gemini-3.5-flash vs zai-glm-4.6
gemini-3.5-flash is 1.5× cheaper on input than zai-glm-4.6.
| gemini-3.5-flash | zai-glm-4.6 | |
|---|---|---|
| Input / 1M | $1.50 | $2.25 |
| Cached input / 1M | $0.15 | — |
| Output / 1M | $9.00 | $2.75 |
| Context window | 1M | 128K |
| Max output | 66K | 128K |
| Provider | Cerebras | |
| Vision | Yes | No |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes |
| Token count | estimated | estimated |
Capability for the money
Independent measurement · Artificial Analysis · read 2026-08-11Not the same tier: gemini-3.5-flash leads zai-glm-4.6 by 39.6 points on following instructions (IFBench), for 1.4× the price.
Following instructions
extraction, classification, sticking to a format
IFBenchgemini-3.5-flash +39.6
Tool use
multi-step agent work against real tools
τ²-benchgemini-3.5-flash +18.4
Hard reasoning
graduate-level science and multi-step analysis
GPQA Diamondgemini-3.5-flash +29.0
Averaged over the benchmarks both models sat, gemini-3.5-flash returns 26.1 points of pass rate per dollar of blended price against 24.8 — the ratio that decides whether the dearer model earns its rate.
Each figure is a pass rate: the share of that test set the model answered correctly, measured by a third party rather than self-reported by the lab. Rows are different tests of different difficulty, so compare a model against the other model, not one row against the next. No published coding score for one of these models, so that lens is omitted. And a benchmark is not your workload — it narrows the shortlist, it does not pick for you.
Which to pick
- Cheaper input: gemini-3.5-flash
- Cheaper output: zai-glm-4.6
- Larger context: gemini-3.5-flash
- Better at following instructions: gemini-3.5-flash (76.3% vs 36.7% on IFBench)
- Better at tool use: gemini-3.5-flash (95.3% vs 76.9% on τ²-bench)
- Better at hard reasoning: gemini-3.5-flash (92.2% vs 63.2% on GPQA Diamond)
List price is not production cost. Output length, cache hit rate, retries and task quality move the real number more than the headline rate does — price your own prompt on the token ledger before deciding.
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