Model Comparison
GLM-4.5 vs Qwen3 VL 8B ThinkingWhich is better in 2026?
GLM-4.5 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking is 1.1x cheaper per token.
Verdict: GLM-4.5 vs Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking — which is better?
GLM-4.5 (by Zhipu AI) and Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking (by Alibaba Cloud / Qwen Team) 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.
GLM-4.5 outperforms in 3 benchmarks (BFCL-v3, GPQA, MMLU-Pro), while Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking is better at 0 benchmarks. GLM-4.5 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
On price, Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking is roughly 1.1x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking also accepts a larger context window (262,144 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.
Choose GLM-4.5 if…
- you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 3 of 3 shared benchmarks
Choose Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking if…
- cost matters — it's about 1.1x cheaper per token
- you process long inputs — it offers a 262,144 token context window
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Sep 2025
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
GLM-4.5 outperforms in 3 benchmarks (BFCL-v3, GPQA, MMLU-Pro), while Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking is better at 0 benchmarks.
GLM-4.5 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.
Arena Performance
Human preference votes
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, GLM-4.5 ($0.40/1M tokens) is 2.2x more expensive than Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking ($0.18/1M tokens).
For output processing, GLM-4.5 ($1.60/1M tokens) is 1.3x cheaper than Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking ($2.09/1M tokens).
In conclusion, GLM-4.5 is more expensive than Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
GLM-4.5 has 346.0B more parameters than Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking, making it 3844.4% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking accepts 262,144 input tokens compared to GLM-4.5's 131,072 tokens. Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking can generate longer responses up to 262,144 tokens, while GLM-4.5 is limited to 131,072 tokens.
Input Capabilities
Supported data types and modalities
Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking supports multimodal inputs, whereas GLM-4.5 does not.
Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
GLM-4.5
Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking
License
Usage and distribution terms
GLM-4.5 is licensed under MIT, while Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking uses Apache 2.0.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
MIT
Open weights
Apache 2.0
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
GLM-4.5 was released on 2025-07-28, while Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking was released on 2025-09-22.
Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking is 2 months newer than GLM-4.5.
Jul 28, 2025
1.0 years ago
Sep 22, 2025
10 months ago
1mo newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.
Unable to compare the recency of their training data.
Provider Availability
GLM-4.5 is available from DeepInfra, Fireworks, Novita. Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking is available from DeepInfra.
GLM-4.5
Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking
Outputs Comparison
Key Takeaways
GLM-4.5
View detailsZhipu AI
Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking
View detailsAlibaba Cloud / Qwen Team
Detailed Comparison
Interactive Arena
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against GLM-4.5 and Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
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FAQ
Common questions about GLM-4.5 vs Qwen3 VL 8B Thinking.