AI model comparison

Claude Sonnet 5.5 vs GLM 5.3

Pricing, context window, benchmarks, and features compared side by side. Or skip the guesswork and send one prompt to both.

Claude Sonnet 5.5 is Anthropic's Sonnet-class model for well-scoped everyday work, succeeding Claude Sonnet 5 as a direct upgrade.

Input / 1M
$2
Output / 1M
$10
Context
1M

GLM-5.3 is a large-scale reasoning model from Z.ai, built for complex software engineering and long-horizon agent tasks.

Input / 1M
$0.04
Output / 1M
$7
Context
1.05M

At a glance

Quick verdict

How the two models stack up on the things people ask about most.

Lower price

z-ai logo

GLM 5.3

2.5x cheaper for a typical chat

Higher intelligence score

anthropic logo

Claude Sonnet 5.5

56 vs 44.8 on Artificial Analysis

Larger context window

z-ai logo

GLM 5.3

1.05M vs 1M tokens

Newer release

anthropic logo

Claude Sonnet 5.5

Released September 28, 2026

Benchmarks

Benchmark scores

Independent scores from Artificial Analysis. Higher is better.

Intelligence index

anthropic logoClaude Sonnet 5.556
z-ai logoGLM 5.344.8

Coding index

anthropic logoClaude Sonnet 5.5Not available
z-ai logoGLM 5.374.8

Agentic index

anthropic logoClaude Sonnet 5.5Not available
z-ai logoGLM 5.353.1

Pricing

Claude Sonnet 5.5 vs GLM 5.3 API pricing

Per-token API rates. Cheaper option highlighted.

Metricanthropic logoClaude Sonnet 5.5z-ai logoGLM 5.3
Input tokensPer 1M tokens$2$0.04
Output tokensPer 1M tokens$10$7
Cached input (read)Per 1M tokens$0.10$0.04
Cache writePer 1M tokens$2.50Not available
Web searchPer request$0.01Not available

What it costs in practice

Estimated cost per 1,000 requests at standard rates. Coding and long-document figures also show the cost when the input is already cached.

Chat message

2K in, 500 out

anthropic logoClaude Sonnet 5.5$9
z-ai logoGLM 5.3$3.58

Coding task

30K in, 4K out

anthropic logoClaude Sonnet 5.5$100$43 cached
z-ai logoGLM 5.3$29.20$29.17 cached

Long document summary

150K in, 2K out

anthropic logoClaude Sonnet 5.5$320$35 cached
z-ai logoGLM 5.3$20$19.85 cached

Specs

Context window and capabilities

How much each model can read, how much it can write, and what it accepts as input.

Metricanthropic logoClaude Sonnet 5.5z-ai logoGLM 5.3
Context window1M tokens1.05M tokens
Max output128K tokens944K tokens
Input typesFile, Image, TextText
Output typesTextText
Reasoning effort levelsMax, Extra high, High, Medium, LowMax, High, Low
Default reasoning effortHighMax
Release dateSeptember 28, 2026August 18, 2026

Features

Supported features

API features available for each model.

Metricanthropic logoClaude Sonnet 5.5z-ai logoGLM 5.3
Tool callingSupportedSupported
Structured outputsSupportedSupported
JSON modeSupportedSupported
ReasoningSupportedSupported
TemperatureNot supportedSupported
Stop sequencesSupportedSupported
Deterministic seedNot supportedSupported
Verbosity controlSupportedNot supported

Our take

GLM 5.3 is 2.5x cheaper for a typical chat. Claude Sonnet 5.5 scores higher on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index (56 vs 44.8). GLM 5.3 has the larger context window (1.05M vs 1M tokens). The right pick depends on your workload, so the quickest way to settle it is to send the same prompt to both and compare.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Is Claude Sonnet 5.5 or GLM 5.3 cheaper?

GLM 5.3 is cheaper for a typical chat (2K input tokens and 500 output tokens). GLM 5.3 costs $0.04 per 1M input tokens and $7 per 1M output tokens, while Claude Sonnet 5.5 costs $2 per 1M input tokens and $10 per 1M output tokens.

Which has a bigger context window, Claude Sonnet 5.5 or GLM 5.3?

GLM 5.3 supports up to 1.05M tokens of context, compared with 1M for Claude Sonnet 5.5.

Is Claude Sonnet 5.5 smarter than GLM 5.3?

On the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, Claude Sonnet 5.5 scores 56 and GLM 5.3 scores 44.8, putting Claude Sonnet 5.5 ahead. Benchmarks don't capture everything, so the best test is running your own prompts through both.

Can I use Claude Sonnet 5.5 and GLM 5.3 at the same time?

Yes. Shortcut Chat sends one prompt to multiple models at once, so you can see Claude Sonnet 5.5 and GLM 5.3 answer side by side and keep the better response.

anthropic logoz-ai logo

Why choose? Ask both.

Send one prompt to Claude Sonnet 5.5 and GLM 5.3 at the same time. Compare the answers side by side and keep the best one.