API cost decision in 10 seconds

GLM 5 Turbo vs GPT-4o

Pick GLM 5 Turbo when budget and context both matter.

Page updated: 2026-05-26T15:08:08Z Data confirmed: 2026-05-26T18:08:02Z Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output

Budget verdict

Pick GLM 5 Turbo when budget and context both matter.

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, GLM 5 Turbo is estimated at $3.2 vs $7.5 for GPT-4o, saving $4.3 (57.3% lower).

Cost-first pickGLM 5 Turbo

Context-first pickGLM 5 Turbo

Sample savings$4.357.3%

10x traffic gap$43

GLM 5 Turbo is cheaper on the standard workload and also has the larger context window. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $43. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

GLM 5 Turbo stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.

Workload shape	Token mix	Better pick	GLM 5 Turbo	GPT-4o
Input-heavy / RAG	5M input + 500K output	GLM 5 Turbo	$8	$17.5
Balanced workload	1M input + 1M output	GLM 5 Turbo	$5.2	$12.5
Output-heavy chatbot	1M input + 5M output	GLM 5 Turbo	$21.2	$52.5

Cheaper input GLM 5 Turbo $1.2 vs $2.5 / 1M

GLM 5 Turbo is $1.3 cheaper per 1M input tokens (52% lower; 2.08x difference).

Cheaper output GLM 5 Turbo $4 vs $10 / 1M

GLM 5 Turbo is $6 cheaper per 1M output tokens (60% lower; 2.5x difference).

Larger context GLM 5 Turbo 202.75K vs 128K

GLM 5 Turbo has 74.75K more context (1.58x larger).

Sample workload GLM 5 Turbo $3.2 vs $7.5

GLM 5 Turbo is $4.3 cheaper on the standard workload (57.3% lower).

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.

Monthly input tokens Monthly output tokens

GLM 5 Turbo Calculating… Estimated API cost

GPT-4o 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

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

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $3.2 for GLM 5 Turbo and $7.5 for GPT-4o.

Best Fit

Choose GLM 5 Turbo when you care most about lower input-token price, lower output-token price, and larger context window.

Choose GPT-4o when its provider, model quality, latency, or availability is more important than the numeric price/context winner.

Decision Notes

On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, GLM 5 Turbo is estimated at $3.2 vs $7.5 for GPT-4o, saving $4.3 (57.3% lower).
GLM 5 Turbo is $4.3 cheaper on the standard workload (57.3% lower).
GLM 5 Turbo is $1.3 cheaper per 1M input tokens (52% lower; 2.08x difference).
GLM 5 Turbo is $6 cheaper per 1M output tokens (60% lower; 2.5x difference).
GLM 5 Turbo has 74.75K more context (1.58x larger).

Head-to-Head Specs

Feature	GLM 5 Turbo (Z.ai)	GPT-4o (OpenAI)
Input Price prompt tokens per 1M	$1.2	$2.5
Completion Price per 1M tokens	$4	$10
Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output	$3.2	$7.5
Context Window	202.75K	128K
Release Date	2026-03-15	2024-05-13
Popularity	#85	#101

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use case	Better pick	Why
Budget-constrained production	GLM 5 Turbo	On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, GLM 5 Turbo is estimated at $3.2 vs $7.5 for GPT-4o, saving $4.3 (57.3% lower).
High-volume input processing	GLM 5 Turbo	Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbots	GLM 5 Turbo	Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document work	GLM 5 Turbo	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 5 Turbo when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
GLM 4 32B can replace GLM 5 Turbo when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.15.
GLM 4.7 Flash can replace GLM 5 Turbo when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.26.
GLM 4.5 Air can replace GLM 5 Turbo when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.55.

Larger context near this budget

Llama 4 Scout offers 10M context with $0.23 sample workload cost.
Grok 4.20 offers 2M context with $2.5 sample workload cost.
Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent offers 2M context with $5 sample workload cost.
Owl Alpha offers 1.05M context with $0 sample workload cost.

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Z.ai catalog

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OpenAI catalog

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GLM 5 Turbo

GLM-5 Turbo is a new model from Z.ai designed for fast inference and strong performance in agent-driven environments such as OpenClaw scenarios. It is deeply optimized for real-world agent workflows...

GPT-4o

GPT-4o ("o" for "omni") is OpenAI's latest AI model, supporting both text and image inputs with text outputs. It maintains the intelligence level of [GPT-4 Turbo](/models/openai/gpt-4-turbo) while being twice as...