API cost decision in 10 seconds

GLM 4.6 vs gpt-oss-20b

Pick gpt-oss-20b for lower cost; pick GLM 4.6 only if the larger context window matters more.

Page updated: 2026-05-26T15:08:08Z Data confirmed: 2026-05-26T19:08:13Z Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick gpt-oss-20b for lower cost; pick GLM 4.6 only if the larger context window matters more.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, gpt-oss-20b is estimated at $0.1 vs $1.3 for GLM 4.6, saving $1.2 (92.3% lower).

Cost-first pickgpt-oss-20b

Context-first pickGLM 4.6

Sample savings$1.292.3%

10x traffic gap$12

GLM 4.6 has more context, but gpt-oss-20b saves $1.2 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $12. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

gpt-oss-20b stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shape	Token mix	Better pick	GLM 4.6	gpt-oss-20b
Input-heavy / RAG	5M input + 500K output	gpt-oss-20b	$3.02	$0.22
Balanced workload	1M input + 1M output	gpt-oss-20b	$2.17	$0.17
Output-heavy chatbot	1M input + 5M output	gpt-oss-20b	$9.13	$0.73

Cheaper input gpt-oss-20b $0.43 vs $0.03 / 1M

gpt-oss-20b is $0.4 cheaper per 1M input tokens (93% lower; 14.3x difference).

Cheaper output gpt-oss-20b $1.74 vs $0.14 / 1M

gpt-oss-20b is $1.6 cheaper per 1M output tokens (92% lower; 12.4x difference).

Larger context GLM 4.6 202.75K vs 131.07K

GLM 4.6 has 71.68K more context (1.55x larger).

Sample workload gpt-oss-20b $1.3 vs $0.1

gpt-oss-20b is $1.2 cheaper on the standard workload (92.3% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.

Monthly input tokens Monthly output tokens

GLM 4.6 Calculating… Estimated API cost

gpt-oss-20b 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

gpt-oss-20b has the lower input price; gpt-oss-20b has the lower output price; GLM 4.6 offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, gpt-oss-20b is cheaper for the standard workload.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $1.3 for GLM 4.6 and $0.1 for gpt-oss-20b.

Best Fit

Choose GLM 4.6 when you care most about larger context window.

Choose gpt-oss-20b when you care most about lower input-token price, and lower output-token price.

Decision Notes

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, gpt-oss-20b is estimated at $0.1 vs $1.3 for GLM 4.6, saving $1.2 (92.3% lower).
gpt-oss-20b is $1.2 cheaper on the standard workload (92.3% lower).
gpt-oss-20b is $0.4 cheaper per 1M input tokens (93% lower; 14.3x difference).
gpt-oss-20b is $1.6 cheaper per 1M output tokens (92% lower; 12.4x difference).
GLM 4.6 has 71.68K more context (1.55x larger).

Head-to-Head Specs

Feature	GLM 4.6 (Z.ai)	gpt-oss-20b (OpenAI)
Input Price prompt tokens per 1M	$0.43	$0.03
Completion Price per 1M tokens	$1.74	$0.14
Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output	$1.3	$0.1
Context Window	202.75K	131.07K
Release Date	2025-09-30	2025-08-05
Popularity	#63	#67

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use case	Better pick	Why
Budget-constrained production	gpt-oss-20b	On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, gpt-oss-20b is estimated at $0.1 vs $1.3 for GLM 4.6, saving $1.2 (92.3% lower).
High-volume input processing	gpt-oss-20b	Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbots	gpt-oss-20b	Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document work	GLM 4.6	A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files.

Related Alternatives

Same-provider lower-cost swaps

GLM 4.5 Air (free) can replace GLM 4.6 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
GLM 4 32B can replace GLM 4.6 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.15.
GLM 4.7 Flash can replace GLM 4.6 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.26.
GLM 4.5 Air can replace GLM 4.6 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.54.

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.
DeepSeek V4 Flash offers 1.05M context with $0.2 sample workload cost.
DeepSeek V4 Pro offers 1.05M context with $0.87 sample workload cost.

Popular competitors

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Hy3 preview · Tencent · #2
Claude Opus 4.7 · Anthropic · #3
Claude Sonnet 4.6 · Anthropic · #4

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Provider catalogs

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Z.ai catalog

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OpenAI catalog

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Compared with GLM-4.5, this generation brings several key improvements: Longer context window: The context window has been expanded from 128K to 200K tokens, enabling the model to handle more complex...

gpt-oss-20b

gpt-oss-20b is an open-weight 21B parameter model released by OpenAI under the Apache 2.0 license. It uses a Mixture-of-Experts (MoE) architecture with 3.6B active parameters per forward pass, optimized for...