Head-to-head showdown: Grok 4.5 ($2.00 in / $6.00 out per 1M) vs GLM-5.3 (Z.ai) ($1.40 in / $4.40 out per 1M). GLM-5.3 (Z.ai) is 1.4× cheaper across standard token mixes, with 500K vs 1M context windows.
grok-4-5 · xai
glm-5.3 · zai
Benchmark
| Workload Scenario | Grok 4.5 | GLM-5.3 (Z.ai) | Price Delta |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1M input tokens (raw text) | $2.00 | $1.40 | +$0.60 |
| 1M output tokens (generation) | $6.00 | $4.40 | +$1.60 |
| 1M tokens · 70% input / 30% output mix | $3.20 | $2.30 | +$0.90 |
| Standard chat turn (4K in / 800 out, 50% cached) | $0.0094 | $0.00684 | +$0.00256 |
| Monthly scale (10K requests / day) | $2,820.00 | $2,052.00 | +$768.00 |
Negative difference = Grok 4.5 is cheaper. Positive = GLM-5.3 (Z.ai) is cheaper.
Scaling Curve
Total cost of a token volume at 70/30 input/output split (uncached). Log-log scale.
Verdict
GLM-5.3 (Z.ai) is cheaper on both input and output rates, so it costs less at every input/output mix. Price alone still isn't the whole decision: capability, latency and context limits (Grok 4.5: 500K, GLM-5.3 (Z.ai): 1M) may justify the premium for your task.
FAQ
On input, GLM-5.3 (Z.ai) is cheaper ($1.40/M vs $2.00/M). On output, GLM-5.3 (Z.ai) is cheaper ($4.40/M vs $6.00/M). The same model is cheaper on both sides, so it wins at every mix.
A chat-style request (4,000 input + 800 output tokens, 50% cached) costs $0.0094 on Grok 4.5 and $0.00684 on GLM-5.3 (Z.ai) — GLM-5.3 (Z.ai) is 1.4× more expensive for that workload.
Grok 4.5 supports 500,000 tokens (64K max output); GLM-5.3 (Z.ai) supports 1,048,576 (131.1K max output). GLM-5.3 (Z.ai) fits 2.1× more context, which matters for long documents and agents.