ZMIME
Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

GLM-4.5-Air vs GLM-4.5V

Too close to call on our weighted score (GLM-4.5V 49, GLM-4.5-Air 49). The right pick depends on what you value most.

  1. Z.ai (Zhipu)

    GLM-4.5-Air

    Released Jul 28, 2025

    49/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.20 / $1.10
    • Context131K
    Full specs Remove GLM-4.5-Air

  2. Z.ai (Zhipu)

    GLM-4.5V

    Released Aug 11, 2025

    49/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.60 / $1.80
    • Context64K
    Full specs Remove GLM-4.5V

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Too close to call

It is close. Our weighted score puts them within a point (GLM-4.5V 49/100, GLM-4.5-Air 49/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: GLM-4.5-Air on price and GLM-4.5-Air 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 · GLM-4.5V $0.90 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextGLM-4.5-AirGLM-4.5-Air 131,072 · GLM-4.5V 64,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsGLM-4.5VGLM-4.5-Air: Text · GLM-4.5V: Text, Images, Video
  • Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
How the score is built
MeasureWeightGLM-4.5-AirGLM-4.5V
Price50%6852
Inputs & features30%3570
Context window20%2412
Overall100%49/10049/100

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.

GLM-4.5-Air vs GLM-4.5V specifications side by side
SpecificationGLM-4.5-AirZ.ai (Zhipu)GLM-4.5VZ.ai (Zhipu)
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
Price per million tokens
Input$0.20 (best)$0.60
Output$1.10 (best)$1.80
Cached input$0.03—
Blended (3:1)$0.425 (best)$0.90
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Z.AI APIOfficial Z.AI API
Limits
Context window131,072 tokens (best)64,000 tokens
Max output98,304 tokens (best)16,384 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoYes
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoYes
ReasoningYesYes
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenOpen
API model IDglm-4.5-airglm-4.5v
API providers13 (best)11
ReleasedJul 28, 2025Aug 11, 2025
Knowledge cutoffApr 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.

  • GLM-4.5-Air$4.20
  • GLM-4.5V$9.60
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: GLM-4.5-Air or GLM-4.5V?

It is close. Our weighted score puts them within a point (GLM-4.5V 49/100, GLM-4.5-Air 49/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: GLM-4.5-Air on price and GLM-4.5-Air 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, GLM-4.5-Air or GLM-4.5V?

GLM-4.5-Air is cheaper at $0.20 input / $1.10 output per million tokens (official Z.AI API price). GLM-4.5V costs $0.60 input / $1.80 output per million tokens (official Z.AI 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 $0.90 for GLM-4.5V (2.1× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. GLM-4.5-Air has not been scored yet and GLM-4.5V has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for GLM-4.5-Air and GLM-4.5V 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?

GLM-4.5-Air has the largest context window at 131,072 tokens, against 64,000 for GLM-4.5V. Maximum output per response: GLM-4.5-Air up to 98,304, GLM-4.5V up to 16,384 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

GLM-4.5-Air accepts text; GLM-4.5V accepts text, images and video. GLM-4.5V handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

Yes, both publish their weights, so you can self-host them.

Which is newer?

GLM-4.5V is the newest, released Aug 11, 2025. GLM-4.5-Air came out Jul 28, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: GLM-4.5-Air Apr 2025, GLM-4.5V 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 Oct 4, 2026.

05 — Keep comparing

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