Zhipu Qingyan 智谱清言 (ChatGLM) vs Doubao 豆包 (ByteDance)
A side-by-side look at scores, pricing and features — with RECATOOLS' ASEAN-aware verdict for each.
Zhipu Qingyan 智谱清言 (ChatGLM)
Zhipu's GLM-powered assistant, plus a GLM coding subscription
Visit
|
Doubao 豆包 (ByteDance)
ByteDance's China-first AI assistant, free for daily use with paid pow...
Visit
|
|
|---|---|---|
| RECATOOLS Score | 7.7 / 10 | 6.4 / 10 |
| Capability | ||
| Value for money | ||
| Ease of use | ||
| ASEAN readiness | ||
| API quality | ||
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| Free tier | Qingyan web/app chat is free with sign-in; memberships and points packs are optional. Z.ai API: GLM-4.7-Flash, GLM-4.5-Flash and GLM-4.6V-Flash are free | Free consumer app: chat, search, writing, image generation and voice and video calls; expert and Office Task modes carry smaller quotas than paid tiers |
| Paid from | Coding Plan from $18/mo; Qingyan membership ¥79/mo (China App Store) | ¥68/month (专业版 Standard, or ¥688/year); API from $0.075 per M input tokens on BytePlus |
| Has API | ✓ | ✓ |
| Open source | ✗ | ✗ |
| Free to use | ✓ | ✓ |
| Users | — | Surpassed 100 million daily active users by late 2025 |
| Founded | 2019 | 2023 |
| Maker | Z.AI Co., Ltd. (北京智谱华章科技股份有限公司) | ByteDance |
| Verdict | Qingyan is a capable, free Chinese AI assistant backed by Zhipu's strong GLM models, and the GLM Coding Plan offers an affordable alternative model for coding agents, with off-peak discounts in Singapore time. Prices hav... |
Doubao is the default AI assistant for Chinese-language users: QuestMobile puts it far ahead of Qwen and DeepSeek, everyday features are free, and the June 2026 Professional tiers (¥68 to ¥500 a month) add an agent mode... |
| 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.