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compare/glm-5-vs-claude

Comparison · open vs closed

GLM-5 vs Claude

Anthropic's Claude 5.5 models — Opus, Sonnet and Haiku — are closed, premium assistants with strong document handling. GLM-5.3 and GLM-5.3 Flash are open-weights models at a fraction of the price. Here is what the specs say.
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Data-backed verdicts

GLM-5

3

vs

Claude

2

Tie: 1 · counted from the six verdicts below

§ 01Specs

Specification matrix

OpenRouter data for the models compared on this page. Lowest prices and largest limits are highlighted.

GLM-5 vs Claude
ModelGLM-5.3GLM-5.3 FlashClaude Opus 5.5Claude Sonnet 5.5Claude Haiku 5.5
DeveloperZ.aiZ.aiAnthropicAnthropicAnthropic
ReleasedAug 18, 2026Aug 26, 2026Sep 22, 2026Sep 28, 2026Oct 7, 2026
Context window1.05M1.05M1M1M1M
Max output944K944K128K128K128K
Input price$0.079$0.0052$4$2$0.1
Output price$1.40$0.1985$20$10$0.5
InputsTextText, Image, VideoText, Image, FilesText, Image, FilesText, Image, Files
Open weightsYes (Hugging Face)Yes (Hugging Face)NoNoNo
Free chat hereIn our chatIn our chat———

Prices are USD per 1 million tokens as listed by OpenRouter; the best value in each row is highlighted. Source: OpenRouter model list and the official Hugging Face model cards.

§ 02Analysis

What the numbers mean

The price gap

The difference in cost is large. Claude Opus 5.5 costs $4 per million input tokens and $20 per million output tokens, Claude Sonnet 5.5 $2 and $10, and Claude Haiku 5.5 $0.10 and $0.50. GLM-5.3 costs $0.079 and $1.40, and GLM-5.3 Flash $0.0052 and $0.1985.

So GLM-5.3 is cheaper than Claude Opus 5.5 by a factor of about fifty on input and about fourteen on output. Even against Haiku 5.5, the cheapest Claude, GLM-5.3 Flash costs less on both input and output. For high-volume workloads this can decide the choice on its own.

What each model can read

Claude has the edge on input types. Claude Opus 5.5 accepts text, images and files such as PDFs directly. GLM-5.3 Flash reads text, images and video, while GLM-5.3 is text-only. If your work is mostly about reading PDFs and scanned documents at the flagship level, Claude's native file input is more convenient.

On the other hand, GLM-5.3 Flash's video input has no counterpart in the Claude list. Context is similar: Claude Opus 5.5 lists one million tokens, GLM 1,048,576.

Output length and openness

Claude Opus 5.5 can return up to 128,000 tokens per request. GLM-5.3 and GLM-5.3 Flash list 943,718. For long rewrites or agent runs that produce a lot of text at once, GLM leaves much more room.

Claude is available only through Anthropic and its partners. GLM-5.3 Flash is open weights under the MIT licence and GLM-5.3 under a custom licence, so you can run them on your own infrastructure when data residency or cost requires it.

  • Native file and PDF input: Claude.
  • Image input on the flagship: Claude Opus 5.5 (GLM-5.3 is text-only).
  • Price, open weights and output length: GLM.

§ 03Verdicts

Six questions, six answers

Price

GLM-5

GLM-5.3 Flash costs $0.0052 / $0.1985 per million tokens; even Claude Haiku 5.5 costs $0.10 / $0.50.

Open weights

GLM-5

GLM-5.3 and GLM-5.3 Flash are on Hugging Face; Claude models are not downloadable.

File and PDF input

Claude

Claude Opus 5.5 lists file input alongside text and images; GLM models do not.

Image input on the flagship

Claude

Claude Opus 5.5 reads images; GLM-5.3 is text-only and leaves images to GLM-5.3 Flash.

Max output per request

GLM-5

GLM lists 943,718 tokens; Claude Opus 5.5 lists 128,000.

Context window

Tie

About one million tokens on both sides.

Bottom line

If budget, self-hosting or very long outputs matter, GLM-5 is the clear choice. If you want one premium model that reads PDFs and images natively at the top tier, Claude is more convenient — at many times the price.

Pick GLM-5 if…

  • you process large volumes and cost matters
  • you need to self-host or control where data runs
  • you need very long outputs in one request
  • you want video input (GLM-5.3 Flash)

Pick Claude if…

  • you work mostly with PDFs and other files
  • you want image input on the flagship model
  • your team is already built around Anthropic's tools

§ 04FAQ

Common questions

Q01Is GLM-5 cheaper than Claude?

Yes, substantially. GLM-5.3 Flash is cheaper than even Claude Haiku 5.5, and GLM-5.3 is many times cheaper than Claude Opus 5.5.

Q02Can GLM-5 read PDFs like Claude?

GLM models on OpenRouter do not list file input. You can paste extracted text, or send page images to GLM-5.3 Flash.

Q03Which has the larger context window?

They are about the same: one million tokens for Claude Opus 5.5 and 1,048,576 for GLM-5.3 and GLM-5.3 Flash.

Q04Which writes better?

Writing quality depends on the task and the language. Try the same prompt in our free GLM chat and compare.

§ 05More

Other comparisons

GLM-5 vs DeepSeek V4GLM-5 vs Qwen3.7GLM-5 vs GPT-6GLM-5 vs GeminiGLM-5.3 vs GLM-5.3 FlashAll comparisons

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