Claude Sonnet 5 vs GLM-4.6

Both are Mid-tier models, from Anthropic and Z.ai respectively. GLM-4.6 is the cheaper choice overall at a 4:1 input:output ratio.

Which is cheaper

Input price: GLM-4.6 is cheaper ($0.60 vs $2.00).
Output price: GLM-4.6 is cheaper ($2.20 vs $10.00).
Blended, 4:1 input:output ratio: GLM-4.6 is 74.4% cheaper ($0.92 vs $3.60 per weighted 1M tokens).

Side by side

Spec	Claude Sonnet 5	GLM-4.6
Provider	Anthropic	Z.ai
Tier	Mid	Mid
Context window	1M	200K
Max output	128K	128K
Input $/1M	$2.00	$0.60
Output $/1M	$10.00	$2.20
Cache read $/1M	$0.20	$0.11
Cache write $/1M	$2.50	—
Modalities	text, image	text

Claude Sonnet 5. 5-minute cache write shown; 1-hour cache write is $4/MTok. The page now states explicitly the previously-scheduled Sep 1 2026 increase to $3/$15 will NOT occur - $2/$10 is permanent.

GLM-4.6. Widely-used popular GLM generation, per 1M tokens.

Sources

Claude Sonnet 5 — verified August 29, 2026

GLM-4.6 — verified August 29, 2026

Full Claude Sonnet 5 pricing page → · Full GLM-4.6 pricing page →