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Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Qwen3.6 Max Preview vs GLM-5

Too close to call on our weighted score (GLM-5 55, Qwen3.6 Max Preview 54). The right pick depends on what you value most.

  1. 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

  2. Z.ai (Zhipu)

    GLM-5

    Released Feb 12, 2026

    55/100
    • ECI145.8
    • Price$1.00 / $3.20
    • Context205K
    Full specs Remove GLM-5

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01 — Verdict

Too close to call

It is close. Our weighted score puts them within a point (GLM-5 55/100, Qwen3.6 Max Preview 54/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Qwen3.6 Max Preview for raw capability and GLM-5 on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityQwen3.6 Max PreviewCapabilities Index (ECI): Qwen3.6 Max Preview 149.2 · GLM-5 145.8
  • Lowest priceGLM-5GLM-5 $1.55 · Qwen3.6 Max Preview $2.92 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextQwen3.6 Max PreviewQwen3.6 Max Preview 262,144 · GLM-5 204,800 tokens
  • Widest inputsSame inputsQwen3.6 Max Preview: Text · GLM-5: Text
  • Self-hostingGLM-5Publishes downloadable weights
How the score is built
MeasureWeightQwen3.6 Max PreviewGLM-5
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%7773
Price25%2841
Inputs & features15%3535
Context window10%3732
Overall100%54/10055/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

Qwen3.6 Max Preview vs GLM-5 specifications side by side
SpecificationQwen3.6 Max PreviewAlibaba (Qwen)GLM-5Z.ai (Zhipu)
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)149.2 (best)145.8
ECI rank#54 of 148 (best)#74 of 148
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions87.4%87.8% (best)
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics91.1% (best)80.0%
SWE-bench VerifiedFixing real GitHub issues76.7% (best)72.1%
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions52.0%—
Price per million tokens
Input$1.30$1.00 (best)
Output$7.80$3.20 (best)
Cached input$0.13 (best)$0.20
Blended (3:1)$2.92$1.55 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Alibaba APIOfficial Z.AI API
Limits
Context window262,144 tokens (best)204,800 tokens
Max output65,536 tokens131,072 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesNoNo
PDFsNoNo
AudioNoNo
VideoNoNo
ReasoningYesYes
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputNoNo
Availability
WeightsProprietaryOpen
API model IDqwen3.6-max-previewglm-5
API providers1027 (best)
ReleasedApr 20, 2026Feb 12, 2026
Knowledge cutoffApr 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.

  • Qwen3.6 Max Preview$28.60
  • GLM-5$16.40
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Qwen3.6 Max Preview or GLM-5?

It is close. Our weighted score puts them within a point (GLM-5 55/100, Qwen3.6 Max Preview 54/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Qwen3.6 Max Preview for raw capability and GLM-5 on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, Qwen3.6 Max Preview or GLM-5?

GLM-5 is cheaper at $1.00 input / $3.20 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 $1.55 per million tokens for GLM-5 versus $2.92 for Qwen3.6 Max Preview (1.9× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

Qwen3.6 Max Preview scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): Qwen3.6 Max Preview 149.2 (#54 of 148) and GLM-5 145.8 (#74 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (147.6–152.0 vs 143.9–147.7), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — GLM-5 87.8%, Qwen3.6 Max Preview 87.4%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — Qwen3.6 Max Preview 91.1%, GLM-5 80.0%; SWE-bench Verified — Qwen3.6 Max Preview 76.7%, GLM-5 72.1%.

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 72.1%. 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 204,800 for GLM-5. Maximum output per response: Qwen3.6 Max Preview up to 65,536, GLM-5 up to 131,072 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Qwen3.6 Max Preview accepts text; GLM-5 accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.

Are any of these open source?

GLM-5 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 came out Feb 12, 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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