ZMIME
Comparison · 2 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite vs GLM-4.5-Air

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite comes out ahead, 83 to 48 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Our pick

    Google

    Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite

    Released Jun 17, 2025

    83/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.10 / $0.40
    • Context1.05M
    Full specs Remove Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite

  2. Z.ai (Zhipu)

    GLM-4.5-Air

    Released Jul 28, 2025

    48/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.20 / $1.10
    • Context131K
    Full specs Remove GLM-4.5-Air

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite is our pick

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite is the better all-round choice, scoring 83/100 against GLM-4.5-Air (48). It leads on price, inputs & features and context window. 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 priceGemini 2.5 Flash-LiteGemini 2.5 Flash-Lite $0.175 · GLM-4.5-Air $0.425 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextGemini 2.5 Flash-LiteGemini 2.5 Flash-Lite 1,048,576 · GLM-4.5-Air 131,072 tokens
  • Widest inputsGemini 2.5 Flash-LiteGemini 2.5 Flash-Lite: Text, Images, PDFs, Audio, Video · GLM-4.5-Air: Text
  • Self-hostingGLM-4.5-AirPublishes downloadable weights
How the score is built
MeasureWeightGemini 2.5 Flash-LiteGLM-4.5-Air
Price50%8265
Inputs & features30%10035
Context window20%6125
Overall100%83/10048/100

Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.

02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite vs GLM-4.5-Air specifications side by side
SpecificationGemini 2.5 Flash-LiteGoogleGLM-4.5-AirZ.ai (Zhipu)
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
Price per million tokens
Input$0.10 (best)$0.20
Output$0.40 (best)$1.10
Cached input$0.01 (best)$0.03
Blended (3:1)$0.175 (best)$0.425
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Google APIOfficial Z.AI API
Limits
Context window1,048,576 tokens (best)131,072 tokens
Max output65,536 tokens98,304 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesNo
PDFsYesNo
AudioYesNo
VideoYesNo
ReasoningYesYes
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputYesNo
Availability
WeightsProprietaryOpen
API model IDgemini-2.5-flash-liteglm-4.5-air
API providers24 (best)19
ReleasedJun 17, 2025Jul 28, 2025
Knowledge cutoffJan 2025Apr 2025
03 — Cost

What would a month cost?

Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.

  • Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite$1.80
  • GLM-4.5-Air$4.20
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite or GLM-4.5-Air?

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite is the better all-round choice, scoring 83/100 against GLM-4.5-Air (48). It leads on price, inputs & features and context window. 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, Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite or GLM-4.5-Air?

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite is cheaper at $0.10 input / $0.40 output per million tokens (official Google API price). GLM-4.5-Air costs $0.20 input / $1.10 output per million tokens (official Z.AI API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.175 per million tokens for Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite versus $0.425 for GLM-4.5-Air (2.4× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite 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 Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite 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?

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite has the largest context window at 1,048,576 tokens, against 131,072 for GLM-4.5-Air. Maximum output per response: Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite up to 65,536, GLM-4.5-Air up to 98,304 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite accepts text, images, PDFs, audio and video; GLM-4.5-Air accepts text. Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

GLM-4.5-Air publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite is proprietary.

Which is newer?

GLM-4.5-Air is the newest, released Jul 28, 2025. Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite came out Jun 17, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite Jan 2025, 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.

05 — Keep comparing

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