ZMIME
Comparison · 2 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

GLM-4.6V-Flash vs Qwen3-VL Plus

GLM-4.6V-Flash comes out ahead, 63 to 58 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Our pick

    Z.ai (Zhipu)

    GLM-4.6V-Flash

    Released Dec 8, 2025

    63/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.161 / $0.559
    • Context128K
    Full specs Remove GLM-4.6V-Flash

  2. Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3-VL Plus

    Released Sep 23, 2025

    58/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.20 / $1.60
    • Context262K
    Full specs Remove Qwen3-VL Plus

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

GLM-4.6V-Flash is our pick

GLM-4.6V-Flash is the better all-round choice, scoring 63/100 against Qwen3-VL Plus (58). It leads on price. Qwen3-VL Plus 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-4.6V-FlashGLM-4.6V-Flash $0.261 · Qwen3-VL Plus $0.55 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextQwen3-VL PlusQwen3-VL Plus 262,144 · GLM-4.6V-Flash 128,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsGLM-4.6V-FlashGLM-4.6V-Flash: Text, Images, Video · Qwen3-VL Plus: Text, Images
  • Self-hostingGLM-4.6V-FlashPublishes downloadable weights
How the score is built
MeasureWeightGLM-4.6V-FlashQwen3-VL Plus
Price50%7460
Inputs & features30%7070
Context window20%2437
Overall100%63/10058/100

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-4.6V-Flash vs Qwen3-VL Plus specifications side by side
SpecificationGLM-4.6V-FlashZ.ai (Zhipu)Qwen3-VL PlusAlibaba (Qwen)
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)——
ECI rank——
Price per million tokens
Input$0.161 (best)$0.20
Output$0.559 (best)$1.60
Cached input—$0.04
Blended (3:1)$0.261 (best)$0.55
Long-context rateSame rateOver 32K: $0.30 / $2.40
Price sourceMedian of 2 providersOfficial Alibaba API
Limits
Context window128,000 tokens262,144 tokens (best)
Max output32,768 tokens32,768 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesYes
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoYesNo
ReasoningYesYes
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoYes
Availability
WeightsOpenProprietary
API model IDglm-4.6v-flashqwen3-vl-plus
API providers66
ReleasedDec 8, 2025Sep 23, 2025
Knowledge cutoff—Apr 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-4.6V-Flash$2.73
  • Qwen3-VL Plus$5.20
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: GLM-4.6V-Flash or Qwen3-VL Plus?

GLM-4.6V-Flash is the better all-round choice, scoring 63/100 against Qwen3-VL Plus (58). It leads on price. Qwen3-VL Plus 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-4.6V-Flash or Qwen3-VL Plus?

GLM-4.6V-Flash is cheaper at $0.161 input / $0.559 output per million tokens (median across 2 API providers; free on Z.AI). Qwen3-VL Plus costs $0.20 input / $1.60 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.261 per million tokens for GLM-4.6V-Flash versus $0.55 for Qwen3-VL Plus (2.1× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. GLM-4.6V-Flash has not been scored yet and Qwen3-VL Plus has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for GLM-4.6V-Flash and Qwen3-VL Plus 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-VL Plus has the largest context window at 262,144 tokens, against 128,000 for GLM-4.6V-Flash. Maximum output per response: GLM-4.6V-Flash up to 32,768, Qwen3-VL Plus up to 32,768 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

GLM-4.6V-Flash accepts text, images and video; Qwen3-VL Plus accepts text and images. GLM-4.6V-Flash handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

GLM-4.6V-Flash publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Qwen3-VL Plus is proprietary.

Which is newer?

GLM-4.6V-Flash is the newest, released Dec 8, 2025. Qwen3-VL Plus came out Sep 23, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Qwen3-VL Plus 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.

05 — Keep comparing

Related comparisons