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Head-to-head comparison

GLM 4.5 Air vs GLM 5 Turbo

GLM 4.5 Air (Z.ai) and GLM 5 Turbo (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 1 October 2026

As of 1 October 2026, GLM 5 Turbo holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#109 vs #125); GLM 4.5 Air is 4.7× cheaper per output token ($0.85/1M vs $4.00/1M); GLM 5 Turbo offers the longer context window (203K vs 131K tokens); and GLM 4.5 Air ships open weights.

Which should you choose?

Choose GLM 4.5 Air if…

  • API cost matters — $0.85/1M output tokens against $4.00/1M, about 4.7× cheaper.
  • your workload is prompt-heavy — input tokens cost $0.13/1M against $1.20/1M.
  • you want to self-host: GLM 4.5 Air ships open weights while GLM 5 Turbo is api only.
  • you want provider choice — 3 listed API providers against 1.

Choose GLM 5 Turbo if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #109 against #125 (53.5 vs 47.4 points).
  • you need the longer context window — 203K tokens against 131K.
  • AA τ²-Bench Telecom is your yardstick — 98.5% against 46.5%.
  • AA Humanity's Last Exam is your yardstick — 27.8% against 7.0%.
  • you want the more recently listed model — GLM 5 Turbo was listed 15 March 2026, GLM 4.5 Air 25 July 2025.

GLM 4.5 Air vs GLM 5 Turbo: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of GLM 4.5 Air and GLM 5 Turbo
FieldGLM 4.5 AirZ.aiGLM 5 TurboZ.ai
ModelCap Index position#125#109
Index score47.453.5
EvidenceMeasuredMeasured
Input price / 1M tokens$0.13$1.20
Output price / 1M tokens$0.85$4.00
Context window131K tokens203K tokens
Max output tokens98K131K
API providers listed31
Weight accessOpen weightsAPI only
Input modalitiesTextText
First listed25 July 202515 March 2026
PublisherZ.aiZ.ai

Evidence: 2 public benchmark observations across 2 boards · publisher-corpus-prior over 231 held-out anchors (63%); 1 specialist-board observation at 1.2% support (37%); shrunk 24.7 up toward the measured corpus. Prices are the lowest listed API offer per million tokens observed on the OpenRouter catalogue.

Benchmark scores: GLM 4.5 Air vs GLM 5 Turbo

Public benchmark boards where GLM 4.5 Air or GLM 5 Turbo has a published result
BoardGLM 4.5 AirGLM 5 TurboLeads
Arena textArena (LMArena)13731369–1378Not reported—Only one result
Arena codingArena (LMArena)14271419–1434—Only one result
AA τ²-Bench TelecomArtificial Analysis46.5%Reasoning98.5%ReasoningGLM 5 Turbo
AA Humanity's Last ExamArtificial Analysis7.0%Reasoning27.8%ReasoningGLM 5 Turbo
WildClawBench OpenClawWildClawBench—33.9Only 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.

GLM 4.5 Air vs GLM 5 Turbo: common questions

Is GLM 4.5 Air better than GLM 5 Turbo?

GLM 5 Turbo ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 1 October 2026: #109 against #125. 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. Their published uncertainty intervals overlap, so the rank difference alone does not establish a reliable capability advantage for your workload.

Is GLM 4.5 Air cheaper than GLM 5 Turbo?

GLM 4.5 Air is cheaper on output tokens: $0.85/1M against $4.00/1M. Input tokens are $0.13/1M for GLM 4.5 Air and $1.20/1M for GLM 5 Turbo. Prices are the lowest listed API offer ModelCap observed, in USD per million tokens. For 1,000 requests with 2,000 input and 500 output tokens each (2M input + 0.5M output), the listed-rate estimate is $0.69 for GLM 4.5 Air versus $4.40 for GLM 5 Turbo. GLM 4.5 Air costs 84.4% less in this scenario. This excludes caching, batch discounts, prompt-length tiers, tool charges and retries; verify the selected endpoint before budgeting.

Which has the bigger context window, GLM 4.5 Air or GLM 5 Turbo?

GLM 5 Turbo has the larger context window: 203K tokens against 131K.

Which is better for coding, GLM 4.5 Air or GLM 5 Turbo?

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 GLM 4.5 Air and GLM 5 Turbo open-weight models?

GLM 4.5 Air: Open weights. GLM 5 Turbo: API only. 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 GLM 4.5 Air and GLM 5 Turbo?

ModelCap currently lists 3 API providers for GLM 4.5 Air and 1 for GLM 5 Turbo, from the OpenRouter catalogue snapshot the site serves; each model page lists the providers and their prices.

How current is this GLM 4.5 Air vs GLM 5 Turbo comparison?

Every figure and ModelCap Index position comes from the same published snapshot dated 1 October 2026. Publication and page updates happen separately; use the snapshot date shown on the page.

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