GLM 5.1
$1.40 per 1M input tokens and $4.40 per 1M output tokens · 205K context · tools, reasoning, JSON, open weights.
Prices checked Oct 21, 2026 · tracked by LLM Cost Index since Oct 21, 2026
What GLM 5.1 costs per month
Estimated monthly bill for typical workloads, using the cached-input price for repeated context. Try your own numbers in the cost calculator.
| Workload | Per month |
|---|---|
| Customer chatbot 1,000 conversations a day, 8 turns each | $627 |
| Document Q&A (RAG) 500 questions a day over retrieved documents | $149 |
| Coding / tool-using agent 200 tasks a day, long tool-heavy contexts | $302 |
| Content generation 30 long articles a day | $13.68 |
| Classification / extraction 100,000 short items a day | $1,458 |
Price history
We started tracking GLM 5.1 on Oct 21, 2026; the chart appears as soon as there is a second data point. See all recent price changes.
Where to run GLM 5.1: 13 providers
StreamLake is the cheapest at $0.966 input / $3.04 output per 1M tokens. Uptime is the average over the last 30 days as reported by OpenRouter; see provider reliability.
| Provider | Input / 1M | Output / 1M | Context | Uptime | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| StreamLake | $0.966 | $3.04 | 200K | 99.8% | fp8 |
| Chutes | $0.98 | $3.08 | 203K | 88.4% | fp8 |
| SiliconFlow | $1.19 | $3.74 | 205K | 99.5% | fp8 |
| Phala | $1.21 | $4.20 | 203K | 91.1% | — |
| AtlasCloud | $1.26 | $3.96 | 203K | 98.8% | fp8 |
| Alibaba | $1.33 | $4.18 | 203K | 91.5% | fp8 |
| Novita | $1.38 | $4.40 | 205K | 100% | fp8 |
| Baidu | $1.40 | $4.40 | 203K | 100% | fp8 |
| Friendli | $1.40 | $4.40 | 203K | 99.1% | — |
| GMICloud | $1.40 | $4.40 | 203K | 100% | fp8 |
| Nebius | $1.40 | $4.40 | 203K | 99.8% | fp8 |
| Z.AI | $1.40 | $4.40 | 203K | 100% | fp8 |
| Venice | $1.40 | $4.40 | 200K | 45.5% | fp8 |
Cheaper alternatives to GLM 5.1
Models with the same tool calling, structured output for at least 20% less (3:1 input/output mix), most capable first.
| Model | Input / 1M | Output / 1M | Context | Capabilities |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MiMo-V2.6-Pro Xiaomi | $0.435 | $0.87 | 1.05M | visionaudiotoolsreasoningJSONopen weights |
| GLM 5.3 Z.ai | $0.079 | $1.40 | 1.05M | toolsreasoningJSONopen weights |
| Step 5 Preview Stepfun | $1.00 | $2.70 | 1.05M | visiontoolsreasoningJSONopen weights |
| Claude Haiku 5.5 Anthropic | $0.10 | $0.50 | 1M | visiontoolsreasoningJSON |
| GLM 5.3 Flash Z.ai | $0.041 | $0.12 | 1.05M | visiontoolsreasoningJSONopen weights |
How to pay less for GLM 5.1
For a customer chatbot (1,000 conversations a day, 8 turns each) that costs $874 a month at list price without caching:
| Option | Per month | You save |
|---|---|---|
| Move to MiMo-V2.6-Pro (similar capabilities) | $136 | $737 (84%) |
| Route to StreamLake | $603 | $271 (31%) |
| Use prompt caching (60% of input cached) | $627 | $246 (28%) |
Other workloads: cut-your-bill tool for GLM 5.1.
Specifications
| Model ID | z-ai/glm-5.1 |
| Input | text |
| Output | text |
| Tool calling | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes |
| Reasoning mode | Yes |
| Open weights | Yes — zai-org/GLM-5.1 |
| Released | Apr 7, 2026 |
FAQ
- How much does GLM 5.1 cost?
- $1.40 per million input tokens and $4.40 per million output tokens; cached input costs $0.26 per million. Prices as of Oct 21, 2026.
- What is the context window of GLM 5.1?
- 205K tokens, with up to 131K output tokens per response.
- Does GLM 5.1 support images, tools and structured output?
- Images as input: no. Tool calling: yes. Structured (JSON) output: yes. Reasoning mode: yes.
- What are cheaper alternatives to GLM 5.1?
- Models with the same key capabilities for at least 20% less include MiMo-V2.6-Pro ($0.435 / $0.87), GLM 5.3 ($0.079 / $1.40), Step 5 Preview ($1.00 / $2.70).
More from Z.ai: all Z.ai models · how we collect prices