GLM-5.1 vs Qwen3.6 Max Preview vs Claude Sonnet 4.6
Claude Sonnet 4.6 comes out ahead, 62 to 57 and 54 on our weighted score, though GLM-5.1 is 2.8× cheaper per token.
Z.ai (Zhipu)GLM-5.1
57/100- ECI149.9
- Price$1.40 / $4.40
- Context200K
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen3.6 Max Preview
54/100- ECI149.2
- Price$1.30 / $7.80
- Context262K
- Our pick
AnthropicClaude Sonnet 4.6
62/100- ECI152.3
- Price$3.00 / $15.00
- Context1M
Claude Sonnet 4.6 is our pick
Claude Sonnet 4.6 is the better all-round choice, scoring 62/100 against GLM-5.1 (57) and Qwen3.6 Max Preview (54). It leads on capability, inputs & features and context window. GLM-5.1 wins on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
- CapabilityClaude Sonnet 4.6Capabilities Index (ECI): Claude Sonnet 4.6 152.3 · GLM-5.1 149.9 · Qwen3.6 Max Preview 149.2
- Lowest priceGLM-5.1GLM-5.1 $2.15 · Qwen3.6 Max Preview $2.92 · Claude Sonnet 4.6 $6.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextClaude Sonnet 4.6Claude Sonnet 4.6 1,000,000 · Qwen3.6 Max Preview 262,144 · GLM-5.1 200,000 tokens
- Widest inputsClaude Sonnet 4.6GLM-5.1: Text · Qwen3.6 Max Preview: Text · Claude Sonnet 4.6: Text, Images, PDFs
- Self-hostingGLM-5.1Publishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | GLM-5.1 | Qwen3.6 Max Preview | Claude Sonnet 4.6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI) | 50% | 78 | 77 | 81 |
| Price | 25% | 34 | 28 | 13 |
| Inputs & features | 15% | 45 | 35 | 80 |
| Context window | 10% | 32 | 37 | 60 |
| Overall | 100% | 57/100 | 54/100 | 62/100 |
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | GLM-5.1Z.ai (Zhipu) | Qwen3.6 Max PreviewAlibaba (Qwen) | Claude Sonnet 4.6Anthropic |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 149.9 | 149.2 | 152.3 (best) |
| ECI rank | #51 of 148 | #54 of 148 | #40 of 148 (best) |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | 89.9% (best) | 87.4% | 87.4% |
| FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics | 36.8% | — | — |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | 93.3% (best) | 91.1% | 85.8% |
| SWE-bench VerifiedFixing real GitHub issues | 74.2% | 76.7% (best) | 75.2% |
| SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions | 34.0% | 52.0% (best) | 35.5% |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $1.40 | $1.30 (best) | $3.00 |
| Output | $4.40 (best) | $7.80 | $15.00 |
| Cached input | $0.26 | $0.13 (best) | $0.30 |
| Blended (3:1) | $2.15 (best) | $2.92 | $6.00 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Z.AI API | Official Alibaba API | Official Anthropic API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 200,000 tokens | 262,144 tokens | 1,000,000 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 131,072 tokens (best) | 65,536 tokens | 64,000 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | No | Yes |
| PDFs | No | No | Yes |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yes | Yeslow · medium · high · max |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | No | Yes |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Open | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | glm-5.1 | qwen3.6-max-preview | claude-sonnet-4-6 |
| API providers | 40 | 10 | 41 (best) |
| Released | Apr 7, 2026 | Apr 20, 2026 | Feb 17, 2026 |
| Knowledge cutoff | — | Apr 2025 | Aug 31, 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-5.1$22.80
- Qwen3.6 Max Preview$28.60
- Claude Sonnet 4.6$60.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: GLM-5.1, Qwen3.6 Max Preview or Claude Sonnet 4.6?
Claude Sonnet 4.6 is the better all-round choice, scoring 62/100 against GLM-5.1 (57) and Qwen3.6 Max Preview (54). It leads on capability, inputs & features and context window. GLM-5.1 wins on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
Which is cheaper, GLM-5.1, Qwen3.6 Max Preview or Claude Sonnet 4.6?
GLM-5.1 is cheaper at $1.40 input / $4.40 output per million tokens (official Z.AI API price). Qwen3.6 Max Preview costs $1.30 input / $7.80 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price); Claude Sonnet 4.6 costs $3.00 input / $15.00 output per million tokens (official Anthropic API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $2.15 per million tokens for GLM-5.1 versus $2.92 for Qwen3.6 Max Preview (1.4× as much) and $6.00 for Claude Sonnet 4.6 (2.8× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
Claude Sonnet 4.6 scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): Claude Sonnet 4.6 152.3 (#40 of 148), GLM-5.1 149.9 (#51 of 148) and Qwen3.6 Max Preview 149.2 (#54 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (149.6–154.7 vs 148.0–151.6), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — GLM-5.1 89.9%, Qwen3.6 Max Preview 87.4%, Claude Sonnet 4.6 87.4%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — GLM-5.1 93.3%, Qwen3.6 Max Preview 91.1%, Claude Sonnet 4.6 85.8%; SWE-bench Verified — Qwen3.6 Max Preview 76.7%, Claude Sonnet 4.6 75.2%, GLM-5.1 74.2%; SimpleQA Verified — Qwen3.6 Max Preview 52.0%, Claude Sonnet 4.6 35.5%, GLM-5.1 34.0%.
Which is better for coding?
Qwen3.6 Max Preview resolves more real GitHub issues on SWE-bench Verified: Qwen3.6 Max Preview 76.7%, Claude Sonnet 4.6 75.2% and GLM-5.1 74.2%. All three support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
Claude Sonnet 4.6 has the largest context window at 1,000,000 tokens, against 262,144 for Qwen3.6 Max Preview and 200,000 for GLM-5.1. Maximum output per response: GLM-5.1 up to 131,072, Qwen3.6 Max Preview up to 65,536, Claude Sonnet 4.6 up to 64,000 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
GLM-5.1 accepts text; Qwen3.6 Max Preview accepts text; Claude Sonnet 4.6 accepts text, images and PDFs. Claude Sonnet 4.6 handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
GLM-5.1 publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Qwen3.6 Max Preview and Claude Sonnet 4.6 is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Qwen3.6 Max Preview is the newest, released Apr 20, 2026. GLM-5.1 came out Apr 7, 2026; Claude Sonnet 4.6 came out Feb 17, 2026. Knowledge cutoff: Qwen3.6 Max Preview Apr 2025, Claude Sonnet 4.6 Aug 31, 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.
