GLM-4.5-Air vs GPT-5
Wins 0 of 6 areas
—
Wins 6 of 6 areas
Coding · Agents · Reasoning · Facts · Long documents · Following instructions
GPT-5 is the stronger all-rounder.GLM-4.5-Air is cheaper.
Scores updated · 30 tests both models report · How we compare
Where each one wins
Tests won in each of the six areas where both have results. Each piece is one test, so a longer bar means more evidence; grey means the two scored within a point of each other.
- CodingWriting and fixing software03GPT-53 of 3 tests
- ReasoningHard problems that need careful thinking03GPT-53 of 3 tests
- AgentsCarrying out multi-step tasks on its own02GPT-52 of 2 tests
- FactsGetting facts right instead of making them up12GPT-52 of 3 tests
- Long documentsFinding answers in very long texts01GPT-51 of 1 test
- Following instructionsDoing exactly what it is asked01GPT-51 of 1 test
Long documents and following instructions rest on a single test each.
What it costs
Prices per million tokens, roughly 750,000 words. The bars show the cost of a million tokens read plus a million written.
GLM-4.5-Air costs 90% less for the same work.
The biggest differences
The tests each model wins by the widest margin, up to three each. Scores are out of 100.
Where GPT-5 pulls ahead
- Follows unfamiliar, precisely checkable instructionsIFBench+35.5points ahead
- Finds hard-to-locate facts by browsing the webBrowseComp+33.6points ahead
- Reasons across sets of long documentsAA-LCR+31.5points ahead
Where GLM-4.5-Air pulls ahead
No clear win on a test scored out of 100.
Every test, side by side
All 30 tests both models report. The winning score is in its model's colour; marks a score checked independently.
CodingGPT-5
- SWE-bench VerifiedGPT-5 by 17.357.674.9+17.3
- SciCodeGPT-5 by 12.330.642.9+12.3
- Terminal-Bench HardGPT-5 by 12.120.532.6+12.1
ReasoningGPT-5
- Humanity's Last ExamGPT-5 by 21.5728.5+21.5
- GPQA DiamondGPT-5 by 12.173.385.4+12.1
- CritPtGPT-5 by 5.705.7+5.7
FactsGPT-5
- AA-Omniscience · AccuracyGPT-5 by 2416.340.3+24
- AA-Omniscience · Non-hallucinationGPT-5 by 10.77.117.8+10.7
- Vectara HHEM hallucination ratelower is betterGLM-4.5-Air by 5.89.315.1+5.8
Other results17 tests, not counted
Tests outside the eight areas. They are not counted above: several are summary scores built from other tests, or the same test under another name.
- AA-OmniscienceGPT-5 by 52.8-61.5-8.7+52.8
- HarmBenchGPT-5 by 41.456.197.6+41.4
- τ²-Bench Telecom (AA run)GPT-5 by 38.346.584.8+38.3
- AIR-Bench 2024GPT-5 by 30.657.187.7+30.6
- Artificial Analysis Coding IndexGPT-5 by 1423.837.8+14
- Terminal-BenchGPT-5 by 13.83043.8+13.8
- LiveCodeBenchGPT-5 by 12.870.783.5+12.8
- AA IntelligenceGPT-5 by 11.911.123+11.9
- AIME 2025GPT-5 by 11.383.394.6+11.3
- vectara_avg_summary_lengthGPT-5 by 92.1 rating points70.6162.7+92.1 rating
- vectara_factual_consistencyGLM-4.5-Air by 5.890.784.9+5.8
- MMLU-ProGPT-5 by 5.781.487.1+5.7
- AA Agentic IndexGPT-5 by 5.52126.5+5.5
- vectara_answer_rateGPT-5 by 1.898.199.9+1.8
- XSTestGLM-4.5-Air by 1.598.697.1+1.5
- simple_safety_teststie9999.8tie
- anthropic_red_teamtie9999.1tie
Questions people ask
Which is better, GLM-4.5-Air or GPT-5?
GPT-5 wins all six areas where both have results: coding, agents, reasoning, facts, long documents and following instructions. GLM-4.5-Air wins none, but costs 90% less.
Which is better for coding?
GPT-5. It wins 3 of the 3 coding tests both models report; GLM-4.5-Air wins none.
Which is cheaper?
GLM-4.5-Air costs $0.17 per million input tokens and $0.98 per million output tokens; GPT-5 costs $1.25 and $10.00. That makes GLM-4.5-Air about 90% cheaper for the same work.
How do you compare the two?
We use the 30 benchmark tests both models have published scores on. The verdict counts the 13 tests in the eight capability areas, and a gap under one point (ten on rating-style scales) counts as a tie. The other 17 are listed but not counted, because several are summary scores or repeat a test. Each score is the one shown on the model's own page.