ZMIME
Comparison · 3 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

Qwen3.6 Max Preview vs GPT-5.2 vs GLM-5.1

GPT-5.2 comes out ahead, 61 to 57 and 54 on our weighted score, though GLM-5.1 is 2.2× cheaper per token.

  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. Our pick

    OpenAI

    GPT-5.2

    Released Dec 11, 2025

    61/100
    • ECI153.5
    • Price$1.75 / $14.00
    • Context400K
    Full specs Remove GPT-5.2

  3. 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
01 — Verdict

GPT-5.2 is our pick

GPT-5.2 is the better all-round choice, scoring 61/100 against GLM-5.1 (57) and Qwen3.6 Max Preview (54). It leads on capability, inputs & features and context window. GLM-5.1 wins on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityGPT-5.2Capabilities Index (ECI): GPT-5.2 153.5 · 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 · GPT-5.2 $4.81 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextGPT-5.2GPT-5.2 400,000 · Qwen3.6 Max Preview 262,144 · GLM-5.1 200,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsGPT-5.2Qwen3.6 Max Preview: Text · GPT-5.2: Text, Images · GLM-5.1: Text
  • Self-hostingGLM-5.1Publishes downloadable weights
How the score is built
MeasureWeightQwen3.6 Max PreviewGPT-5.2GLM-5.1
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%778378
Price25%281834
Inputs & features15%357045
Context window10%374432
Overall100%54/10061/10057/100
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 GPT-5.2 vs GLM-5.1 specifications side by side
SpecificationQwen3.6 Max PreviewAlibaba (Qwen)GPT-5.2OpenAIGLM-5.1Z.ai (Zhipu)
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)149.2153.5 (best)149.9
ECI rank#54 of 148#38 of 148 (best)#51 of 148
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions87.4%91.4% (best)89.9%
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics—67.4% (best)36.8%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics91.1%96.1% (best)93.3%
SWE-bench VerifiedFixing real GitHub issues76.7% (best)73.8%74.2%
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions52.0% (best)37.1%34.0%
Price per million tokens
Input$1.30 (best)$1.75$1.40
Output$7.80$14.00$4.40 (best)
Cached input$0.13 (best)$0.175$0.26
Blended (3:1)$2.92$4.81$2.15 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Alibaba APIOfficial OpenAI APIOfficial Z.AI API
Limits
Context window262,144 tokens400,000 tokens (best)200,000 tokens
Max output65,536 tokens128,000 tokens131,072 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYesYes
ImagesNoYesNo
PDFsNoNoNo
AudioNoNoNo
VideoNoNoNo
ReasoningYesYeslow · medium · high · xhighYes
Tool callingYesYesYes
Structured outputNoYesYes
Availability
WeightsProprietaryProprietaryOpen
API model IDqwen3.6-max-previewgpt-5.2glm-5.1
API providers102140 (best)
ReleasedApr 20, 2026Dec 11, 2025Apr 7, 2026
Knowledge cutoffApr 2025Aug 31, 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
  • GPT-5.2$45.50
  • GLM-5.1$22.80
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Qwen3.6 Max Preview, GPT-5.2 or GLM-5.1?

GPT-5.2 is the better all-round choice, scoring 61/100 against GLM-5.1 (57) and Qwen3.6 Max Preview (54). It leads on capability, inputs & features and context window. GLM-5.1 wins on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, Qwen3.6 Max Preview, GPT-5.2 or GLM-5.1?

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); GPT-5.2 costs $1.75 input / $14.00 output per million tokens (official OpenAI 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) and $4.81 for GPT-5.2 (2.2× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

GPT-5.2 scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): GPT-5.2 153.5 (#38 of 148), GLM-5.1 149.9 (#51 of 148) and Qwen3.6 Max Preview 149.2 (#54 of 148). Their confidence ranges do not overlap (151.7–155.4 vs 148.0–151.6), so the gap is a real one. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — GPT-5.2 91.4%, GLM-5.1 89.9%, Qwen3.6 Max Preview 87.4%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — GPT-5.2 96.1%, 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%, GPT-5.2 73.8%; SimpleQA Verified — Qwen3.6 Max Preview 52.0%, GPT-5.2 37.1%, 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%, GLM-5.1 74.2% and GPT-5.2 73.8%. All three support tool calling for agent workflows.

Which has the bigger context window?

GPT-5.2 has the largest context window at 400,000 tokens, against 262,144 for Qwen3.6 Max Preview and 200,000 for GLM-5.1. Maximum output per response: Qwen3.6 Max Preview up to 65,536, GPT-5.2 up to 128,000, GLM-5.1 up to 131,072 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Qwen3.6 Max Preview accepts text; GPT-5.2 accepts text and images; GLM-5.1 accepts text. GPT-5.2 handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

GLM-5.1 publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Qwen3.6 Max Preview and GPT-5.2 is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Qwen3.6 Max Preview is the newest, released Apr 20, 2026. GLM-5.1 came out Apr 7, 2026; GPT-5.2 came out Dec 11, 2025. Knowledge cutoff: Qwen3.6 Max Preview Apr 2025, GPT-5.2 Aug 31, 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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