API cost decision in 10 seconds

NewHy4 preview vs NewGLM 5.3

Pick Hy4 preview for lower cost; pick GLM 5.3 only if the larger context window matters more.

Page updated: 2026-08-28T17:07:52Z Data confirmed: 2026-08-30T06:07:54Z Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick Hy4 preview for lower cost; pick GLM 5.3 only if the larger context window matters more.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Hy4 preview is estimated at $2.08 vs $3.6 for GLM 5.3, saving $1.52 (42.1% lower).

Cost-first pickHy4 preview

Context-first pickGLM 5.3

Sample savings$1.5242.1%

10x traffic gap$15.16

GLM 5.3 has more context, but Hy4 preview saves $1.52 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $15.16. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

Hy4 preview stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shape	Token mix	Better pick	Hy4 preview	GLM 5.3
Input-heavy / RAG	5M input + 500K output	Hy4 preview	$5.42	$9.2
Balanced workload	1M input + 1M output	Hy4 preview	$3.33	$5.8
Output-heavy chatbot	1M input + 5M output	Hy4 preview	$13.34	$23.4

Cheaper input Hy4 preview $0.834 vs $1.4 / 1M

Hy4 preview is $0.57 cheaper per 1M input tokens (40.4% lower; 1.68x difference).

Cheaper output Hy4 preview $2.501 vs $4.4 / 1M

Hy4 preview is $1.9 cheaper per 1M output tokens (43.2% lower; 1.76x difference).

Larger context GLM 5.3 1.05M vs 1.31M

GLM 5.3 has 262.14K more context (1.25x larger).

Sample workload Hy4 preview $2.08 vs $3.6

Hy4 preview is $1.52 cheaper on the standard workload (42.1% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.

Monthly input tokens Monthly output tokens

Hy4 preview Calculating… Estimated API cost

GLM 5.3 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

Hy4 preview has the lower input price; Hy4 preview has the lower output price; GLM 5.3 offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Hy4 preview is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $2.08 for Hy4 preview and $3.6 for GLM 5.3.

Best Fit

Choose Hy4 preview when you care most about lower input-token price, and lower output-token price.

Choose GLM 5.3 when you care most about larger context window.

Decision Notes

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Hy4 preview is estimated at $2.08 vs $3.6 for GLM 5.3, saving $1.52 (42.1% lower).
Hy4 preview is $1.52 cheaper on the standard workload (42.1% lower).
Hy4 preview is $0.57 cheaper per 1M input tokens (40.4% lower; 1.68x difference).
Hy4 preview is $1.9 cheaper per 1M output tokens (43.2% lower; 1.76x difference).
GLM 5.3 has 262.14K more context (1.25x larger).

Head-to-Head Specs

Feature	NewHy4 preview (Tencent)	NewGLM 5.3 (Z.ai)
Input Price prompt tokens per 1M	$0.834	$1.4
Completion Price per 1M tokens	$2.501	$4.4
Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output	$2.08	$3.6
Context Window	1.05M	1.31M
Release Date	2026-08-28	2026-08-18

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use case	Better pick	Why
Budget-constrained production	Hy4 preview	On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Hy4 preview is estimated at $2.08 vs $3.6 for GLM 5.3, saving $1.52 (42.1% lower).
High-volume input processing	Hy4 preview	Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbots	Hy4 preview	Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document work	GLM 5.3	A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

Same-provider lower-cost swaps

Hy3 (free) can replace Hy4 preview when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
Hy-MT2-1.8B can replace Hy4 preview when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.13.
Hy-MT2-30B-A3B can replace Hy4 preview when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.22.
Hy-MT2-7B can replace Hy4 preview when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.22.

Larger context near this budget

Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent offers 2M context with $2.5 sample workload cost.
Grok 4.20 offers 2M context with $2.5 sample workload cost.

Popular competitors

DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 · DeepSeek · #1
MiMo-V2.5 · Xiaomi · #2
GPT-5.6 Luna · OpenAI · #3
Hy3 · Tencent · #4

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Provider catalogs

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Tencent catalog

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Z.ai catalog

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Hy4 preview

Tencent: Hy4 preview is a mixture-of-experts model from Tencent, with 49B active parameters out of 770B total. It is designed for coding agents, complex tool-use workflows, and productivity tasks that...

GLM 5.3

GLM-5.3 is a large-scale reasoning model from Z.ai, built for complex software engineering and long-horizon agent tasks. It supports text input and output with a 1M-token context window, and improves...