GLM-4.6 pricing
GLM-4.6 API cost from Zhipu AI (GLM) — $0.600 per 1M input tokens and $2.20 per 1M output tokens. Popular open model. Estimate your real monthly bill below, then compare it against every other model.
Balanced open weights 200K context · all prices USD per 1M tokens, this price verified 2026-11-04.
GLM-4.6 capabilities & limits
Representative specs for this tier — confirm exact limits in the Zhipu AI (GLM) docs.
Call GLM-4.6 from your code
The exact model string and endpoint to use. Works with the OpenAI SDK — just point base_url at the URL below.
glm-4.6https://api.z.ai/api/paas/v4ZHIPU_API_KEYcurl https://api.z.ai/api/paas/v4/chat/completions \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $ZHIPU_API_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"model": "glm-4.6",
"messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Hello"}]
}'Model strings follow each provider's naming convention; confirm the current id in the Zhipu AI (GLM) docs before relying on it.
What a GLM-4.6 API call actually costs
Blended input + output cost at GLM-4.6's list rates — useful yardsticks before you commit to volume.
GLM-4.6 cost calculator
Enter your monthly volume to estimate the GLM-4.6 bill. Runs entirely in your browser.
Peak/off-peak and long-context pricing are applied automatically where published. Cache-write, Batch/Flex and Fast-mode adjustments are not included. For the multi-model breakdown with the same exclusions, use the cost calculator.
Zhipu AI (GLM) models — GLM-4.6 in context
How GLM-4.6 prices against its siblings. Cheapest reference cost first.
| Model | Input /1M | Output /1M | Cost / call* | Context | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GLM-5.3-Flash 1M context; cached input $0.03/1M; cache storage temporarily free | $0.150 | $0.500 | $0.0006 | 1M | Fast / cheap open |
| GLM-4.5 Air Cheap open tier | $0.200 | $1.10 | $0.0013 | 128K | Fast / cheap open |
| GLM-4.6 Popular open model | $0.600 | $2.20 | $0.0028 | 200K | Balanced open |
| GLM-5.2 Open weights, 1M context | $1.40 | $4.40 | $0.0058 | 1M | Flagship open |
*Reference cost of one call with 1,000 input + 1,000 output tokens — a neutral yardstick. Use the calculator for your real usage.
How GLM-4.6 pricing works
GLM-4.6 is billed per token: a lower input price of $0.600 per million tokens for everything you send, and a higher output price of $2.20 per million for everything the model generates. To turn that into a real GLM-4.6 bill, multiply by your monthly request volume and average prompt/response length — the calculator above does exactly that.
Prompt caching is the biggest lever on your GLM-4.6 cost: cached input tokens bill at just $0.110 per million — about 82% cheaper. If you reuse a long system prompt or context across calls, caching can dramatically cut the input portion of your bill.
List prices move fast — always confirm the current numbers on the official Zhipu AI (GLM) pricing page before relying on them for budgeting.
GLM-4.6 pricing FAQ
How much does the GLM-4.6 API cost?
GLM-4.6 costs $0.600 per 1M input tokens and $2.20 per 1M output tokens, with cached input at $0.110 per 1M (about 82% off). A typical 3K-input / 500-output call at the displayed rate works out to about $0.0029.
What is GLM-4.6's context window?
GLM-4.6 has a 200K-token context window. Standard uncached input is $0.600 per 1M tokens.
Does GLM-4.6 support prompt caching?
Yes. At Standard rates, GLM-4.6 bills cache-read tokens at $0.110 per 1M instead of $0.600 uncached — roughly 82% cheaper for the repeated part of your prompts.
Is there a cheaper alternative to GLM-4.6?
In the same balanced tier, Command R (Cohere) is cheaper at $0.150 in / $0.600 out. For the 1K-input / 1K-output reference workload, the lowest-cost model tracked in this catalog is Gemini 1.5 Flash-8B.
Is GLM-4.6 open weights?
Yes — GLM-4.6 is released as open weights, so you can self-host it instead of paying per-token API rates. The prices here are a representative hosted endpoint.