Model Comparison
Claude 3.5 Sonnet vs GLM-4.6Which is better in 2026?
GLM-4.6 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. GLM-4.6 is 6.6x cheaper per token.
Verdict: Claude 3.5 Sonnet vs GLM-4.6 — which is better?
Claude 3.5 Sonnet (by Anthropic) and GLM-4.6 (by Zhipu AI) are two of the AI models people compare most. Here is how they stack up on benchmarks, price and capabilities, and which one to pick in 2026.
Claude 3.5 Sonnet outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while GLM-4.6 is better at 2 benchmarks (GPQA, SWE-Bench Verified). GLM-4.6 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
On price, GLM-4.6 is roughly 6.6x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Claude 3.5 Sonnet also accepts a larger context window (200,000 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.
Choose Claude 3.5 Sonnet if…
- you process long inputs — it offers a 200,000 token context window
Choose GLM-4.6 if…
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 2 of 2 shared benchmarks
- cost matters — it's about 6.6x cheaper per token
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Sep 2025
- you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
Claude 3.5 Sonnet outperforms in 0 benchmarks, while GLM-4.6 is better at 2 benchmarks (GPQA, SWE-Bench Verified).
GLM-4.6 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Human preference votes
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Claude 3.5 Sonnet ($3.00/1M tokens) is 5.5x more expensive than GLM-4.6 ($0.55/1M tokens).
For output processing, Claude 3.5 Sonnet ($15.00/1M tokens) is 7.5x more expensive than GLM-4.6 ($2.00/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Claude 3.5 Sonnet is more expensive than GLM-4.6.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Claude 3.5 Sonnet accepts 200,000 input tokens compared to GLM-4.6's 131,072 tokens. Claude 3.5 Sonnet can generate longer responses up to 200,000 tokens, while GLM-4.6 is limited to 131,072 tokens.
Input Capabilities
Supported data types and modalities
Both Claude 3.5 Sonnet and GLM-4.6 support multimodal inputs.
They are both capable of processing various types of data, offering versatility in application.
Claude 3.5 Sonnet
GLM-4.6
License
Usage and distribution terms
Claude 3.5 Sonnet is licensed under a proprietary license, while GLM-4.6 uses MIT.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
Proprietary
Closed source
MIT
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Claude 3.5 Sonnet was released on 2024-10-22, while GLM-4.6 was released on 2025-09-30.
GLM-4.6 is 11 months newer than Claude 3.5 Sonnet.
Oct 22, 2024
1.7 years ago
Sep 30, 2025
9 months ago
11mo newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.
Unable to compare the recency of their training data.
Provider Availability
Claude 3.5 Sonnet is available from Anthropic, Bedrock, Google. GLM-4.6 is available from Fireworks, DeepInfra.
Claude 3.5 Sonnet
GLM-4.6
Outputs Comparison
Key Takeaways
Claude 3.5 Sonnet
View detailsAnthropic
GLM-4.6
View detailsZhipu AI
Detailed Comparison
Interactive Arena
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Claude 3.5 Sonnet and GLM-4.6 side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
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FAQ
Common questions about Claude 3.5 Sonnet vs GLM-4.6.