GLM and Z.AI alternatives ranked by benchmark quality, pricing, context window, and deployment model.
GLM alternatives are usually about keeping strong open-weight economics while checking whether another provider is better for coding, reasoning, or multilingual work. BenchLM ranks non-Z.AI replacements against GLM-5.1.
BenchLM uses GLM-5.1 as the default current GLM reference.
Direct answer
Grok 4.1 is a strong GLM / Z.AI alternative. It beats GLM-5.1 on BenchLM's general use score. It adds a larger 1M context window than the tracked GLM / Z.AI reference.
xAI · Proprietary · 1M context
Grok 4.1 is a strong GLM / Z.AI alternative. It beats GLM-5.1 on BenchLM's general use score. It adds a larger 1M context window than the tracked GLM / Z.AI reference.
BenchLM fit
83.6
Score vs ref
~107%
Token cost
Pricing unavailable
Alibaba · Open Weight · 262K context
Qwen3.6-27B is a strong GLM / Z.AI alternative. It still posts a credible 72 score for general use work on BenchLM. Its blended token price is about 100% lower than GLM-5.1. It is also open-weight, so you can self-host or fine-tune it.
BenchLM fit
82.8
Score vs ref
86%
Token cost
100% cheaper
Moonshot AI · Open Weight · 256K context
Kimi 2.6 is a strong GLM / Z.AI alternative. It retains about 99% of GLM-5.1's general use benchmark profile. It is also open-weight, so you can self-host or fine-tune it.
BenchLM fit
82
Score vs ref
99%
Token cost
13% cheaper
Alibaba · Open Weight · 262K context
Qwen3.5-122B-A10B is a strong GLM / Z.AI alternative. It still posts a credible 68 score for general use work on BenchLM. Its blended token price is about 100% lower than GLM-5.1. It is also open-weight, so you can self-host or fine-tune it.
BenchLM fit
80.4
Score vs ref
81%
Token cost
100% cheaper
xAI · Proprietary · 1M context
Grok 4.1 Fast is a strong GLM / Z.AI alternative. It still posts a credible 72 score for general use work on BenchLM. Its blended token price is about 88% lower than GLM-5.1. It adds a larger 1M context window than the tracked GLM / Z.AI reference.
BenchLM fit
80.3
Score vs ref
~86%
Token cost
88% cheaper
Alibaba · Open Weight · 262K context
Qwen3.6-35B-A3B is a strong GLM / Z.AI alternative. It still posts a credible 70 score for general use work on BenchLM. Its blended token price is about 100% lower than GLM-5.1. It is also open-weight, so you can self-host or fine-tune it.
BenchLM fit
79.9
Score vs ref
83%
Token cost
100% cheaper
BenchLM does not treat an alternative query like a generic leaderboard. This page starts from the tracked GLM-5.1 reference, then weights benchmark quality, token cost, context window, and deployment model to find realistic replacements.
That means a model can outrank the absolute leaderboard leader here if it stays close enough on benchmarks while being materially cheaper, more open, or better matched to the workflow implied by the query.
Change the goal, use case, or minimum context if this landing page is close but not exact.
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Grok 4.1 is the current top pick on this page. It scores 90 in the selected BenchLM use-case weighting and 107% of GLM-5.1's benchmark profile, with pricing unavailable as the pricing summary.
Qwen3.6-27B is the best low-cost candidate surfaced by this page. It ranks as a serious replacement while landing at 100% cheaper than the tracked GLM-5.1 reference.
Yes. Qwen3.6-27B is the strongest open-weight option on this page. BenchLM surfaces it because it combines self-hostable deployment with a 72 weighted score and 262K of context.
BenchLM uses GLM-5.1 as the tracked GLM / Z.AI reference here, then scores alternatives from benchmark performance first. Token cost, context window, and open-weight preference are used to break ties and surface better real-world replacements rather than just the raw leaderboard winner.