StepFun 阶跃星辰 vs Z.ai (Zhipu GLM) vs Hailuo AI 海螺 (MiniMax) vs Baichuan 百川智能
A side-by-side look at scores, pricing and features — with RECATOOLS' ASEAN-aware verdict for each.
StepFun 阶跃星辰
Shanghai frontier-model lab behind Step 5 Preview and open Step Flash...
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Z.ai (Zhipu GLM)
Zhipu's GLM model family, open weights and a Singapore-run API
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Hailuo AI 海螺 (MiniMax)
MiniMax's AI video studio, now running the open-weight H3 model
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Baichuan 百川智能
Wang Xiaochuan's lab, now focused entirely on medical AI
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| RECATOOLS Score | 6.6 / 10 | 7.6 / 10 | 7.3 / 10 | 6.4 / 10 |
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| Value for money | ||||
| Ease of use | ||||
| ASEAN readiness | ||||
| API quality | ||||
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium | Freemium | Usage_based |
| Free tier | Step 3.5 Flash and Step 3.7 Flash weights are free under Apache 2.0; StepAudio 3 preview models are free on the API for a limited time | GLM-4.7-Flash, GLM-4.5-Flash and GLM-4.6V-Flash free on the API; free chat at chat.z.ai | Free plan with one-time trial credits; the subscribe page lists up to 16 short 512p Hailuo 2.0 videos, watermarked | Baichuan-M3 open weights under Apache-2.0 on Hugging Face, and the M3 Plus API free to Chinese medical-service institutions (海纳百川 programme) |
| Paid from | API from $0.10 per 1M input tokens (step-3.5-flash, international platform) | $18/month (GLM Coding Plan Lite; $12.60/month billed yearly); API priced per token | $14.99/month (Standard, 1,000 credits; promotional prices often lower) | ¥0.00098 per 1k tokens (Baichuan4-Air) and ¥0.005 per 1k input tokens for Baichuan-M3-Plus |
| Has API | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Open source | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Free to use | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Users | — | — | Android app 13M+ installs, ~70K ratings (~4.06/5 on Google Play) | — |
| Founded | 2023 | 2022 | 2024 | 2023 |
| Maker | — | Knowledge Atlas Technology (Zhipu AI) | MiniMax | — |
| Verdict | StepFun is one of China's best-funded labs and ships fast: Apache-licensed Step 3.5 and 3.7 Flash weights, a 600B Step 5 Preview with open weights promised for 15 October 2026, and a full StepAudio 3 voice stack. Step 3.... |
GLM is one of the strongest price-performance options among open-weight model families: GLM-5.3 lists at $1.40 and $4.40 per million tokens, Flash models are free, and the GLM Coding Plan from $18 a month plugs into Clau... |
Hailuo is a strong, fast-moving video generator. MiniMax H3 adds native stereo audio, 2K output and 15-second clips, the API rates are published per second, and the H3 weights are open for most of the world. Plans start... |
Baichuan has become a medical-AI company, and it is unusually open about it: Baichuan-M3 is downloadable under Apache-2.0, and the API price list is public, with M3 Plus at ¥0.005 per thousand input tokens plus ¥0.03 per... |
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Comparisons cover up to 4 tools. Scores are RECATOOLS editorial assessments; verify current pricing on each vendor's site.