GLM-4.5-Air vs Qwen3 235B-A22B Thinking 2507
GLM-4.5-Air comes out ahead, 48 to 42 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
- Our pick
Z.ai (Zhipu)GLM-4.5-Air
48/100- ECI—
- Price$0.20 / $1.10
- Context131K
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen3 235B-A22B Thinking 2507
42/100- ECI143.8
- Price$0.30 / $2.90
- Context262K
Add a model
Make it a three-way comparison.
GLM-4.5-Air is our pick
GLM-4.5-Air is the better all-round choice, scoring 48/100 against Qwen3 235B-A22B Thinking 2507 (42). It leads on price. Qwen3 235B-A22B Thinking 2507 wins on 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 priceGLM-4.5-AirGLM-4.5-Air $0.425 · Qwen3 235B-A22B Thinking 2507 $0.95 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextQwen3 235B-A22B Thinking 2507Qwen3 235B-A22B Thinking 2507 262,144 · GLM-4.5-Air 131,072 tokens
- Widest inputsSame inputsGLM-4.5-Air: Text · Qwen3 235B-A22B Thinking 2507: Text
- Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
| Measure | Weight | GLM-4.5-Air | Qwen3 235B-A22B Thinking 2507 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 65 | 49 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 35 | 35 |
| Context window | 20% | 25 | 37 |
| Overall | 100% | 48/100 | 42/100 |
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) | Qwen3 235B-A22B Thinking 2507Alibaba (Qwen) |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | 143.8 |
| ECI rank | — | #93 of 165 |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | — | 80.1% |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | — | 86.7% |
| SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions | — | 40.4% |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $0.20 (best) | $0.30 |
| Output | $1.10 (best) | $2.90 |
| Cached input | $0.03 | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.425 (best) | $0.95 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Z.AI API | Median of 11 providers |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 131,072 tokens | 262,144 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 98,304 tokens (best) | 81,920 tokens |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | No |
| PDFs | No | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Open | OpenApache 2.0 |
| API model ID | glm-4.5-air | — |
| API providers | 19 (best) | 12 |
| Released | Jul 28, 2025 | Jul 25, 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
- Qwen3 235B-A22B Thinking 2507$8.80
Which should you choose?
Which is better: GLM-4.5-Air or Qwen3 235B-A22B Thinking 2507?
GLM-4.5-Air is the better all-round choice, scoring 48/100 against Qwen3 235B-A22B Thinking 2507 (42). It leads on price. Qwen3 235B-A22B Thinking 2507 wins on 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, GLM-4.5-Air or Qwen3 235B-A22B Thinking 2507?
GLM-4.5-Air is cheaper at $0.20 input / $1.10 output per million tokens (official Z.AI API price). Qwen3 235B-A22B Thinking 2507 costs $0.30 input / $2.90 output per million tokens (median across 11 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 $0.95 for Qwen3 235B-A22B Thinking 2507 (2.2× 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 Qwen3 235B-A22B Thinking 2507 has an ECI of 143.8.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for GLM-4.5-Air and Qwen3 235B-A22B Thinking 2507 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?
Qwen3 235B-A22B Thinking 2507 has the largest context window at 262,144 tokens, against 131,072 for GLM-4.5-Air. Maximum output per response: GLM-4.5-Air up to 98,304, Qwen3 235B-A22B Thinking 2507 up to 81,920 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
GLM-4.5-Air accepts text; Qwen3 235B-A22B Thinking 2507 accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.
Are any of these open source?
Yes, both publish their weights (Apache 2.0), so you can self-host them.
Which is newer?
GLM-4.5-Air is the newest, released Jul 28, 2025. Qwen3 235B-A22B Thinking 2507 came out Jul 25, 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.
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