GLM-5 from Zhipu AI (formerly Z.ai) is one of the strongest Chinese-developed LLMs available through an OpenAI-compatible API. Its standout feature: Chinese language performance that rivals or exceeds GPT-4o, at roughly 1/12th the cost.
Available on AIWave with the model name glm-4-plus.
| GLM-5 | GPT-4o | Claude Sonnet 4 | DeepSeek V4 Pro | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Input (USD/1M) | $0.20 | $2.50 | $3.00 | $0.42 |
| Output (USD/1M) | $0.60 | $10.00 | $15.00 | $0.84 |
| Context | 128K | 128K | 200K | 1M |
*Prices from AIWave pricing. GPT-4o/Claude from official sources.*
GLM-5 is the cheapest mainstream model that still delivers competitive quality. It costs 60% less than DeepSeek V4 Pro on output tokens.
GLM-5 handles standard coding tasks well — function writing, refactoring, bug fixes. It scores lower than DeepSeek V4 Pro on HumanEval but produces readable, correct code for most practical scenarios.
This is where GLM-5 separates from the pack. On Chinese-language tasks:
If your product or content serves Chinese users, GLM-5 produces noticeably better Chinese output than any non-Chinese model.
Solid but not exceptional. For English-only workloads, DeepSeek V4 Pro delivers better reasoning at a moderate price premium. GLM-5's English is comparable to GPT-3.5 Turbo — good enough for most tasks, not the best available.
200 API calls per day, 4K input + 2K output tokens, 22 working days per month.
| Model | Monthly Cost |
|---|---|
| GLM-5 | $9 |
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | $4 |
| DeepSeek V4 Pro | $13 |
| GPT-4o | $154 |
| Claude Sonnet 4 | $185 |
*Formula: (4,000/1M x input + 2,000/1M x output) x 200 x 22.*
GLM-5 costs roughly the same as a Spotify subscription per month for heavy daily use.
Best fit:
Not ideal:
from openai import OpenAI
client = OpenAI(
api_key="***",
base_url="https://aiwave.live/v1"
)
response = client.chat.completions.create(
model="glm-4-plus",
messages=[
{"role": "user", "content": "用中文写一段产品介绍"}
]
)
print(response.choices[0].message.content)
GLM-5 is available through AIWave alongside 50+ other models with a single API key. No Chinese payment method or phone number required. The $1 free credit covers roughly 550 GLM-5 queries — enough to evaluate for your use case.