API cost decision in 10 seconds

NewGranite 4.1 8B vs GLM 5

Pick Granite 4.1 8B for lower cost; pick GLM 5 only if the larger context window matters more.

Pricing data updated: 2026-05-26T11:08:00Z Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick Granite 4.1 8B for lower cost; pick GLM 5 only if the larger context window matters more.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Granite 4.1 8B is estimated at $0.1 vs $1.56 for GLM 5, saving $1.46 (93.6% lower).

Cost-first pickGranite 4.1 8B

Context-first pickGLM 5

Sample savings$1.4693.6%

10x traffic gap$14.6

GLM 5 has more context, but Granite 4.1 8B saves $1.46 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $14.6. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

Granite 4.1 8B stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shape	Token mix	Better pick	Granite 4.1 8B	GLM 5
Input-heavy / RAG	5M input + 500K output	Granite 4.1 8B	$0.3	$3.96
Balanced workload	1M input + 1M output	Granite 4.1 8B	$0.15	$2.52
Output-heavy chatbot	1M input + 5M output	Granite 4.1 8B	$0.55	$10.2

Cheaper input Granite 4.1 8B $0.05 vs $0.6 / 1M

Granite 4.1 8B is $0.55 cheaper per 1M input tokens (91.7% lower; 12x difference).

Cheaper output Granite 4.1 8B $0.1 vs $1.92 / 1M

Granite 4.1 8B is $1.82 cheaper per 1M output tokens (94.8% lower; 19.2x difference).

Larger context GLM 5 131.07K vs 202.75K

GLM 5 has 71.68K more context (1.55x larger).

Sample workload Granite 4.1 8B $0.1 vs $1.56

Granite 4.1 8B is $1.46 cheaper on the standard workload (93.6% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.

Monthly input tokens Monthly output tokens

Granite 4.1 8B Calculating… Estimated API cost

GLM 5 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

Granite 4.1 8B has the lower input price; Granite 4.1 8B has the lower output price; GLM 5 offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Granite 4.1 8B is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $0.1 for Granite 4.1 8B and $1.56 for GLM 5.

Best Fit

Choose Granite 4.1 8B when you care most about lower input-token price, and lower output-token price.

Choose GLM 5 when you care most about larger context window.

Decision Notes

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Granite 4.1 8B is estimated at $0.1 vs $1.56 for GLM 5, saving $1.46 (93.6% lower).
Granite 4.1 8B is $1.46 cheaper on the standard workload (93.6% lower).
Granite 4.1 8B is $0.55 cheaper per 1M input tokens (91.7% lower; 12x difference).
Granite 4.1 8B is $1.82 cheaper per 1M output tokens (94.8% lower; 19.2x difference).
GLM 5 has 71.68K more context (1.55x larger).

Head-to-Head Specs

Feature	NewGranite 4.1 8B (IBM)	GLM 5 (Z.ai)
Input Price prompt tokens per 1M	$0.05	$0.6
Completion Price per 1M tokens	$0.1	$1.92
Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output	$0.1	$1.56
Context Window	131.07K	202.75K
Release Date	2026-04-30	2026-02-11

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use case	Better pick	Why
Budget-constrained production	Granite 4.1 8B	On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Granite 4.1 8B is estimated at $0.1 vs $1.56 for GLM 5, saving $1.46 (93.6% lower).
High-volume input processing	Granite 4.1 8B	Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbots	Granite 4.1 8B	Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document work	GLM 5	A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

Same-provider lower-cost swaps

Granite 4.0 Micro can replace Granite 4.1 8B when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.07.
GLM 4.5 Air (free) can replace GLM 5 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
GLM 4 32B can replace GLM 5 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.15.
GLM 4.7 Flash can replace GLM 5 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.26.

Larger context near this budget

Llama 4 Scout offers 10M context with $0.23 sample workload cost.
Owl Alpha offers 1.05M context with $0 sample workload cost.
Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite offers 1.05M context with $1 sample workload cost.
DeepSeek V4 Pro offers 1.05M context with $0.87 sample workload cost.

Popular competitors

No popular competitor is currently available.

Cheaper alternatives

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Larger context alternatives

Find models with larger context windows for RAG, long documents, and codebase review.

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Provider catalogs

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IBM catalog

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Z.ai catalog

Check other Z.ai models with comparable pricing, context, or release timing.

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Granite 4.1 8B

Granite 4.1 8B is a dense, decoder-only 8-billion-parameter language model from IBM, part of the Granite 4.1 family. It supports a 131K-token context window and is designed for enterprise tasks...

GLM 5

GLM-5 is Z.ai’s flagship open-source foundation model engineered for complex systems design and long-horizon agent workflows. Built for expert developers, it delivers production-grade performance on large-scale programming tasks, rivaling leading...