ZMIME
Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

GLM-4.5V vs Qwen3 Max

GLM-4.5V comes out ahead, 49 to 31 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Our pick

    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

  2. Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3 Max

    Released Sep 23, 2025

    31/100
    • ECI142.4
    • Price$1.20 / $6.00
    • Context262K
    Full specs Remove Qwen3 Max

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

GLM-4.5V is our pick

GLM-4.5V is the better all-round choice, scoring 49/100 against Qwen3 Max (31). It leads on price and inputs & features. Qwen3 Max 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-4.5VGLM-4.5V $0.90 · Qwen3 Max $2.40 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextQwen3 MaxQwen3 Max 262,144 · GLM-4.5V 64,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsGLM-4.5VGLM-4.5V: Text, Images, Video · Qwen3 Max: Text
  • Self-hostingGLM-4.5VPublishes downloadable weights
How the score is built
MeasureWeightGLM-4.5VQwen3 Max
Price50%5232
Inputs & features30%7025
Context window20%1237
Overall100%49/10031/100

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-4.5V vs Qwen3 Max specifications side by side
SpecificationGLM-4.5VZ.ai (Zhipu)Qwen3 MaxAlibaba (Qwen)
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)—142.4
ECI rank—#91 of 148
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions—72.6%
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics—19.0%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics—73.3%
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions—48.8%
Price per million tokens
Input$0.60 (best)$1.20
Output$1.80 (best)$6.00
Cached input——
Blended (3:1)$0.90 (best)$2.40
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Z.AI APIOfficial Alibaba API
Limits
Context window64,000 tokens262,144 tokens (best)
Max output16,384 tokens65,536 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesNo
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoYesNo
ReasoningYesNo
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenProprietary
API model IDglm-4.5vqwen3-max
API providers1116 (best)
ReleasedAug 11, 2025Sep 23, 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-4.5V$9.60
  • Qwen3 Max$24.00
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: GLM-4.5V or Qwen3 Max?

GLM-4.5V is the better all-round choice, scoring 49/100 against Qwen3 Max (31). It leads on price and inputs & features. Qwen3 Max 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-4.5V or Qwen3 Max?

GLM-4.5V is cheaper at $0.60 input / $1.80 output per million tokens (official Z.AI API price). Qwen3 Max costs $1.20 input / $6.00 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.90 per million tokens for GLM-4.5V versus $2.40 for Qwen3 Max (2.7× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. GLM-4.5V has not been scored yet and Qwen3 Max has an ECI of 142.4.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for GLM-4.5V and Qwen3 Max 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 Max has the largest context window at 262,144 tokens, against 64,000 for GLM-4.5V. Maximum output per response: GLM-4.5V up to 16,384, Qwen3 Max up to 65,536 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

GLM-4.5V accepts text, images and video; Qwen3 Max accepts text. GLM-4.5V handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

GLM-4.5V publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Qwen3 Max is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Qwen3 Max is the newest, released Sep 23, 2025. GLM-4.5V came out Aug 11, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: GLM-4.5V Apr 2025, Qwen3 Max 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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