GLM-5 vs Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview vs Qwen3.5 397B-A17B
Qwen3.5 397B-A17B comes out ahead, 56 to 50 and 37 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
Z.ai (Zhipu)GLM-5
37/100- ECI145.8
- Price$1.00 / $3.20
- Context205K
GoogleGemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview
50/100- ECI—
- Price$1.00 / $5.00
- Context131K
- Our pick
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen3.5 397B-A17B
56/100- ECI146.7
- Price$0.60 / $3.60
- Context262K
Qwen3.5 397B-A17B is our pick
Qwen3.5 397B-A17B is the better all-round choice, scoring 56/100 against Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview (50) and GLM-5 (37). It leads on price and 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 priceQwen3.5 397B-A17BQwen3.5 397B-A17B $1.35 · GLM-5 $1.55 · Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview $2.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextQwen3.5 397B-A17BQwen3.5 397B-A17B 262,144 · GLM-5 204,800 · Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview 131,072 tokens
- Widest inputsGemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview and Qwen3.5 397B-A17BGLM-5: Text · Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview: Text, Images, Audio, Video · Qwen3.5 397B-A17B: Text, Images, Audio, Video
- Self-hostingGLM-5 and Qwen3.5 397B-A17BPublishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | GLM-5 | Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview | Qwen3.5 397B-A17B |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 41 | 36 | 44 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 35 | 90 | 90 |
| Context window | 20% | 32 | 24 | 37 |
| Overall | 100% | 37/100 | 50/100 | 56/100 |
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-5Z.ai (Zhipu) | Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 PreviewGoogle | Qwen3.5 397B-A17BAlibaba (Qwen) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 145.8 | — | 146.7 (best) |
| ECI rank | #74 of 148 | — | #67 of 148 (best) |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | 87.8% (best) | — | 86.4% |
| FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics | — | — | 31.2% |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | 80.0% | — | 88.9% (best) |
| SWE-bench VerifiedFixing real GitHub issues | 72.1% | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $1.00 | $1.00 | $0.60 (best) |
| Output | $3.20 (best) | $5.00 | $3.60 |
| Cached input | $0.20 | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $1.55 | $2.00 | $1.35 (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Z.AI API | Median of 1 providers | Official Alibaba API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 204,800 tokens | 131,072 tokens | 262,144 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 131,072 tokens (best) | 65,536 tokens | 65,536 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | Yes | Yes |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | Yes | Yes |
| Video | No | Yes | Yes |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | Yes | Yes |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Open | Proprietary | Open |
| API model ID | glm-5 | — | qwen3.5-397b-a17b |
| API providers | 27 (best) | 1 | 23 |
| Released | Feb 12, 2026 | Apr 14, 2026 | Feb 15, 2026 |
| Knowledge cutoff | — | Jan 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$16.40
- Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview$20.00
- Qwen3.5 397B-A17B$13.20
Which should you choose?
Which is better: GLM-5, Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview or Qwen3.5 397B-A17B?
Qwen3.5 397B-A17B is the better all-round choice, scoring 56/100 against Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview (50) and GLM-5 (37). It leads on price and 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-5, Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview or Qwen3.5 397B-A17B?
Qwen3.5 397B-A17B is cheaper at $0.60 input / $3.60 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). GLM-5 costs $1.00 input / $3.20 output per million tokens (official Z.AI API price); Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview costs $1.00 input / $5.00 output per million tokens (median across 1 API provider). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $1.35 per million tokens for Qwen3.5 397B-A17B versus $1.55 for GLM-5 (1.1× as much) and $2.00 for Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview (1.5× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. GLM-5 has an ECI of 145.8, Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview has not been scored yet and Qwen3.5 397B-A17B has an ECI of 146.7.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview and Qwen3.5 397B-A17B yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. All three support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
Qwen3.5 397B-A17B has the largest context window at 262,144 tokens, against 204,800 for GLM-5 and 131,072 for Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview. Maximum output per response: GLM-5 up to 131,072, Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview up to 65,536, Qwen3.5 397B-A17B up to 65,536 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
GLM-5 accepts text; Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview accepts text, images, audio and video; Qwen3.5 397B-A17B accepts text, images, audio and video. Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
GLM-5 and Qwen3.5 397B-A17B publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview is the newest, released Apr 14, 2026. Qwen3.5 397B-A17B came out Feb 15, 2026; GLM-5 came out Feb 12, 2026. Knowledge cutoff: Gemini Robotics-ER 1.6 Preview Jan 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.
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