API cost decision in 10 seconds

🔥DeepSeek V3.2 vs 🔥GLM 5.1

Pick DeepSeek V3.2 for lower cost; pick GLM 5.1 only if the larger context window matters more.

Pricing data updated: 2026-05-15T02:08:14Z Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick DeepSeek V3.2 for lower cost; pick GLM 5.1 only if the larger context window matters more.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, DeepSeek V3.2 is estimated at $0.44 vs $2.52 for GLM 5.1, saving $2.08 (82.5% lower).

Cost-first pickDeepSeek V3.2

Context-first pickGLM 5.1

Sample savings$2.0882.5%

10x traffic gap$20.79

GLM 5.1 has more context, but DeepSeek V3.2 saves $2.08 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $20.79. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cheaper input DeepSeek V3.2 $0.252 vs $0.98 / 1M

DeepSeek V3.2 is $0.73 cheaper per 1M input tokens (74.3% lower; 3.89x difference).

Cheaper output DeepSeek V3.2 $0.378 vs $3.08 / 1M

DeepSeek V3.2 is $2.7 cheaper per 1M output tokens (87.7% lower; 8.15x difference).

Larger context GLM 5.1 131.07K vs 202.75K

GLM 5.1 has 71.68K more context (1.55x larger).

Sample workload DeepSeek V3.2 $0.44 vs $2.52

DeepSeek V3.2 is $2.08 cheaper on the standard workload (82.5% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.

Monthly input tokens Monthly output tokens

DeepSeek V3.2 Calculating… Estimated API cost

GLM 5.1 Calculating… Estimated API cost

Cheaper for this workload Calculating… Difference: calculating…

This estimate uses normalized public API pricing per 1M tokens. It is a planning aid, not a billing quote. Verify provider pricing, limits, and terms before production use.

Quick Decision

Verdict

DeepSeek V3.2 has the lower input price; DeepSeek V3.2 has the lower output price; GLM 5.1 offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, DeepSeek V3.2 is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $0.44 for DeepSeek V3.2 and $2.52 for GLM 5.1.

Best Fit

Choose DeepSeek V3.2 when you care most about lower input-token price, and lower output-token price.

Choose GLM 5.1 when you care most about larger context window.

Decision Notes

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, DeepSeek V3.2 is estimated at $0.44 vs $2.52 for GLM 5.1, saving $2.08 (82.5% lower).
DeepSeek V3.2 is $2.08 cheaper on the standard workload (82.5% lower).
DeepSeek V3.2 is $0.73 cheaper per 1M input tokens (74.3% lower; 3.89x difference).
DeepSeek V3.2 is $2.7 cheaper per 1M output tokens (87.7% lower; 8.15x difference).
GLM 5.1 has 71.68K more context (1.55x larger).

Head-to-Head Specs

Feature	🔥DeepSeek V3.2 (DeepSeek)	🔥GLM 5.1 (Z.ai)
Input Price prompt tokens per 1M	$0.252	$0.98
Completion Price per 1M tokens	$0.378	$3.08
Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output	$0.44	$2.52
Context Window	131.07K	202.75K
Release Date	2025-12-01	2026-04-07
Popularity Rank current rank	#6	#20

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use case	Better pick	Why
Budget-constrained production	DeepSeek V3.2	On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, DeepSeek V3.2 is estimated at $0.44 vs $2.52 for GLM 5.1, saving $2.08 (82.5% lower).
High-volume input processing	DeepSeek V3.2	Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbots	DeepSeek V3.2	Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document work	GLM 5.1	A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

Same-provider lower-cost swaps

DeepSeek V4 Flash (free) can replace DeepSeek V3.2 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
DeepSeek V4 Flash can replace DeepSeek V3.2 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.25.
R1 Distill Qwen 32B can replace DeepSeek V3.2 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.43.
GLM 4.5 Air (free) can replace GLM 5.1 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.

Larger context near this budget

Grok 4.1 Fast offers 2M context with $0.45 sample workload cost.
Grok 4.20 offers 2M context with $2.5 sample workload cost.
Grok 4 Fast offers 2M context with $0.45 sample workload cost.
Owl Alpha offers 1.05M context with $0 sample workload cost.

Popular competitors

Hy3 preview · Tencent · #1
Claude Opus 4.7 · Anthropic · #2
Claude Sonnet 4.6 · Anthropic · #3
DeepSeek V4 Flash · DeepSeek · #4

Cheaper alternatives

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DeepSeek catalog

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Z.ai catalog

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DeepSeek V3.2

DeepSeek-V3.2 is a large language model designed to harmonize high computational efficiency with strong reasoning and agentic tool-use performance. It introduces DeepSeek Sparse Attention (DSA), a fine-grained sparse attention mechanism...

GLM 5.1

GLM-5.1 delivers a major leap in coding capability, with particularly significant gains in handling long-horizon tasks. Unlike previous models built around minute-level interactions, GLM-5.1 can work independently and continuously on...