GLM 5.3: API price, context window and how to connect
GLM 5.3 by Z.ai (Zhipu): $0.079 per million input tokens, $1.4 per million output tokens, a 1.05M-token window. What it is good for, what to compare it with and how to connect it in SKILLOK.
In this article
In short#
A large reasoning model from Z.ai (Zhipu) for complex software engineering and long agentic tasks. Text in and out, a 1-million-token window. The weights are open.
Specifications#
| Provider | Z.ai (Zhipu) |
| Released | 2026-08-18 |
| Context window | 1.05M tokens |
| Accepts | text |
| Answers with | text |
| Reasoning mode | yes |
| Tool calling | yes |
| Open weights | yes |
| Identifier | z-ai/glm-5.3 |
Price#
| Per 1M tokens | In dollars |
|---|---|
| Input (question, context) | $0.079 |
| Output (answer) | $1.4 |
For reference: a conversation of 20 questions of ~500 tokens and answers of ~800 tokens costs about $0.023. Models in reasoning mode spend more tokens on an answer than the text shows: the reasoning is paid for too.
What it is good for#
- Complex development
- Long agentic tasks
- Cheap input with long context
Similar models#
Catalog models with the same kind of output, closest in the price of a typical request.
| Model | Input | Output | Window | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qwen3.7 Plus | $0.32 | $1.28 | 1M | 1.2× more expensive |
| Llama 4 Maverick | $0.188 | $0.652 | 1.05M | 1.6× cheaper |
| Qwen3.8 27B | $0.24 | $2.2 | 1M | 1.7× more expensive |
| Devstral 2 2512 | $0.4 | $2 | 262K | 1.7× more expensive |
| DeepSeek V3.2 | $0.28 | $0.42 | 164K | 1.8× cheaper |
Other Z.ai (Zhipu) models#
How to connect in SKILLOK#
GLM 5.3 works through OpenRouter: add an OpenRouter key in Settings → AI and pick the z-ai/glm-5.3 model. It then becomes available in Space AI, in tasks and to the repository agent. In detail — Connecting a model in SKILLOK.
Where the data comes from#
Prices, the context window and capabilities come from the public OpenRouter catalog as of 2026-10-19. A provider may change the price — the exact figure is always on the model's OpenRouter page.
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