GLM-5 Turbo vs o3
GLM-5 Turbo (2026) and o3 (2025) are frontier-tier reasoning models from Zhipu AI and OpenAI. GLM-5 Turbo ships a 200k-token context window, while o3 ships a 200k-token context window. On pricing, GLM-5 Turbo costs $1.20/1M 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 Turbo is ~67% cheaper at $1.20/1M; pay for o3 only for coding workflow support.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | GLM-5 Turbo | o3 |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | reasoning-heavy apps, tool-calling agents, and provider-routed production | reasoning-heavy apps, multimodal apps, and tool-calling agents |
| Decision fit | RAG, Agents, and Long context | Coding, RAG, and Agents |
| Context window | 200k | 200k |
| Cheapest output | $4/1M tokens | $8/1M tokens |
| Provider routes | 2 tracked | 3 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | 0 shared | 0 shared |
Decision tradeoffs
- GLM-5 Turbo has the lower cheapest tracked output price at $4/1M tokens.
- Local decision data tags GLM-5 Turbo for RAG, Agents, and Long context.
- o3 has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and route flexibility.
- o3 uniquely exposes Vision, Multimodal, and Code execution in local model data.
- Local decision data tags o3 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.
GLM-5 Turbo
$1,960
Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenRouter
o3
$3,600
Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenAI API
Estimated monthly gap: $1,640. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.
Switch friction
- Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter and Vercel AI Gateway; start route-level A/B tests there.
- o3 is $4/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
- o3 adds Vision, Multimodal, and Code execution in local capability data.
- Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter and Vercel AI Gateway; start route-level A/B tests there.
- GLM-5 Turbo is $4/1M 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.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2026-03-01 | 2025-04-16 |
| Context window | 200k | 200k |
| Parameters | 744B total, 40B active | — |
| Architecture | Mixture of Experts | Decoder Only |
| License | MITOSI-approved | Proprietary |
| Openness | Open source | Proprietary |
| Weights | Unknown | Not released |
| Code | Unknown | Unknown |
| Commercial use | Commercial use: permitted | Commercial use: conditional |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2025-11 | 2024-06 |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | GLM-5 Turbo | o3 |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $1.20/1M tokens | $2/1M tokens |
| Output price | $4/1M tokens | $8/1M tokens |
| Providers |
Capabilities
| Capability | GLM-5 Turbo | o3 |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | No | Yes |
| Multimodal | No | Yes |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yes |
| JSON / Tool use | Yes | Yes |
| Structured outputs | Yes | Yes |
| Code execution | No | Yes |
| IDE integration | No | No |
| Computer use | No | No |
| Parallel agents | No | No |
Benchmarks
No shared benchmark scores are currently available for this pair.
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Last reviewed: 2026-06-29. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.