GLM 5.3 Prime API pricing
Zhipu · Mid-tier · Apache 2.0 · released 2026-09. Prices in USD per 1 million tokens. Data snapshot: 2026-10-14.
GLM 5.3 Prime has held the same list price since 2026-09-24 and is the 78th cheapest of 107 Mid-tier models. Only one host, Alibaba, sells it, so there is no second price to shop. No Arena score is published for it, so it carries no Efficiency score and cannot hold the FinOps Friendly badge.
- Input: $2.80 per 1M tokens
- Output: $8.80 per 1M tokens
- Batch API (in/out): Not published
- Prompt-cache read: $0.56 per 1M tokens
- Context window: 1M tokens
- Arena ELO: Not published
Market position
On blended price ($7.00 per 1M tokens at 30% input, 70% output) it is cheaper than 27% of Mid-tier models: 78th cheapest of 107. Across every category it is cheaper than 21% of priced text models in the catalogue: 222nd cheapest of 282.
Licence, size and capabilities
GLM 5.3 Prime is open source: its weights are published under Apache 2.0, an OSI-approved licence with no field-of-use limit, so it can be self-hosted as well as bought by the token. Its parameter count is not published. Listed capabilities: Text, Reasoning, Agents. Filling its 1M context window once costs $2.80 in input tokens at list price.
Pricing by host
A host is a company that runs the model and sells it by the token: the model maker, a cloud platform like Amazon Bedrock, Azure or Vertex, or an independent host. One model, several hosts, and often several prices. This model is sold by 1 host. The price we quote elsewhere on this page is marked. We quote one host's rate so that models stay comparable; it is not a recommendation to buy there.
Alibaba is the only host with a published rate, $2.80 input / $8.80 output per 1M tokens, which is the price we quote.
| Host | Input $/1M | Output $/1M |
|---|---|---|
| Alibaba (price we quote) | $2.80 | $8.80 |
List prices as published on 2026-10-14, via OpenRouter. Negotiated rates, committed-use discounts and provisioned capacity are not shown.
Monthly cost at 100K requests, by business use case
From the after-discounts figure (prompt caching on the cached input share, batch API for async workloads, only where Zhipu publishes those rates), which assumes you implement both, to the list price. One figure means no discount is published.
| Use case | Tokens (in/out) | Monthly (after discounts – list) |
|---|---|---|
| Support Ticket | 1,500 / 500 | $658 – $860 |
| Knowledge Q&A | 2,000 / 800 | $950 – $1.3K |
| Meeting Summary | 10,000 / 1,200 | $3.6K – $3.9K |
| Marketing Content | 2,500 / 1,800 | $2.2K – $2.3K |
| Coding Task | 3,000 / 2,000 | $2.3K – $2.6K |
| Invoice Processing | 1,500 / 600 | $847 – $948 |
| Call Summary | 2,000 / 700 | $1.1K – $1.2K |
| Agent Workflow | 6,000 / 3,000 | $3.4K – $4.3K |
Price history
GLM 5.3 Prime entered our daily price archive on 2026-09-24; tracking began on 2026-08-15. It listed at $2.80 input / $8.80 output per 1M tokens that day. No list price change since 2026-09-24. Last checked against the 2026-10-14 snapshot.
Alternatives to GLM 5.3 Prime
- Next cheaper Mid-tier model: Gemini 3.5 Flash (Google) at $6.75 blended, 4% less.
- Next more expensive: Kimi K3 (Moonshot) at $7.219 blended, 3% more.
Other models from Zhipu
The 8 nearest to GLM 5.3 Prime in price, of 15 other Zhipu models in the catalogue. Prices per 1M tokens, input then output.
- GLM 4.6: $0.50 / $2.00
- GLM 4.5: $0.60 / $2.20
- GLM 4.7: $0.60 / $2.20
- GLM 5 Turbo: $1.20 / $4.00
- GLM 5V Turbo: $1.20 / $4.00
- GLM 5.1: $1.33 / $4.18
- GLM 5.3: $0.07 / $4.80
- GLM 5.2: $0.05 / $7.00
All 16 Zhipu models and prices
Common questions about GLM 5.3 Prime pricing
- How much does GLM 5.3 Prime cost?
- GLM 5.3 Prime costs $2.80 per 1M input tokens and $8.80 per 1M output tokens at Alibaba, the host whose rate we quote. Prices as listed on 2026-10-14.
- Which host is cheapest for GLM 5.3 Prime?
- Alibaba is the only host with a published rate, $2.80 input / $8.80 output per 1M tokens, which is the price we quote. Host rates as listed on 2026-10-14.
- Does GLM 5.3 Prime offer batch or cached pricing?
- Yes, for prompt caching only. Cache reads cost $0.56 per 1M tokens, as listed on 2026-10-14. No batch pricing is published.
- What would GLM 5.3 Prime cost per month?
- With the Support Ticket profile (1,500 input and 500 output tokens per request), 100,000 requests a month cost about $860 on GLM 5.3 Prime at the list price quoted on 2026-10-14.
- Can GLM 5.3 Prime be self-hosted?
- Yes. GLM 5.3 Prime is open source: its weights are published under Apache 2.0, an OSI-approved licence with no field-of-use limit, so it can be self-hosted as well as bought by the token.
- Has the price of GLM 5.3 Prime changed?
- GLM 5.3 Prime entered our daily price archive on 2026-09-24; tracking began on 2026-08-15. It listed at $2.80 input / $8.80 output per 1M tokens that day. No list price change since 2026-09-24. Last checked against the 2026-10-14 snapshot.
These are list prices. Your real cost also depends on caching and batching, negotiated discounts, marketplace agreements, and the contracts you already have. OptimNow audits exactly that.
Build the business case · Get a FinOps review
LLM pricing · Models by maker · Cloud compute pricing · Compare models · Price barometer · FinOps guides · API and MCP server