Z.ai: GLM 4.6V API Pricing
Z.ai: GLM 4.6V costs $0.300 per 1M input tokens and $0.900 per 1M output tokens (cache reads: $0.055). Context window: 131K. Prices verified 2026-10-21 · source
Alternatives to consider
93% cheaper with nearly identical quality (20.1 vs 11.2)
+35.1 quality points for 21% more
Cheapest z-ai model — 82% less per month
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Token economics
| Token type | Price | vs base input |
|---|---|---|
| Standard input | $0.300 | — |
| Cache read | $0.055 | −82% |
| Output | $0.900 | — |
Prompt caching stores repeated context server-side: reads cost far less, but writes carry a one-time premium.
Higher effort = deeper thinking = more reasoning tokens billed as output.
What would Z.ai: GLM 4.6V cost you per month?
| Workload | Requests/mo | Avg tokens (in/out) | Est. monthly cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Light chatbot | 10,000 | 800 / 400 | $6.00 |
| Coding agent | 5,000 | 8,000 / 2,000 | $21.00 |
| RAG pipeline | 30,000 | 4,000 / 500 | $49.50 |
| Doc summarizer | 2,000 | 20,000 / 1,000 | $13.80 |
Estimates use list prices without prompt caching. Caching can cut input cost by up to 90% on repeated context.
About Z.ai: GLM 4.6V
GLM-4.6V is a large multimodal model designed for high-fidelity visual understanding and long-context reasoning across images, documents, and mixed media. It supports up to 128K tokens, processes complex page layouts...
Compare Z.ai: GLM 4.6V with
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- GLM 4.6V vs Anthropic: Claude Fable 5
- GLM 4.6V vs Anthropic: Claude Opus 5
- GLM 4.6V vs OpenAI: GPT-5.6 Sol
Popular head-to-heads — see all on the comparisons index.
Frequently asked questions
How much does Z.ai: GLM 4.6V cost?
Z.ai: GLM 4.6V costs $0.300 per 1M input tokens and $0.900 per 1M output tokens; cached input tokens cost $0.055 per 1M. Verified 2026-10-21 — provider source.
What is the context window?
131K tokens, with up to 33K output tokens per response. That's roughly 164 pages of text in a single request.
Does it support prompt caching?
Yes — cached input is $0.055/1M, about 82% cheaper than standard input. Agents and RAG workloads with repeated context benefit most.
What's a cheaper alternative?
ScaleDown: Summarize saves about 94% on a typical workload with comparable quality.
Official resources
- Z.ai: GLM 4.6V on OpenRouter — live endpoint, pricing source of record.
- Artificial Analysis leaderboard → — independent intelligence and performance rankings.
- Shred your current bill — paste a CSV and see if switching saves money.