AI model comparison

Grok 4.5 vs GLM 5.2

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

Grok 4.5 is a model from SpaceXAI with frontier performance on coding, knowledge work, and STEM.

Input / 1M
$2
Output / 1M
$6
Context
500K

GLM 5.2 is a large-scale reasoning model from Z.ai.

Input / 1M
$0.06
Output / 1M
$8
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 5.2

1.7x cheaper for a typical chat

Higher intelligence score

x-ai logo

Grok 4.5

38.8 vs 33.7 on Artificial Analysis

Larger context window

z-ai logo

GLM 5.2

1.05M vs 500K tokens

Newer release

x-ai logo

Grok 4.5

Released July 8, 2026

Benchmarks

Benchmark scores

Independent scores from Artificial Analysis. Higher is better.

Intelligence index

x-ai logoGrok 4.538.8
z-ai logoGLM 5.233.7

Coding index

x-ai logoGrok 4.572.4
z-ai logoGLM 5.268.8

Agentic index

x-ai logoGrok 4.541.2
z-ai logoGLM 5.238.4

Pricing

Grok 4.5 vs GLM 5.2 API pricing

Per-token API rates. Cheaper option highlighted.

Metricx-ai logoGrok 4.5z-ai logoGLM 5.2
Input tokensPer 1M tokens$2$0.06
Output tokensPer 1M tokens$6$8
Cached input (read)Per 1M tokens$0.30$0.06
Cache writePer 1M tokensNot availableNot available
Long-context pricingPer 1M tokens, for very long prompts$4 in / $12 out above 200KSame rate at any length
Web searchPer request$0.005Not 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

x-ai logoGrok 4.5$7
z-ai logoGLM 5.2$4.12

Coding task

30K in, 4K out

x-ai logoGrok 4.5$84$33 cached
z-ai logoGLM 5.2$33.80$33.77 cached

Long document summary

150K in, 2K out

x-ai logoGrok 4.5$312$57 cached
z-ai logoGLM 5.2$25$24.85 cached

Specs

Context window and capabilities

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

Metricx-ai logoGrok 4.5z-ai logoGLM 5.2
Context window500K tokens1.05M tokens
Max output450K tokens944K tokens
Input typesFile, Image, TextText
Output typesTextText
Reasoning effort levelsHigh, Medium, LowExtra high, High
Default reasoning effortHighHigh
Release dateJuly 8, 2026June 16, 2026

Features

Supported features

API features available for each model.

Metricx-ai logoGrok 4.5z-ai logoGLM 5.2
Tool callingSupportedSupported
Structured outputsSupportedSupported
JSON modeSupportedSupported
ReasoningSupportedSupported
TemperatureSupportedSupported
Stop sequencesNot supportedSupported
Deterministic seedSupportedSupported
Verbosity controlNot supportedNot supported

Our take

GLM 5.2 is 1.7x cheaper for a typical chat. Grok 4.5 scores higher on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index (38.8 vs 33.7). GLM 5.2 has the larger context window (1.05M vs 500K 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 Grok 4.5 or GLM 5.2 cheaper?

GLM 5.2 is cheaper for a typical chat (2K input tokens and 500 output tokens). GLM 5.2 costs $0.06 per 1M input tokens and $8 per 1M output tokens, while Grok 4.5 costs $2 per 1M input tokens and $6 per 1M output tokens.

Which has a bigger context window, Grok 4.5 or GLM 5.2?

GLM 5.2 supports up to 1.05M tokens of context, compared with 500K for Grok 4.5.

Is Grok 4.5 smarter than GLM 5.2?

On the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, Grok 4.5 scores 38.8 and GLM 5.2 scores 33.7, putting Grok 4.5 ahead. Benchmarks don't capture everything, so the best test is running your own prompts through both.

Can I use Grok 4.5 and GLM 5.2 at the same time?

Yes. Shortcut Chat sends one prompt to multiple models at once, so you can see Grok 4.5 and GLM 5.2 answer side by side and keep the better response.

x-ai logoz-ai logo

Why choose? Ask both.

Send one prompt to Grok 4.5 and GLM 5.2 at the same time. Compare the answers side by side and keep the best one.