solar-mini vs GLM-4.5-Air
Too close to call on our weighted score (solar-mini 50, GLM-4.5-Air 48). The right pick depends on what you value most.
Upstagesolar-mini
50/100- ECI—
- Price$0.15 / $0.15
- Context33K
Z.ai (Zhipu)GLM-4.5-Air
48/100- ECI—
- Price$0.20 / $1.10
- Context131K
Add a model
Make it a three-way comparison.
Too close to call
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 2 points (solar-mini 50/100, GLM-4.5-Air 48/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: solar-mini on price and GLM-4.5-Air 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 pricesolar-minisolar-mini $0.15 · GLM-4.5-Air $0.425 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextGLM-4.5-AirGLM-4.5-Air 131,072 · solar-mini 32,768 tokens
- Widest inputsSame inputssolar-mini: Text · GLM-4.5-Air: Text
- Self-hostingGLM-4.5-AirPublishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | solar-mini | GLM-4.5-Air |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 85 | 65 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 25 | 35 |
| Context window | 20% | 0 | 25 |
| Overall | 100% | 50/100 | 48/100 |
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 | solar-miniUpstage | GLM-4.5-AirZ.ai (Zhipu) |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | ||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | ||
| Input | $0.15 (best) | $0.20 |
| Output | $0.15 (best) | $1.10 |
| Cached input | — | $0.03 |
| Blended (3:1) | $0.15 (best) | $0.425 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Upstage API | Official Z.AI API |
| Limits | ||
| Context window | 32,768 tokens | 131,072 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 4,096 tokens | 98,304 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | ||
| Text | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | No |
| PDFs | No | No |
| Audio | No | No |
| Video | No | No |
| Reasoning | No | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No |
| Availability | ||
| Weights | Proprietary | Open |
| API model ID | solar-mini | glm-4.5-air |
| API providers | 1 | 19 (best) |
| Released | Jun 12, 2024 | Jul 28, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Sep 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.
- solar-mini$1.80
- GLM-4.5-Air$4.20
Which should you choose?
Which is better: solar-mini or GLM-4.5-Air?
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 2 points (solar-mini 50/100, GLM-4.5-Air 48/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: solar-mini on price and GLM-4.5-Air 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, solar-mini or GLM-4.5-Air?
solar-mini is cheaper at $0.15 input / $0.15 output per million tokens (official Upstage API price). GLM-4.5-Air costs $0.20 input / $1.10 output per million tokens (official Z.AI API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.15 per million tokens for solar-mini versus $0.425 for GLM-4.5-Air (2.8× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers both models yet. solar-mini has not been scored yet and GLM-4.5-Air has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for solar-mini and GLM-4.5-Air yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
GLM-4.5-Air has the largest context window at 131,072 tokens, against 32,768 for solar-mini. Maximum output per response: solar-mini up to 4,096, GLM-4.5-Air up to 98,304 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
solar-mini accepts text; GLM-4.5-Air accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.
Are any of these open source?
GLM-4.5-Air publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; solar-mini is proprietary.
Which is newer?
GLM-4.5-Air is the newest, released Jul 28, 2025. solar-mini came out Jun 12, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: solar-mini Sep 2024, GLM-4.5-Air 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 Nov 2, 2026.
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