GLM-4.5-Air vs Grok Code Fast 1 vs Codestral 25.08
Too close to call on our weighted score (Grok Code Fast 1 48, GLM-4.5-Air 48, Codestral 25.08 47). The right pick depends on what you value most.
Z.ai (Zhipu)GLM-4.5-Air
48/100- ECI—
- Price$0.20 / $1.10
- Context131K
xAIGrok Code Fast 1
48/100- ECI—
- Price$0.20 / $1.50
- Context256K
Mistral AICodestral 25.08
47/100- ECI—
- Price$0.30 / $0.90
- Context128K
Too close to call
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within a point (Grok Code Fast 1 48/100, GLM-4.5-Air 48/100, Codestral 25.08 47/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: GLM-4.5-Air on price and Grok Code Fast 1 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 25.08 $0.45 · Grok Code Fast 1 $0.525 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextGrok Code Fast 1Grok Code Fast 1 256,000 · GLM-4.5-Air 131,072 · Codestral 25.08 128,000 tokens
- Widest inputsSame inputsGLM-4.5-Air: Text · Grok Code Fast 1: Text · Codestral 25.08: Text
- Self-hostingGLM-4.5-AirPublishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | GLM-4.5-Air | Grok Code Fast 1 | Codestral 25.08 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 65 | 60 | 64 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 35 | 35 | 35 |
| Context window | 20% | 25 | 36 | 24 |
| Overall | 100% | 48/100 | 48/100 | 47/100 |
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 | GLM-4.5-AirZ.ai (Zhipu) | Grok Code Fast 1xAI | Codestral 25.08Mistral AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.20 (best) | $0.20 (best) | $0.30 |
| Output | $1.10 | $1.50 | $0.90 (best) |
| Cached input | $0.03 | — | $0.03 |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.425 (best) | $0.525 | $0.45 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Z.AI API | Median of 5 providers | Official Mistral API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 131,072 tokens | 256,000 tokens (best) | 128,000 tokens |
| Max output | 98,304 tokens (best) | 10,000 tokens | 8,192 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | No | No |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yes | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No | Yes |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Open | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | glm-4.5-air | — | codestral-2508 |
| API providers | 19 (best) | 7 | 11 |
| Released | Jul 28, 2025 | Sep 2, 2025 | Jul 30, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | 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.
- GLM-4.5-Air$4.20
- Grok Code Fast 1$5.00
- Codestral 25.08$4.80
Which should you choose?
Which is better: GLM-4.5-Air, Grok Code Fast 1 or Codestral 25.08?
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within a point (Grok Code Fast 1 48/100, GLM-4.5-Air 48/100, Codestral 25.08 47/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: GLM-4.5-Air on price and Grok Code Fast 1 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, Grok Code Fast 1 or Codestral 25.08?
GLM-4.5-Air is cheaper at $0.20 input / $1.10 output per million tokens (official Z.AI API price). Codestral 25.08 costs $0.30 input / $0.90 output per million tokens (official Mistral API price); Grok Code Fast 1 costs $0.20 input / $1.50 output per million tokens (median across 5 API providers). 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 25.08 (1.1× as much) and $0.525 for Grok Code Fast 1 (1.2× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. GLM-4.5-Air has not been scored yet, Grok Code Fast 1 has not been scored yet and Codestral 25.08 has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for GLM-4.5-Air, Grok Code Fast 1 and Codestral 25.08 yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. All three support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
Grok Code Fast 1 has the largest context window at 256,000 tokens, against 131,072 for GLM-4.5-Air and 128,000 for Codestral 25.08. Maximum output per response: GLM-4.5-Air up to 98,304, Grok Code Fast 1 up to 10,000, Codestral 25.08 up to 8,192 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
GLM-4.5-Air accepts text; Grok Code Fast 1 accepts text; Codestral 25.08 accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.
Are any of these open source?
GLM-4.5-Air publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Grok Code Fast 1 and Codestral 25.08 is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Grok Code Fast 1 is the newest, released Sep 2, 2025. Codestral 25.08 came out Jul 30, 2025; GLM-4.5-Air came out Jul 28, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: 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.
