ZMIME
Comparison · 3 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Qwen3.5 397B-A17B vs GLM-4.6V vs GLM-5

Too close to call on our weighted score (GLM-4.6V 59, Qwen3.5 397B-A17B 56, GLM-5 37). The right pick depends on what you value most.

  1. Alibaba (Qwen)

    Qwen3.5 397B-A17B

    Released Feb 15, 2026

    56/100
    • ECI146.7
    • Price$0.60 / $3.60
    • Context262K
  2. Z.ai (Zhipu)

    GLM-4.6V

    Released Dec 8, 2025

    59/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.30 / $0.90
    • Context128K
  3. Z.ai (Zhipu)

    GLM-5

    Released Feb 12, 2026

    37/100
    • ECI145.8
    • Price$1.00 / $3.20
    • Context205K
01 — Verdict

Too close to call

It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 3 points (GLM-4.6V 59/100, Qwen3.5 397B-A17B 56/100, GLM-5 37/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: GLM-4.6V on price and Qwen3.5 397B-A17B for long inputs. 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-4.6VGLM-4.6V $0.45 · Qwen3.5 397B-A17B $1.35 · GLM-5 $1.55 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextQwen3.5 397B-A17BQwen3.5 397B-A17B 262,144 · GLM-5 204,800 · GLM-4.6V 128,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsQwen3.5 397B-A17BQwen3.5 397B-A17B: Text, Images, Audio, Video · GLM-4.6V: Text, Images, Video · GLM-5: Text
  • Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
How the score is built
MeasureWeightQwen3.5 397B-A17BGLM-4.6VGLM-5
Price50%446641
Inputs & features30%907035
Context window20%372432
Overall100%56/10059/10037/100

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.

Qwen3.5 397B-A17B vs GLM-4.6V vs GLM-5 specifications side by side
SpecificationQwen3.5 397B-A17BAlibaba (Qwen)GLM-4.6VZ.ai (Zhipu)GLM-5Z.ai (Zhipu)
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)146.7 (best)—145.8
ECI rank#67 of 148 (best)—#74 of 148
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions86.4%—87.8% (best)
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics31.2%——
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics88.9% (best)—80.0%
SWE-bench VerifiedFixing real GitHub issues——72.1%
Price per million tokens
Input$0.60$0.30 (best)$1.00
Output$3.60$0.90 (best)$3.20
Cached input——$0.20
Blended (3:1)$1.35$0.45 (best)$1.55
Long-context rateSame rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Alibaba APIOfficial Z.AI APIOfficial Z.AI API
Limits
Context window262,144 tokens (best)128,000 tokens204,800 tokens
Max output65,536 tokens32,768 tokens131,072 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYesYes
ImagesYesYesNo
PDFsNoNoNo
AudioYesNoNo
VideoYesYesNo
ReasoningYesYesYes
Tool callingYesYesYes
Structured outputYesNoNo
Availability
WeightsOpenOpenOpen
API model IDqwen3.5-397b-a17bglm-4.6vglm-5
API providers231027 (best)
ReleasedFeb 15, 2026Dec 8, 2025Feb 12, 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.

  • Qwen3.5 397B-A17B$13.20
  • GLM-4.6V$4.80
  • GLM-5$16.40
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Qwen3.5 397B-A17B, GLM-4.6V or GLM-5?

It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 3 points (GLM-4.6V 59/100, Qwen3.5 397B-A17B 56/100, GLM-5 37/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: GLM-4.6V on price and Qwen3.5 397B-A17B for long inputs. 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, Qwen3.5 397B-A17B, GLM-4.6V or GLM-5?

GLM-4.6V is cheaper at $0.30 input / $0.90 output per million tokens (official Z.AI API price). Qwen3.5 397B-A17B costs $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). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.45 per million tokens for GLM-4.6V versus $1.35 for Qwen3.5 397B-A17B (3× as much) and $1.55 for GLM-5 (3.4× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. Qwen3.5 397B-A17B has an ECI of 146.7, GLM-4.6V has not been scored yet and GLM-5 has an ECI of 145.8.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Qwen3.5 397B-A17B and GLM-4.6V 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 128,000 for GLM-4.6V. Maximum output per response: Qwen3.5 397B-A17B up to 65,536, GLM-4.6V up to 32,768, GLM-5 up to 131,072 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Qwen3.5 397B-A17B accepts text, images, audio and video; GLM-4.6V accepts text, images and video; GLM-5 accepts text. Qwen3.5 397B-A17B handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

Yes, all three publish their weights, so you can self-host them.

Which is newer?

Qwen3.5 397B-A17B is the newest, released Feb 15, 2026. GLM-5 came out Feb 12, 2026; GLM-4.6V came out Dec 8, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: GLM-4.6V 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.