Z.ai (Zhipu GLM) vs DeepSeek
A side-by-side look at scores, pricing and features — with RECATOOLS' ASEAN-aware verdict for each.
Z.ai (Zhipu GLM)
Zhipu's GLM model family, open weights and a Singapore-run API
Visit
|
DeepSeek
Hangzhou lab shipping MIT-licensed V4 models and a very cheap API
Visit
|
|
|---|---|---|
| RECATOOLS Score | 7.6 / 10 | 8.2 / 10 |
| Capability | ||
| Value for money | ||
| Ease of use | ||
| ASEAN readiness | ||
| API quality | ||
| Pricing | Freemium | Open Source |
| Free tier | GLM-4.7-Flash, GLM-4.5-Flash and GLM-4.6V-Flash free on the API; free chat at chat.z.ai | Free chat on the web and in the app; MIT-licensed open weights to self-host |
| Paid from | $18/month (GLM Coding Plan Lite; $12.60/month billed yearly); API priced per token | $0.15 per 1M input tokens (deepseek-flash, cache miss, off-peak); $0.30 at peak |
| Has API | ✓ | ✓ |
| Open source | ✓ | ✓ |
| Free to use | ✓ | ✓ |
| Users | — | ~130M monthly active users (late 2025) |
| Founded | 2022 | 2023 |
| Maker | Knowledge Atlas Technology (Zhipu AI) | High-Flyer |
| Verdict | 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... |
DeepSeek remains the price benchmark for capable models: V4.1-Flash costs $0.15 to $0.30 per million input tokens and V4-Pro under $4 per million output at peak, both with 1M-token context, and the weights are MIT-licens... |
| Full review → | Full review → |
← Back to AI Directory
Comparisons cover up to 4 tools. Scores are RECATOOLS editorial assessments; verify current pricing on each vendor's site.