GLM-4.6 API pricing
GLM-4.6 from Zhipu AI costs $0.60 per 1M input tokens and $2.20 per 1M output tokens. Cached input drops to $0.11 per 1M.
That puts it 22th cheapest of the 60 models tracked here on a blended 3:1 input-to-output rate, or $1.00 per 1M blended tokens. Verified 2026-08-16.
- Input
- $0.60per 1M tokens
- Output
- $2.20per 1M tokens
- Cached input
- $0.11 82% off input
- Batch discount
- None not published
- Price rank
- #22of 60, cheapest first
- Tokens per $1
- 1,000,000at a 3:1 mix
What GLM-4.6 costs on a real workload
Per-million-token rates are hard to reason about, so here is the same model priced against four concrete monthly workloads. Each row uses this model's own input and output rates against a fixed token mix, with no caching or batch discount applied.
| Workload | Assumption | Monthly cost | Annual |
|---|---|---|---|
| Support chatbot | 50,000 conversations/month at 3K input and 500 output tokens each | $145.00 | $1,740 |
| RAG document search | 200,000 queries/month at 6K retrieved-context input and 400 output tokens | $896.00 | $10,752 |
| Coding agent | 5,000 runs/month at 60K input and 8K output tokens per run | $268.00 | $3,216 |
| Bulk classification | 5,000,000 items/month at 400 input and 20 output tokens each | $1,420 | $17,040 |
Your mix will differ. The API cost calculator takes your own token counts, and the cost per request calculator scales a single call up to per-1,000 and per-month totals.
Cheaper alternatives to GLM-4.6
These are the closest cheaper options from other providers, ordered by how near they sit to GLM-4.6 on the blended rate. Closer is usually a more realistic swap: the further down this list you go, the more capability you are likely trading away.
| Model | Provider | Input / 1M | Output / 1M | Cheaper by |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite | $0.30 | $2.50 | 1.2x | |
| Mistral Large 3 | Mistral | $0.50 | $1.50 | 1.3x |
| Llama 3.3 70B Versatile (via Groq) | Groq | $0.59 | $0.79 | 1.6x |
| DeepSeek V4 Pro | DeepSeek | $0.435 | $0.87 | 1.8x |
| GPT-5.4 nano | OpenAI | $0.20 | $1.25 | 2.2x |
Before switching, price the move properly: the model switching savings calculator puts two models against the same workload and shows the annual difference.
Models priced near GLM-4.6
If cost is roughly fixed and you are choosing on capability instead, these are the models sitting closest to GLM-4.6 on price.
| Model | Provider | Input / 1M | Output / 1M | Blended |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sonar | Perplexity | $1.00 | $1.00 | $1.00 |
| ERNIE 5.1 | Baidu | $0.56 | $2.54 | $1.06 |
| GLM-5 | Zhipu AI | $0.60 | $1.92 | $0.930 |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite | $0.30 | $2.50 | $0.850 |
How to pay less for GLM-4.6
Prompt caching. Cache-hit input tokens bill at $0.11 instead of $0.60, which is 82% off. This matters most for workloads that resend a large, mostly-static prefix on every call: system prompts, tool definitions, retrieved documents, long conversation histories. The saving scales with your cache hit rate, so the prompt caching savings calculator is the honest way to size it rather than assuming a perfect hit rate.
About Zhipu AI
Zhipu's GLM models are among the cheapest flagship-class options tracked here, with cached input at roughly a fifth of the standard rate.
See every Zhipu AI model and how the lineup is tiered on the Zhipu AI pricing page, or put GLM-4.6 against all 60 models from all 17 providers on the comparison table.
GLM-4.6 pricing FAQ
How much does GLM-4.6 cost per 1M tokens?
GLM-4.6 costs $0.60 per 1M input tokens and $2.20 per 1M output tokens. Cached input tokens are cheaper again at $0.11 per 1M, a 82% discount on repeated context.
Is GLM-4.6 expensive compared to other models?
It ranks 22 of 60 on a blended rate that weights input and output 3:1, so 21 tracked models are cheaper and 38 are more expensive. That works out to 18x the blended rate of Qwen3.7 Flash, the cheapest model tracked here.
What does a real workload cost on GLM-4.6?
A support chatbot handling 50,000 conversations a month at 3K input and 500 output tokens each comes to about $145.00 a month. A coding agent doing 5,000 runs at 60K input and 8K output per run comes to about $268.00. Run your own numbers in the API cost calculator.
Why is GLM-4.6 output more expensive than input?
Output on this model is 3.7x the input rate. Every output token needs its own forward pass through the model, while input tokens are processed in parallel, so output costs more to serve across essentially every provider. It also means a workload's input:output mix, not just its total token count, drives the bill.
What is a cheaper alternative to GLM-4.6?
Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite from Google is the closest cheaper option at $0.30 / $2.50, roughly 1.2x cheaper on a blended basis. Whether it is a real substitute depends on whether your task actually needs the extra capability.