Comparison · Z.ai and xAI
Grok 4.5 vs GLM 5.3
Listed API prices of Grok 4.5 and GLM 5.3 turned into the cost of the same three standard tasks and what each provider’s API documentation says about features that break on a switch. Output quality, speed and answer length are not compared.
Calculated impact cost per task and per month
For an L2 task (deep analysis over a 50,000-token document, 3 steps), Grok 4.5 costs $0.336 and GLM 5.3 $0.236 at the prices listed in the United States on , so Grok 4.5 is 42.5 % more than GLM 5.3, counting visible output only, without cache discounts or hidden reasoning.
| Task | Grok 4.5, per task | GLM 5.3, per task | Grok 4.5, per month | GLM 5.3, per month | Grok 4.5 vs GLM 5.3, per task |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| L1Micro-task (classification or strict JSON extraction) | $0.0042per L1 task | $0.0030per L1 task | $61.32per month | $43.51per month | +40.9 % |
| L2Deep analysis over a 50,000-token document | $0.336per L2 task | $0.236per L2 task | $4,905.60per month | $3,442.68per month | +42.5 % |
| L3Agentic coding loop, 15 steps | $2.69per L3 task | $1.88per L3 task | $39,201.00per month | $27,466.98per month | +42.7 % |
Calculated Per month: 20 tasks an hour around the clock, 730 hours.
Prices USD per 1M tokens
| Price | Grok 4.5 | GLM 5.3 |
|---|---|---|
| Input, per 1M tokens | $2.00 | $1.40 |
| Output, per 1M tokens | $6.00 | $4.40 |
| Price from | OpenRouter · source page (data) Published | Provider's price list · source page Published |
| Read | · the United States | · the United States |
| Context window | 500,000 tokens | 1,048,576 tokens |
What can I use it for? six common tasks, our data checks
Quality on your task: not measured by Measured Lab yet.
| Task | Grok 4.5 | GLM 5.3 |
|---|---|---|
| Answer customer messages | — | Fits on price and context |
| Pull data from invoices and documents with strict JSON and page images | — | Not confirmed: reads text only, per the OpenRouter listing |
| Summarize documents and meetings | — | Fits on price and context |
| Translate content | — | Fits on price and context |
| Chat assistant on your website | — | Fits on price and context |
| Write and review code with tool calls | — | Fits on price and context |
| Tasks it fits | — | 5 of 6 |
Checks of our data for six common tasks: a published price, a context window and answer length for the task and, where the task needs them, strict JSON output, page images and tool calls; prices, cost a month and terms for each model on its model card. Grok 4.5 is not in the model picker. Compare models for your own task in the model picker.
What breaks when you switch Published provider documentation
Moving from xAI to Z.ai, 2 of the 5 features may not carry over, by each provider’s documentation:
- Strict JSON schemas — xAI: yes; Z.ai: partly. Code that parses answers without checks starts failing where a provider promises only valid JSON, not your schema.
- Parallel tool calls — xAI: yes; Z.ai: not stated. An agent built around several calls per turn gets one call per turn: more round trips, more input tokens, slower runs.
Moving from Z.ai to xAI: every feature that Z.ai’s documentation lists as supported is also listed as supported by xAI.
| Feature of the API | xAI | Z.ai |
|---|---|---|
| Strict JSON schemas | Yes | Partly |
| Parallel tool calls | Yes | Not stated |
| Streamed tool arguments | No | Partly |
| Reasoning with tools | Yes | Yes |
| Cache covers tool definitions | Not stated | Not stated |
What each provider’s own API documentation says, read ; “not stated” is not the same as “no”. Quotes and sources: what breaks when you switch AI APIs.