GLM 5.1 pricing
GLM 5.1 is a free-tier LLM from Z.ai (Tsinghua). Here's the full token-price breakdown and what it actually costs per month at real coding workloads.
Token pricing
| Input tokens | Free (self-hosted) / 1M tokens |
| Output tokens | Free (self-hosted) / 1M tokens |
| Price tier | Free |
What it costs per month
Estimated API cost at three typical AI-coding workloads (caching off — real bills are usually lower):
| Workload | Volume | Est. cost |
|---|---|---|
| Light (hobby) | 2M in / 0.5M out | $0/mo |
| Daily driver | 15M in / 4M out | $0/mo |
| Heavy / agentic | 80M in / 20M out | $0/mo |
Estimates assume the listed output price. Prompt caching (where available) can cut input cost substantially on repeated context.
Cheaper alternatives
GLM 5.1 is already among the cheapest models we track.
Pair GLM 5.1 with the right tools — Flowpicker flags model/IDE compatibility before you spend.
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