GLM 5.3 Flash vs Sonar

Price, context window & benchmark comparison

Z.ai (Zhipu)

GLM 5.3 Flash

Z.ai (Zhipu)
$0.0399 / $0.0784
Input / Output · per 1M tokens
VS
Perplexity

Sonar

Perplexity
$1.00 / $1.00
Input / Output · per 1M tokens
Compare different models
Z.ai (Zhipu)
Perplexity
Verdict: GLM 5.3 Flash is 20.2× cheaper than Sonar on a typical 3:1 input/output mix. GLM 5.3 Flash has the larger context window (1M vs 127K).
GLM 5.3 FlashSonar
Input price / 1M$0.0399$1.00
Output price / 1M$0.0784$1.00
Blended price (3:1)$0.0495$1.00
Cached input / 1M$0.03—
Context window1M127K
Max output131K114K
Intelligence index27.8—
Coding index71.5—
Providers42—
Best provider uptime (30m)100.0%—
Vision inputYesYes
ReasoningYesNo
Tool callingYesNo
Released2026-08-262025-01-27
Retirement——

Cost calculator

FAQ

Which is cheaper, GLM 5.3 Flash or Sonar?

GLM 5.3 Flash is 20.2× cheaper than Sonar on a typical 3:1 input/output mix.

GLM 5.3 Flash vs Sonar: which has a bigger context window?

GLM 5.3 Flash: 1,048,576 tokens. Sonar: 127,072 tokens.

How much would 1 million requests cost?

At 2,000 input + 500 output tokens per request: GLM 5.3 Flash ≈ $119.00, Sonar ≈ $2,500.

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