Off late, I’ve been questioning if I actually need paid subscriptions to ChatGPT or Claude anymore. China has been rolling out one spectacular LLM after one other, and the most recent, GLM 4.6, is being hailed as among the finest but. This mannequin rivals Claude 4.5 Sonnet in coding and matches GPT-5 and Gemini 2.5 Professional in textual content technology and reasoning. And right here’s the kicker: whereas the large tech gamers cost wherever between $10 to $30 per thirty days for related options, GLM 4.6 offers you entry to all of it without cost. On this publish, we’ll discover GLM 4.6, easy methods to entry it, its options, efficiency benchmarks, and a hands-on take a look at on real-world duties.
Let’s get began with GLM 4.6!
What’s GLM 4.6?
Developed by the Chinese language firm Zhipu AI, GLM 4.6 is the most recent giant language mannequin and an improve over its predecessor, GLM 4.5. It’s a textual content technology mannequin that works solely with textual content as each enter and output. The mannequin contains improved coding, reasoning, and agentic capabilities, permitting it to proactively select the precise software for a given activity from the set of instruments accessible.
Key Options of GLM 4.6
- Enhanced Context Window: GLM 4.6 boasts a context window of 200K tokens, which is considerably bigger than GLM 4.5’s 128K window.
- Higher Reasoning and Agentic Capabilities: The mannequin demonstrates improved reasoning and agentic efficiency. It integrates easily with agent frameworks and delivers extra constant, dependable outputs.
- Higher Coding: GLM 4.6 performs exceptionally properly on coding benchmarks and integrates successfully with instruments like Claude Code, Cline, and Kilo Code.
The perfect half?
The GLM 4.6 mannequin weights are publicly accessible on Hugging Face below the MIT license, making it an open-access mannequin. In truth, it at the moment ranks #1 amongst open fashions and #4 total on the LMArena leaderboard.
Is GLM 4.6 Free or Paid?
The mannequin could be accessed freely by way of its chat platform. Right here the chatbot assists you with all attainable duties be it involving textual content technology, coding, enhancing. However the API it incurs some price which is determined by the utilization and the price for enter and output tokens. Lastly, GLM-4.6 is available in a Coding Plan the place it prices round $3/month for its mild model to $15/month for the professional model.
How you can Entry GLM-4.6?
Anybody can entry this mannequin utilizing its chat interface or API.
To entry it utilizing Chat interface:
- Head to this hyperlink.
- Login or Signal as much as create your account.
- From the dropdown current on the prime, in the course of the display screen, choose the mannequin GLM-4.6
- Add the immediate within the chatbox in the course of the display screen.
To entry GLM-4.6 utilizing API:
- Go to this web site and click on on ‘API keys’
- In the event you don’t have a pervious account then create a brand new account or signup with Google
- Now click on on ‘Create new API key’ and provides a reputation to your API and click on on ‘verify’
Actual World Duties with GLM-4.6
On this part, we’ll put this newest LLM to check on three essential duties round:
- Coding
- Reasoning
- Agentic Capabilities
Let’s begin with the primary one!
Coding
Immediate: “Create a inventory market evaluation app, that implies individuals easy methods to diversify their funding primarily based on their future objectives”
Output:
Discover full output right here!
Assessment:
I received a stellar output from this LLM. I chosen the “Full Stack” software after writing my immediate to verify the mannequin understood it wanted to construct a prototype for my concept. The request was to create a market evaluation app that might assist customers work out how a lot to take a position and easy methods to align their investments with future objectives.
The generated webpage included a number of tabs: Dashboard, Funding Targets, Portfolio Evaluation, and AI Suggestions. Every tab served a transparent goal, serving to customers plan, observe, and optimize their investments primarily based on their objectives. I discovered the whole interface user-friendly and interactive, particularly the sections on Funding Targets and AI Suggestions, which supplied actionable insights and a easy expertise.
Reasoning
Immediate: “Analyze the picture and describe what’s occurring. Observe the arrows to hint the trajectory of closed- vs. open-source fashions on the dimensions proven. Interpret what this implies, discover its implications, and supply a targeted deep-dive into the way forward for open-source fashions. Assist your conclusions with easy, clear charts or visuals to make insights straightforward to know.”
Output:
Assessment:
The mannequin first gave the response in Chinese language, so I requested it to offer it in English. It appropriately learn the picture, figuring out the place every LLM stood and the place the arrows pointed. However its reasoning was not correct. The mannequin’s interpretation was removed from what the picture implied.
The picture confirmed that the hole between open-source and closed-source fashions is reducing, however the mannequin mentioned the divide is rising. It additionally created a thoughts map for the way forward for open-source fashions, which seemed good, however the content material was principally incorrect.
Agentic Capabilities
Immediate: “I would like the entire checklist of tariffs imposed by Trump on completely different international locations, the change in tax charges earlier than and after tariffs and the attainable impression on each the economies of that nation and USA after the imposition of these tariffs. Create a visualization of the general tariffs imposed by trump on varied international locations and the graph of the financial impression.”
Output:
Assessment:
At first look, the output appears detailed and full. It appears to cowl all the pieces you requested for. However as at all times, it’s vital to learn it fastidiously earlier than counting on it. The mannequin begins properly, explaining the impression of the Trump tariffs, however the issues seem within the particulars. The tariff charges it listed have been solely up to date till April 9, and even after a number of tries, the mannequin failed to incorporate the most recent knowledge. This reveals a transparent limitation in its agentic capabilities.
Efficiency and Benchmarks
GLM 4.6 performs strongly throughout key benchmarks for reasoning, coding, and agentic duties, displaying noticeable positive aspects over GLM 4.5 and competing fashions:
- AIME 25: Highest total rating, main in reasoning with instruments.
- GPQA & LiveCodeBench v6: Sturdy efficiency in problem-solving and coding accuracy.
- BrowseComp: Important enchancment in looking and comprehension duties.
- SWE-bench Verified: Aggressive outcomes, near Claude fashions.
- HLE & Terminal-Bench: Average scores with room for enchancment.
- τ²-Bench: Barely behind Claude Sonnet however nonetheless strong.
Additionally Learn: 14 Widespread LLM Benchmarks to Know in 2025
Is GLM-4.6 higher than GPT-5 or Gemini 2.5 Professional or Claude Sonnet 4.5?
Thus far for me, I believe the reply to this query is NO. The mannequin comes with an enormous context window, however its reasoning and agentic capabilities don’t stand an opportunity towards the highest fashions by OpenAI or Google. The mannequin is quick however someway hallucinates in the way in which it retrieves and processes info. On the coding entrance, it reveals vital enchancment from the final mannequin and with its integrations on prime coding instruments like Claude Code – this mannequin is ready to be a companion for coders at a less expensive price ticket.
Different main releases:
Conclusion
GLM 4.6 isn’t a mannequin you’d use for on a regular basis duties. Regardless that it’s free, its responses are much less dependable than these from different fashions. LLMs have improved quickly over the previous few months, and lots of open fashions now present spectacular sophistication. As compared, GLM 4.6 nonetheless falls in need of that customary. Nevertheless, it has obtained constructive suggestions for its coding efficiency. We are able to count on its outputs to enhance within the coming days.
Give it a try to let me know in the event you agree with my assessment.
Anu Madan is an professional in educational design, content material writing, and B2B advertising, with a expertise for remodeling advanced concepts into impactful narratives. Along with her deal with Generative AI, she crafts insightful, modern content material that educates, evokes, and drives significant engagement.
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