Claude vs Z.ai (GLM) comparison

By starting price alone, Z.ai (GLM) is $2 cheaper. But price is not everything, so check the highlighted rows in the table below.

Claude and Z.ai (GLM) compared side by side in AI.

CurrencyUSDKRWEUR

Claude

AI assistant strong in writing and coding. Strengths are long-document analysis and natural prose

What is good

  • Top-tier writing quality and coding skill
  • Handles long documents
  • Focus on safety and accuracy

What could be better

  • Small free usage allowance
  • No image or video generation

Claude official site

Z.ai (GLM)

The GLM model service from China's Z.ai (formerly Zhipu AI). In August 2026 it released GLM-5.3, strong at coding and agents, with open weights, making it a leading open model

What is good

  • Top-tier open coding model with released weights
  • Coding Plan works in 20+ tools including Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode and Cline
  • Off-peak usage is deducted at 50%

What could be better

  • Officially supported languages are mainly English and Chinese (no official Korean materials)
  • GLM-5.3 uses its own license that adds a security review condition for MaaS companies with revenue over $10 billion

Z.ai (GLM) official site

At a glance

Highlighted rows are where they differ.

ItemClaudeVisit siteZ.ai (GLM)Visit site
Starting price$20+Official USD price$18+Official USD price
Free tierFree plan availableFree plan available
Korean supportGoodLimited
Main models
  • Claude Fable 5.1
  • Opus 5.5
  • Sonnet 5.5
  • Haiku 5.5
  • Claude Code
  • GLM-5.3 (about 753B)
  • GLM-5.3-Flash (about 321B)
  • GLM-5.3-FlashX
  • GLM-5.2
  • GLM-4.6V (vision)
  • Free API: GLM-4.7-Flash/GLM-4.5-Flash
TypeAI servicesAI services
CategoryChatbot/Assistant, Coding, Writing/ProductivityOpen Models, Coding, Developer API
CompanyAnthropic, United StatesZ.ai (formerly Zhipu AI), China
Plans
  • Free
  • Pro $20 (annual billing $17)
  • Max $100/$200
  • Team $25/$125 (per seat)
  • Enterprise
  • Web chat chat.z.ai (whether free needs checking)
  • GLM Coding Plan from $18/mo (Lite, Pro/Max prices unverified)
  • API pay-as-you-go (per 1 million tokens): GLM-5.3 input $1.40
  • output $4.40, GLM-5.3-Flash $0.15/$0.50, GLM-5.3-FlashX $0.37/$1.25
  • Weights released free
Pros
  • Top-tier writing quality and coding skill
  • Handles long documents
  • Focus on safety and accuracy
  • Top-tier open coding model with released weights
  • Coding Plan works in 20+ tools including Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode and Cline
  • Off-peak usage is deducted at 50%
  • The Flash-series API is cheap and some free models are offered
Cons
  • Small free usage allowance
  • No image or video generation
  • The top model (Fable) has generous use only on Max and above
  • Officially supported languages are mainly English and Chinese (no official Korean materials)
  • GLM-5.3 uses its own license that adds a security review condition for MaaS companies with revenue over $10 billion
  • Coding Plan Pro and Max prices are not in the public documents
  • It is a Chinese company's service, so the data policy needs checking

Prices and benefits may change. Check the official site before you pay.

Prices converted at 1 USD = ₩1,327.84 (2026-10-20). Original price shown in brackets. Taxes as listed by each provider.

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