ZMIME
Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

GLM-5.1 vs Qwen3.6 Max Preview

GLM-5.1 comes out ahead, 57 to 54 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Our pick

    Z.ai (Zhipu)

    GLM-5.1

    Released Apr 7, 2026

    57/100
    • ECI149.9
    • Price$1.40 / $4.40
    • Context200K
    Full specs Remove GLM-5.1

  2. Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3.6 Max Preview

    Released Apr 20, 2026

    54/100
    • ECI149.2
    • Price$1.30 / $7.80
    • Context262K
    Full specs Remove Qwen3.6 Max Preview

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

GLM-5.1 is our pick

GLM-5.1 is the better all-round choice, scoring 57/100 against Qwen3.6 Max Preview (54). It leads on price and inputs & features. Qwen3.6 Max Preview wins on context window. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityGLM-5.1Capabilities Index (ECI): 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 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextQwen3.6 Max PreviewQwen3.6 Max Preview 262,144 · GLM-5.1 200,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsSame inputsGLM-5.1: Text · Qwen3.6 Max Preview: Text
  • Self-hostingGLM-5.1Publishes downloadable weights
How the score is built
MeasureWeightGLM-5.1Qwen3.6 Max Preview
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%7877
Price25%3428
Inputs & features15%4535
Context window10%3237
Overall100%57/10054/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.

GLM-5.1 vs Qwen3.6 Max Preview specifications side by side
SpecificationGLM-5.1Z.ai (Zhipu)Qwen3.6 Max PreviewAlibaba (Qwen)
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)149.9 (best)149.2
ECI rank#51 of 148 (best)#54 of 148
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions89.9% (best)87.4%
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics36.8%—
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics93.3% (best)91.1%
SWE-bench VerifiedFixing real GitHub issues74.2%76.7% (best)
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions34.0%52.0% (best)
Price per million tokens
Input$1.40$1.30 (best)
Output$4.40 (best)$7.80
Cached input$0.26$0.13 (best)
Blended (3:1)$2.15 (best)$2.92
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Z.AI APIOfficial Alibaba API
Limits
Context window200,000 tokens262,144 tokens (best)
Max output131,072 tokens (best)65,536 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoNo
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningYesYes
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputYesNo
Availability
WeightsOpenProprietary
API model IDglm-5.1qwen3.6-max-preview
API providers40 (best)10
ReleasedApr 7, 2026Apr 20, 2026
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-5.1$22.80
  • Qwen3.6 Max Preview$28.60
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: GLM-5.1 or Qwen3.6 Max Preview?

GLM-5.1 is the better all-round choice, scoring 57/100 against Qwen3.6 Max Preview (54). It leads on price and inputs & features. Qwen3.6 Max Preview wins on context window. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, GLM-5.1 or Qwen3.6 Max Preview?

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). 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).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

GLM-5.1 scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): 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 (148.0–151.6 vs 147.6–152.0), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — GLM-5.1 89.9%, Qwen3.6 Max Preview 87.4%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — GLM-5.1 93.3%, Qwen3.6 Max Preview 91.1%; SWE-bench Verified — Qwen3.6 Max Preview 76.7%, GLM-5.1 74.2%; SimpleQA Verified — Qwen3.6 Max Preview 52.0%, 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% and GLM-5.1 74.2%. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.

Which has the bigger context window?

Qwen3.6 Max Preview has the largest context window at 262,144 tokens, against 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 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

GLM-5.1 accepts text; Qwen3.6 Max Preview accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.

Are any of these open source?

GLM-5.1 publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Qwen3.6 Max Preview is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Qwen3.6 Max Preview is the newest, released Apr 20, 2026. GLM-5.1 came out Apr 7, 2026. Knowledge cutoff: Qwen3.6 Max Preview 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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