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Head-to-head comparison

Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking vs GLM 4.5 Air

Qwen3 Next 80B A3B 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 17 August 2026

As of 17 August 2026, Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#68 vs #69); GLM 4.5 Air is 1.4× cheaper per output token ($0.85/1M vs $1.20/1M); and Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking offers the longer context window (262K vs 131K tokens).

Which should you choose?

Choose Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #68 against #69 (37.5 vs 36.9 points).
  • you need the longer context window — 262K tokens against 131K.
  • you want the more recently listed model — Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking was listed 11 September 2025, GLM 4.5 Air 25 July 2025.

Choose GLM 4.5 Air if…

  • API cost matters — $0.85/1M output tokens against $1.20/1M, about 1.4× cheaper.
  • your workload is prompt-heavy — input tokens cost $0.13/1M against $0.15/1M.
  • Arena coding is your yardstick — 1426 against 1421.

Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking vs GLM 4.5 Air: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking and GLM 4.5 Air
FieldQwen3 Next 80B A3B ThinkingQwenGLM 4.5 AirZ.ai
ModelCap Index position#68#69
Index score37.536.9
EvidenceMeasuredMeasured
Input price / 1M tokens$0.15$0.13
Output price / 1M tokens$1.20$0.85
Context window262K tokens131K tokens
Max output tokens33K98K
API providers listed33
Weight accessOpen weightsOpen weights
Input modalitiesTextText
First listed11 September 202525 July 2025
PublisherQwenZ.ai

Evidence: 2 public benchmark observations across 2 boards · 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 Next 80B A3B Thinking vs GLM 4.5 Air

Public benchmark boards where Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking or GLM 4.5 Air has a published result
BoardQwen3 Next 80B A3B ThinkingGLM 4.5 AirLeads
Arena codingArena (LMArena)14211409–143214261419–1434GLM 4.5 Air
Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexArtificial Analysis—16.7intelligence-indexOnly one result

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 Next 80B A3B Thinking vs GLM 4.5 Air: common questions

Is Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking better than GLM 4.5 Air?

Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 17 August 2026: #68 against #69. 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 Next 80B A3B Thinking cheaper than GLM 4.5 Air?

GLM 4.5 Air is cheaper on output tokens: $0.85/1M against $1.20/1M. Input tokens are $0.15/1M for Qwen3 Next 80B A3B 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 Next 80B A3B Thinking or GLM 4.5 Air?

Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking has the larger context window: 262K tokens against 131K.

Which is better for coding, Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking or GLM 4.5 Air?

Arena coding: Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking 1421, GLM 4.5 Air 1426 — GLM 4.5 Air leads.

Are Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking and GLM 4.5 Air open-weight models?

Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking: Open weights. 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 Next 80B A3B Thinking and GLM 4.5 Air?

ModelCap currently lists 3 API providers for Qwen3 Next 80B A3B 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 Next 80B A3B Thinking vs GLM 4.5 Air comparison?

Every figure comes from the sealed ModelCap dataset published 17 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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