API cost decision in 10 seconds

GLM 5 vs Qwen3.5 397B A17B

The standard workload cost is tied; choose by context window, provider fit, latency, or model quality.

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

The standard workload cost is tied; choose by context window, provider fit, latency, or model quality.

Both models are estimated at $1.56 for the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload.

Cost-first pickTie

Context-first pickQwen3.5 397B A17B

Sample savings$00%

10x traffic gap$0

Context-window winner: Qwen3.5 397B A17B. Cost does not separate this pair on the standard workload, so the next decision point is context window and model behavior.

Cost sensitivity

Workload Sensitivity

Same prices, different token mixes.

Cost winner changes by workload shape: input-heavy / RAG favors Qwen3.5 397B A17B, balanced workload favors GLM 5, and output-heavy chatbot favors GLM 5.

Workload shape	Token mix	Better pick	GLM 5	Qwen3.5 397B A17B
Input-heavy / RAG	5M input + 500K output	Qwen3.5 397B A17B	$3.96	$3.12
Balanced workload	1M input + 1M output	GLM 5	$2.52	$2.73
Output-heavy chatbot	1M input + 5M output	GLM 5	$10.2	$12.09

Cheaper input Qwen3.5 397B A17B $0.6 vs $0.39 / 1M

Qwen3.5 397B A17B is $0.21 cheaper per 1M input tokens (35% lower; 1.54x difference).

Cheaper output GLM 5 $1.92 vs $2.34 / 1M

GLM 5 is $0.42 cheaper per 1M output tokens (17.9% lower; 1.22x difference).

Larger context Qwen3.5 397B A17B 202.75K vs 262.14K

Qwen3.5 397B A17B has 59.39K more context (1.29x larger).

Sample workload Tie $1.56 vs $1.56

Both models have the same estimated cost for the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload: $1.56.

Estimate your workload cost

Your Workload Cost

Prices are normalized to USD per 1M tokens.

Monthly input tokens Monthly output tokens

GLM 5 Calculating… Estimated API cost

Qwen3.5 397B A17B 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

Qwen3.5 397B A17B has the lower input price; GLM 5 has the lower output price; Qwen3.5 397B A17B offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, the standard workload cost is tied.

For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $1.56 for GLM 5 and $1.56 for Qwen3.5 397B A17B.

Best Fit

Choose GLM 5 when you care most about lower output-token price.

Choose Qwen3.5 397B A17B when you care most about lower input-token price, and larger context window.

Decision Notes

Both models are estimated at $1.56 for the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload.
Both models have the same estimated cost for the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload: $1.56.
Qwen3.5 397B A17B is $0.21 cheaper per 1M input tokens (35% lower; 1.54x difference).
GLM 5 is $0.42 cheaper per 1M output tokens (17.9% lower; 1.22x difference).
Qwen3.5 397B A17B has 59.39K more context (1.29x larger).

Head-to-Head Specs

Feature	GLM 5 (Z.ai)	Qwen3.5 397B A17B (Qwen)
Input Price prompt tokens per 1M	$0.6	$0.39
Completion Price per 1M tokens	$1.92	$2.34
Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output	$1.56	$1.56
Context Window	202.75K	262.14K
Release Date	2026-02-11	2026-02-16
Popularity	#38	#53

Use-Case Decision Matrix

Use case	Better pick	Why
Budget-constrained production	Tie	Both models are estimated at $1.56 for the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload.
High-volume input processing	Qwen3.5 397B A17B	Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill.
Long responses and chatbots	GLM 5	Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens.
RAG or long-document work	Qwen3.5 397B A17B	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 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.
GLM 4.5 Air can replace GLM 5 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

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

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

Compare models within provider hubs before choosing a final API vendor.

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Z.ai catalog

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Qwen catalog

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

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GLM 5

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The Qwen3.5 series 397B-A17B native vision-language model is built on a hybrid architecture that integrates a linear attention mechanism with a sparse mixture-of-experts model, achieving higher inference efficiency. It delivers...