LLM Reference

GLM-5.1 vs Qwen3.5-397B-A17B

GLM-5.1 (2026) and Qwen3.5-397B-A17B (2026) are frontier-tier reasoning models from Zhipu AI and Alibaba. GLM-5.1 ships a 200k-token context window, while Qwen3.5-397B-A17B ships a 262k-token context window. On Google-Proof Q&A, Qwen3.5-397B-A17B leads by 3.1 pts. On pricing, Qwen3.5-397B-A17B costs $0.39/1M input tokens versus $1.05/1M 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.

Qwen3.5-397B-A17B is ~169% cheaper at $0.39/1M; pay for GLM-5.1 only for coding workflow support.

Decision scorecard

Local evidence first
SignalGLM-5.1Qwen3.5-397B-A17B
Best forreasoning-heavy apps, tool-calling agents, and provider-routed productionreasoning-heavy apps, multimodal apps, and tool-calling agents
Decision fitCoding, RAG, and AgentsCoding, RAG, and Agents
Context window200k262k
Cheapest output$3.50/1M tokens$2.34/1M tokens
Provider routes5 tracked4 tracked
Shared benchmarks3 sharedGoogle-Proof Q&A leader

Decision tradeoffs

Choose GLM-5.1 when...
  • GLM-5.1 holds a shared-benchmark lead on Humanity's Last Exam, ahead by 2.3 points.
  • GLM-5.1 has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and route flexibility.
  • GLM-5.1 uniquely exposes Code execution in local model data.
  • Local decision data tags GLM-5.1 for Coding, RAG, and Agents.
Choose Qwen3.5-397B-A17B when...
  • Qwen3.5-397B-A17B holds a shared-benchmark lead on Google-Proof Q&A, ahead by 3.1 points.
  • Qwen3.5-397B-A17B has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
  • Qwen3.5-397B-A17B has the lower cheapest tracked output price at $2.34/1M tokens.
  • Qwen3.5-397B-A17B uniquely exposes Vision and Multimodal in local model data.
  • Local decision data tags Qwen3.5-397B-A17B 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 Qwen3.5-397B-A17B

GLM-5.1

$1,715

Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenRouter

Qwen3.5-397B-A17B

$897

Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenRouter

Estimated monthly gap: $818. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.

Switch friction

GLM-5.1 -> Qwen3.5-397B-A17B
  • Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter and Novita AI; start route-level A/B tests there.
  • Qwen3.5-397B-A17B is $1.16/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
  • Check replacement coverage for Code execution before moving production traffic.
  • Qwen3.5-397B-A17B adds Vision and Multimodal in local capability data.
Qwen3.5-397B-A17B -> GLM-5.1
  • Provider overlap exists on OpenRouter and Novita AI; start route-level A/B tests there.
  • GLM-5.1 is $1.16/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
  • Check replacement coverage for Vision and Multimodal before moving production traffic.
  • GLM-5.1 adds Code execution in local capability data.

Specs

Specification
Released2026-04-072026-02-16
Context window200k262k
Parameters754B total, 40B active397B
ArchitectureMixture of ExpertsMixture of Experts
LicenseMITOSI-approvedApache 2.0OSI-approved
OpennessOpen sourceOpen source
WeightsAvailableAvailable
CodeUnknownUnknown
Commercial useCommercial use: permittedCommercial use: permitted
Knowledge cutoff2025-11-

Pricing and availability

Pricing attributeGLM-5.1Qwen3.5-397B-A17B
Input price$1.05/1M tokens$0.39/1M tokens
Output price$3.50/1M tokens$2.34/1M tokens
Providers
Z.aiOpenRouterFireworks AIVercel AI GatewayNovita AI
OpenRouterTogether AIAlibaba Cloud PAI-EASNovita AI

Capabilities

CapabilityGLM-5.1Qwen3.5-397B-A17B
VisionNoYes
MultimodalNoYes
ReasoningYesYes
JSON / Tool useYesYes
Structured outputsYesYes
Code executionYesNo
IDE integrationNoNo
Computer useNoNo
Parallel agentsNoNo

Benchmarks

BenchmarkGLM-5.1Qwen3.5-397B-A17B
Google-Proof Q&A86.289.3
Humanity's Last Exam31.028.7
Terminal-Bench 2.063.552.5

Continue comparing

Model pages
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Last reviewed: 2026-06-30. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.