ZMIME
Comparison · 3 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

solar-mini vs GLM-4.5-Flash vs Pixtral 12B

Too close to call on our weighted score (GLM-4.5-Flash 65, Pixtral 12B 64, solar-mini 52). The right pick depends on what you value most.

  1. Upstage

    solar-mini

    Released Jun 12, 2024

    52/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.15 / $0.15
    • Context33K
  2. Z.ai (Zhipu)

    GLM-4.5-Flash

    Released Jul 28, 2025

    65/100
    • ECI—
    • PriceFree / Free
    • Context131K
  3. Mistral AI

    Pixtral 12B

    Released Sep 1, 2024

    64/100
    • ECI—
    • Price$0.15 / $0.15
    • Context128K
01 — Verdict

Too close to call

It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 1 points (GLM-4.5-Flash 65/100, Pixtral 12B 64/100, solar-mini 52/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: GLM-4.5-Flash on price and GLM-4.5-Flash 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-4.5-FlashGLM-4.5-Flash Free · solar-mini $0.15 · Pixtral 12B $0.15 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextGLM-4.5-FlashGLM-4.5-Flash 131,072 · Pixtral 12B 128,000 · solar-mini 32,768 tokens
  • Widest inputsPixtral 12Bsolar-mini: Text · GLM-4.5-Flash: Text · Pixtral 12B: Text, Images
  • Self-hostingPixtral 12BPublishes downloadable weights
How the score is built
MeasureWeightsolar-miniGLM-4.5-FlashPixtral 12B
Price50%8910089
Inputs & features30%253550
Context window20%02424
Overall100%52/10065/10064/100

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.

solar-mini vs GLM-4.5-Flash vs Pixtral 12B specifications side by side
Specificationsolar-miniUpstageGLM-4.5-FlashZ.ai (Zhipu)Pixtral 12BMistral AI
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)———
ECI rank———
Price per million tokens
Input$0.15Free (best)$0.15
Output$0.15Free (best)$0.15
Cached input———
Blended (3:1)$0.15Free (best)$0.15
Long-context rateSame rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Upstage APIOfficial Z.AI APIOfficial Mistral API
Limits
Context window32,768 tokens131,072 tokens (best)128,000 tokens
Max output4,096 tokens98,304 tokens128,000 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYesYes
ImagesNoNoYes
PDFsNoNoNo
AudioNoNoNo
VideoNoNoNo
ReasoningNoYesNo
Tool callingYesYesYes
Structured outputNoNoNo
Availability
WeightsProprietaryProprietaryOpen
API model IDsolar-miniglm-4.5-flashpixtral-12b
API providers14 (best)4 (best)
ReleasedJun 12, 2024Jul 28, 2025Sep 1, 2024
Knowledge cutoffSep 2024Apr 2025Sep 2024
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.

  • solar-mini$1.80
  • GLM-4.5-FlashFree
  • Pixtral 12B$1.80
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: solar-mini, GLM-4.5-Flash or Pixtral 12B?

It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 1 points (GLM-4.5-Flash 65/100, Pixtral 12B 64/100, solar-mini 52/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: GLM-4.5-Flash on price and GLM-4.5-Flash 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, GLM-4.5-Flash or Pixtral 12B?

GLM-4.5-Flash is cheaper at Free input / Free output per million tokens (official Z.AI API price). solar-mini costs $0.15 input / $0.15 output per million tokens (official Upstage API price); Pixtral 12B costs $0.15 input / $0.15 output per million tokens (official Mistral API price). GLM-4.5-Flash is listed as free.

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. solar-mini has not been scored yet, GLM-4.5-Flash has not been scored yet and Pixtral 12B has not been scored yet.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for solar-mini, GLM-4.5-Flash and Pixtral 12B 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?

GLM-4.5-Flash has the largest context window at 131,072 tokens, against 128,000 for Pixtral 12B and 32,768 for solar-mini. Maximum output per response: solar-mini up to 4,096, GLM-4.5-Flash up to 98,304, Pixtral 12B up to 128,000 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

solar-mini accepts text; GLM-4.5-Flash accepts text; Pixtral 12B accepts text and images. Pixtral 12B handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

Pixtral 12B publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; solar-mini and GLM-4.5-Flash is proprietary.

Which is newer?

GLM-4.5-Flash is the newest, released Jul 28, 2025. Pixtral 12B came out Sep 1, 2024; solar-mini came out Jun 12, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: solar-mini Sep 2024, GLM-4.5-Flash Apr 2025, Pixtral 12B Sep 2024.

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.