GLM 5 alternatives
Match · Updated July 2026
The closest alternative to GLM 5 is Qwen3.6 Plus — comparable intelligence (39.6 vs 39.5); for a cheaper option, GPT-5.6 Luna runs $0.100/M vs $0.950/M; and the best open-weight substitute is Kimi K3.
Closest match
Cheaper alternatives
gpt-5.6-luna
$0.100/M input · 51.2 intel
gemini-3.5-flash:batch
$0.750/M input · 50.2 intel
gemini-3.6-flash:batch
$0.750/M input · 50.1 intel
minimax-m3
$0.300/M input · 44.4 intel
minimax-m3:batch
$0.150/M input · 44.4 intel
deepseek-v4-pro
$0.435/M input · 44.3 intel
Smarter alternatives
qwen3.6-plus
39.6 intel · $0.325/M
qwen3.6-max-preview
40.0 intel · $1.03/M
gpt-5.4-mini
40.0 intel · $0.750/M
gpt-5.4-mini:batch
40.0 intel · $0.375/M
gpt-5.2-codex
40.1 intel · $1.75/M
glm-5.1
40.2 intel · $0.966/M
Open-source alternatives
kimi-k3
57.1 intel · open weights · 1.0M ctx
glm-5.2
51.1 intel · open weights · 1.0M ctx
minimax-m3
44.4 intel · open weights · 1.0M ctx
minimax-m3:batch
44.4 intel · open weights · 524K ctx
deepseek-v4-pro
44.3 intel · open weights · 1.0M ctx
kimi-k2.6
44.2 intel · open weights · 262K ctx
Frequently asked
What is the best alternative to GLM 5?
Qwen3.6 Plus is the closest alternative to GLM 5, with an Intelligence Index of 39.6 (GLM 5 scores 39.5) at $0.325 per million input tokens.
Is there a cheaper alternative to GLM 5?
Yes — GPT-5.6 Luna costs $0.100 per million input tokens versus $0.950 for GLM 5, while staying within ~8 points of its Intelligence Index.
Is there an open-source alternative to GLM 5?
Kimi K3 is the strongest open-weight alternative to GLM 5 — downloadable from Hugging Face and self-hostable, scoring 57.1 on intelligence.