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Claude Haiku 4.5 vs GLM 4.6

Token pricing, context window and real monthly cost, side by side. GLM 4.6 is the cheaper of the two for a typical workload — about 2.3× less.

cheaper for a typical workload
GLM 4.6
saves 56% vs Claude Haiku 4.5 at 1,500 in / 500 out × 200,000/mo
Claude Haiku 4.5 $800/mo
GLM 4.6 $350/mo
Mid vs Mini cheaper and a larger technical class on spec — the stronger pick here

Positioned by published specs — size, context and modality — not measured performance; a smaller model can sometimes outperform a larger one on your task.

Cost versus technical classClaude Haiku 4.5: $800/mo, Mini class. GLM 4.6: $350/mo, Mid class. Plotted by monthly cost (horizontal) against technical class from size and context (vertical).best valuepremiumbudgetoverpricedClaude Haiku 4.5$800/mo · MiniGLM 4.6$350/mo · Mid← lower cost · monthly $ · higher cost →
↑ technical class (size & context)
GLM 4.6 is the larger class — and the cheaper one

By size & context, GLM 4.6 (Mid) sits above Claude Haiku 4.5 (Mini) yet costs less. On spec it's the straightforward pick; choose Claude Haiku 4.5 only for something it offers that GLM 4.6 doesn't — modality, provider or ecosystem.

Claude Haiku 4.5 versus GLM 4.6 specifications and price.
metric Claude Haiku 4.5 GLM 4.6
Input / 1M $1.00 $0.50
Output / 1M $5.00 $2.00
Context 200K 205K
Technical class Mini Mid
Cost @ typical workload $800/mo $350/mo
Modality text + image Text only
Price source list routed
Provider Anthropic Z.AI

Snapshot . Cost uses a typical workload; tune it in the calculator. How we measure →

Which should you pick?

On a typical workload, GLM 4.6 costs $350/mo against Claude Haiku 4.5's $800/mo — roughly 2.3× cheaper. But the ranking depends on your output-to-input ratio: output is the pricier direction for both, so an output-heavy job (code generation, long answers) widens the gap while an input-heavy one (summarization, retrieval) narrows it. If you need to fit more in a single prompt, GLM 4.6 has the larger 205K-token window (~307 pages). Only Claude Haiku 4.5 accepts image input — decisive if your prompts include images. By technical class (size and context, not measured capability), GLM 4.6 is the larger class (Mid) and the cheaper of the two — on spec, the stronger pick here.

These are list and routed market prices, not measured outcomes. Two models at the same rate can still cost different amounts to finish the same task, because verbose or reasoning-heavy models emit more tokens. That gap is exactly what measured cost-per-task captures. The technical-class read above is likewise spec-based — size, context and modality, not measured performance — so a smaller model can still outperform a larger one on your specific task.

Frequently asked questions

Is Claude Haiku 4.5 or GLM 4.6 cheaper?

For a typical workload (1,500 input + 500 output tokens × 200,000 requests/month), GLM 4.6 costs $350/mo versus $800/mo for Claude Haiku 4.5 — about 2.3× less. Because output is priced higher than input, the winner can flip if your workload writes much more or less than this; check your own numbers in the calculator.

What's the main difference between Claude Haiku 4.5 and GLM 4.6?

On price, Claude Haiku 4.5 is $1.00/$5.00 per 1M (in/out) and GLM 4.6 is $0.50/$2.00. By technical class (size & context) it's Mini (Claude Haiku 4.5) versus Mid (GLM 4.6). GLM 4.6 has the larger context window at 205K tokens. Only Claude Haiku 4.5 accepts image input.

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