Qwen-VL OCR vs GLM-4.5-Flash
GLM-4.5-Flash comes out ahead, 65 to 36 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen-VL OCR
36/100- ECI—
- Price$0.72 / $0.72
- Context34K
- Our pick
Z.ai (Zhipu)GLM-4.5-Flash
65/100- ECI—
- PriceFree / Free
- Context131K
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Make it a three-way comparison.
GLM-4.5-Flash is our pick
GLM-4.5-Flash is the better all-round choice, scoring 65/100 against Qwen-VL OCR (36). It leads on price, inputs & features 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 priceGLM-4.5-FlashGLM-4.5-Flash Free · Qwen-VL OCR $0.72 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextGLM-4.5-FlashGLM-4.5-Flash 131,072 · Qwen-VL OCR 34,096 tokens
- Widest inputsQwen-VL OCRQwen-VL OCR: Text, Images · GLM-4.5-Flash: Text
- Self-hostingNo open weightsBoth are available only through APIs
| Measure | Weight | Qwen-VL OCR | GLM-4.5-Flash |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 57 | 100 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 25 | 35 |
| Context window | 20% | 1 | 24 |
| Overall | 100% | 36/100 | 65/100 |
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 | Qwen-VL OCRAlibaba (Qwen) | GLM-4.5-FlashZ.ai (Zhipu) |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $0.72 | Free (best) |
| Output | $0.72 | Free (best) |
| Cached input | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.72 | Free (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Alibaba API | Official Z.AI API |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 34,096 tokens | 131,072 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 4,096 tokens | 98,304 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | No |
| PDFs | No | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | Yes |
| Tool calling | No | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| API model ID | qwen-vl-ocr | glm-4.5-flash |
| API providers | 1 | 4 (best) |
| Released | Oct 28, 2024 | Jul 28, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Apr 2024 | Apr 2025 |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Qwen-VL OCR$8.64
- GLM-4.5-FlashFree
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Qwen-VL OCR or GLM-4.5-Flash?
GLM-4.5-Flash is the better all-round choice, scoring 65/100 against Qwen-VL OCR (36). It leads on price, inputs & features 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, Qwen-VL OCR or GLM-4.5-Flash?
GLM-4.5-Flash is cheaper at Free input / Free output per million tokens (official Z.AI API price). Qwen-VL OCR costs $0.72 input / $0.72 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price). GLM-4.5-Flash is listed as free.
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. Qwen-VL OCR has not been scored yet and GLM-4.5-Flash has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen-VL OCR and GLM-4.5-Flash yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Note that Qwen-VL OCR does not support tool calling, which most coding agents need.
Which has the bigger context window?
GLM-4.5-Flash has the largest context window at 131,072 tokens, against 34,096 for Qwen-VL OCR. Maximum output per response: Qwen-VL OCR up to 4,096, GLM-4.5-Flash up to 98,304 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Qwen-VL OCR accepts text and images; GLM-4.5-Flash accepts text. Qwen-VL OCR handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
No. Qwen-VL OCR and GLM-4.5-Flash are proprietary and only available through APIs and apps.
Which is newer?
GLM-4.5-Flash is the newest, released Jul 28, 2025. Qwen-VL OCR came out Oct 28, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: Qwen-VL OCR Apr 2024, GLM-4.5-Flash 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.
