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Head-to-head comparison

Qwen3 Max Thinking vs GLM 4.5 Air

Qwen3 Max Thinking (Qwen) and GLM 4.5 Air (Z.ai) compared on the ModelCap Index, API price, context window, provider availability, weight access and every public benchmark board they share. Figures are the same ones shown on the live rankings; nothing here is a hidden score.

Snapshot as of 18 August 2026

As of 18 August 2026, Qwen3 Max Thinking holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#55 vs #68); GLM 4.5 Air is 4.6× cheaper per output token ($0.85/1M vs $3.90/1M); Qwen3 Max Thinking offers the longer context window (262K vs 131K tokens); and GLM 4.5 Air ships open weights.

Which should you choose?

Choose Qwen3 Max Thinking if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #55 against #68 (44.5 vs 36.9 points).
  • you need the longer context window — 262K tokens against 131K.
  • Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index is your yardstick — 32.5 against 16.7.
  • you want the more recently listed model — Qwen3 Max Thinking was listed 9 February 2026, GLM 4.5 Air 25 July 2025.

Choose GLM 4.5 Air if…

  • API cost matters — $0.85/1M output tokens against $3.90/1M, about 4.6× cheaper.
  • your workload is prompt-heavy — input tokens cost $0.13/1M against $0.78/1M.
  • you want to self-host: GLM 4.5 Air ships open weights while Qwen3 Max Thinking is api only.
  • you want provider choice — 3 listed API providers against 1.

Qwen3 Max Thinking vs GLM 4.5 Air: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of Qwen3 Max Thinking and GLM 4.5 Air
FieldQwen3 Max ThinkingQwenGLM 4.5 AirZ.ai
ModelCap Index position#55#68
Index score44.536.9
EvidenceMeasuredMeasured
Input price / 1M tokens$0.78$0.13
Output price / 1M tokens$3.90$0.85
Context window262K tokens131K tokens
Max output tokens66K98K
API providers listed13
Weight accessAPI onlyOpen weights
Input modalitiesTextText
First listed9 February 202625 July 2025
PublisherQwenZ.ai

Evidence: 1 public benchmark observation across 1 board · 3 public benchmark observations across 3 boards. Prices are the lowest listed API offer per million tokens observed on the OpenRouter catalogue.

Benchmark scores: Qwen3 Max Thinking vs GLM 4.5 Air

Public benchmark boards where Qwen3 Max Thinking or GLM 4.5 Air has a published result
BoardQwen3 Max ThinkingGLM 4.5 AirLeads
Arena codingArena (LMArena)—14261419–1434Only one result
Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexArtificial Analysis32.5intelligence-index16.7intelligence-indexQwen3 Max Thinking

Scores are the sources' own published figures for each model's best evaluated configuration; ModelCap never re-runs a benchmark.

Want a different pairing? Open the interactive comparison tool to swap either model for any current ranked language model.

Qwen3 Max Thinking vs GLM 4.5 Air: common questions

Is Qwen3 Max Thinking better than GLM 4.5 Air?

Qwen3 Max Thinking ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 18 August 2026: #55 against #68. That is a capability ranking built from public benchmark evidence with published uncertainty; whether it is "better" for you also depends on price, context and where you can run it.

Is Qwen3 Max Thinking cheaper than GLM 4.5 Air?

GLM 4.5 Air is cheaper on output tokens: $0.85/1M against $3.90/1M. Input tokens are $0.78/1M for Qwen3 Max Thinking and $0.13/1M for GLM 4.5 Air. Prices are the lowest listed API offer ModelCap observed, in USD per million tokens.

Which has the bigger context window, Qwen3 Max Thinking or GLM 4.5 Air?

Qwen3 Max Thinking has the larger context window: 262K tokens against 131K.

Which is better for coding, Qwen3 Max Thinking or GLM 4.5 Air?

The two models do not share a coding benchmark board on ModelCap yet, so no head-to-head coding score is published; the ModelCap Index position is the closest overall signal.

Are Qwen3 Max Thinking and GLM 4.5 Air open-weight models?

Qwen3 Max Thinking: API only. GLM 4.5 Air: Open weights. Open weights mean the checkpoint can be downloaded and self-hosted under its licence; API-only models are available solely through hosted endpoints.

Where can I run Qwen3 Max Thinking and GLM 4.5 Air?

ModelCap currently lists 1 API provider for Qwen3 Max Thinking and 3 for GLM 4.5 Air, from the OpenRouter catalogue snapshot the site serves; each model page lists the providers and their prices.

How current is this Qwen3 Max Thinking vs GLM 4.5 Air comparison?

Every figure comes from the sealed ModelCap dataset published 18 August 2026; the page re-renders within a minute of each data refresh, and the ModelCap Index positions are the same ones shown on the live rankings.

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