
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 cutoff2026-012025-11

Pricing and availability

Pricing attributeClaude Sonnet 5GLM-5
Input price$2/1M tokens$0.60/1M tokens
Output price$10/1M tokens$2.08/1M tokens
Providers
AnthropicAWS BedrockGCP Vertex AIOpenRouterMicrosoft Foundry
Fireworks AIOpenRouterTogether AIGCP Vertex AINVIDIA NIMVercel AI Gateway

Capabilities

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

Benchmarks

BenchmarkClaude Sonnet 5GLM-5
SWE-bench Verified85.277.8
SWE-bench Pro63.255.1
Humanity's Last Exam43.230.5

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