ZMIME
Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Gemini 3.6 Flash vs GLM-5V-Turbo

Gemini 3.6 Flash comes out ahead, 63 to 49 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Our pick

    Google

    Gemini 3.6 Flash

    Released Jul 21, 2026

    63/100
    • ECI154.3
    • Price$0.75 / $3.75
    • Context1.05M
    Full specs Remove Gemini 3.6 Flash

  2. Z.ai (Zhipu)

    GLM-5V-Turbo

    Released Apr 1, 2026

    49/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$1.20 / $4.00
    • Context200K
    Full specs Remove GLM-5V-Turbo

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Gemini 3.6 Flash is our pick

Gemini 3.6 Flash is the better all-round choice, scoring 63/100 against GLM-5V-Turbo (49). 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 3.6 FlashGemini 3.6 Flash $1.50 · GLM-5V-Turbo $1.90 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextGemini 3.6 FlashGemini 3.6 Flash 1,048,576 · GLM-5V-Turbo 200,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsGemini 3.6 FlashGemini 3.6 Flash: Text, Images, PDFs, Audio, Video · GLM-5V-Turbo: Text, Images, PDFs, Video
  • Self-hostingNo open weightsBoth are available only through APIs
How the score is built
MeasureWeightGemini 3.6 FlashGLM-5V-Turbo
Price50%4237
Inputs & features30%10080
Context window20%6132
Overall100%63/10049/100

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 3.6 Flash vs GLM-5V-Turbo specifications side by side
SpecificationGemini 3.6 FlashGoogleGLM-5V-TurboZ.ai (Zhipu)
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)154.3—
ECI rank#34 of 148—
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions94.1%—
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics59.0%—
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics94.2%—
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions66.2%—
Price per million tokens
Input$0.75 (best)$1.20
Output$3.75 (best)$4.00
Cached input$0.075 (best)$0.24
Blended (3:1)$1.50 (best)$1.90
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Google APIOfficial Z.AI API
Limits
Context window1,048,576 tokens (best)200,000 tokens
Max output65,536 tokens131,072 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesYes
PDFsYesYes
AudioYesNo
VideoYesYes
ReasoningYesminimal · low · medium · highYes
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputYesNo
Availability
WeightsProprietaryProprietary
API model IDgemini-3.6-flashglm-5v-turbo
API providers25 (best)14
ReleasedJul 21, 2026Apr 1, 2026
Knowledge cutoffMar 2026—
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 3.6 Flash$15.00
  • GLM-5V-Turbo$20.00
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Gemini 3.6 Flash or GLM-5V-Turbo?

Gemini 3.6 Flash is the better all-round choice, scoring 63/100 against GLM-5V-Turbo (49). 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 3.6 Flash or GLM-5V-Turbo?

Gemini 3.6 Flash is cheaper at $0.75 input / $3.75 output per million tokens (official Google API price). GLM-5V-Turbo costs $1.20 input / $4.00 output per million tokens (official Z.AI API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $1.50 per million tokens for Gemini 3.6 Flash versus $1.90 for GLM-5V-Turbo (1.3× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Gemini 3.6 Flash has an ECI of 154.3 and GLM-5V-Turbo has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Gemini 3.6 Flash and GLM-5V-Turbo 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 3.6 Flash has the largest context window at 1,048,576 tokens, against 200,000 for GLM-5V-Turbo. Maximum output per response: Gemini 3.6 Flash up to 65,536, GLM-5V-Turbo up to 131,072 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Gemini 3.6 Flash accepts text, images, PDFs, audio and video; GLM-5V-Turbo accepts text, images, PDFs and video. Gemini 3.6 Flash handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

No. Gemini 3.6 Flash and GLM-5V-Turbo are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.

Which is newer?

Gemini 3.6 Flash is the newest, released Jul 21, 2026. GLM-5V-Turbo came out Apr 1, 2026. Knowledge cutoff: Gemini 3.6 Flash Mar 2026.

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 Oct 4, 2026.

05 — Keep comparing

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