Codestral vs GLM-4.5-Air
Too close to call on our weighted score (Codestral 49, GLM-4.5-Air 48). The right pick depends on what you value most.
Mistral AICodestral
49/100- ECI—
- Price$0.30 / $0.90
- Context256K
Z.ai (Zhipu)GLM-4.5-Air
48/100- ECI—
- Price$0.20 / $1.10
- Context131K
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Make it a three-way comparison.
Too close to call
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 2 points (Codestral 49/100, GLM-4.5-Air 48/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: GLM-4.5-Air on price and Codestral for long inputs. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
- CapabilityNot enough dataNo independent benchmark covers every model here yet
- Lowest priceGLM-4.5-AirGLM-4.5-Air $0.425 · Codestral $0.45 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextCodestralCodestral 256,000 · GLM-4.5-Air 131,072 tokens
- Widest inputsSame inputsCodestral: Text · GLM-4.5-Air: Text
- Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
| Measure | Weight | Codestral | GLM-4.5-Air |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 64 | 65 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 35 | 35 |
| Context window | 20% | 36 | 25 |
| Overall | 100% | 49/100 | 48/100 |
Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | CodestralMistral AI | GLM-4.5-AirZ.ai (Zhipu) |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $0.30 | $0.20 (best) |
| Output | $0.90 (best) | $1.10 |
| Cached input | $0.03 | $0.03 |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.45 | $0.425 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Mistral API | Official Z.AI API |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 256,000 tokens (best) | 131,072 tokens |
| Max output | 4,096 tokens | 98,304 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | No |
| PDFs | No | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | No |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Open | Open |
| API model ID | codestral-latest | glm-4.5-air |
| API providers | 4 | 19 (best) |
| Released | May 29, 2024 | Jul 28, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Oct 2024 | Apr 2025 |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Codestral$4.80
- GLM-4.5-Air$4.20
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Codestral or GLM-4.5-Air?
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 2 points (Codestral 49/100, GLM-4.5-Air 48/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: GLM-4.5-Air on price and Codestral for long inputs. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
Which is cheaper, Codestral or GLM-4.5-Air?
GLM-4.5-Air is cheaper at $0.20 input / $1.10 output per million tokens (official Z.AI API price). Codestral costs $0.30 input / $0.90 output per million tokens (official Mistral API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.425 per million tokens for GLM-4.5-Air versus $0.45 for Codestral (1.1× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Codestral has not been scored yet and GLM-4.5-Air has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Codestral and GLM-4.5-Air yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
Codestral has the largest context window at 256,000 tokens, against 131,072 for GLM-4.5-Air. Maximum output per response: Codestral up to 4,096, GLM-4.5-Air up to 98,304 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Codestral accepts text; GLM-4.5-Air accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.
Are any of these open source?
Yes, both publish their weights, so you can self-host them.
Which is newer?
GLM-4.5-Air is the newest, released Jul 28, 2025. Codestral came out May 29, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Codestral Oct 2024, GLM-4.5-Air Apr 2025.
How do you decide the winner?
Each model gets a 0–100 score on capability (50%, independent benchmark results); price (25%, blended price per million tokens (3 input : 1 output), log scale); inputs & features (15%, image, PDF, audio and video input, tool calling, structured output and reasoning); context window (10%, maximum tokens per request, log scale). Dimensions missing for any model are dropped and the remaining weights rescaled, so every model is judged on the same evidence. Specs and prices come from public model listings and the labs’ own API pages; capability scores come from independent benchmark runs. Data updated Nov 2, 2026.
