GLM-5.1 Now Open to All: Performance vs Claude Opus, Pricing & Setup Guide

Why GLM-5.1 Claims to Rival Claude Opus 4.6?

Z.AI released a benchmark comparison using 113 real programming tasks from SWE‑bench. The scores are:

Claude Opus 4.6: 47.9

GLM-5.1: 45.3

GLM-5: 35.4

Harness ran the tests with Claude Code, measuring whether an agent can independently fix a real GitHub issue. The 5.4% gap places GLM-5.1 in the same performance tier, and Z.AI positions the model as the "latest open‑source SOTA programming model" using this figure as evidence.

What Full Access Means

Previously only Pro and Max users could access GLM‑5. GLM‑5.1 opens the model to every subscriber, including the $10/month Lite plan.

Lite – $10/month, ~80 prompts per 5 h, ~400 prompts per week

Pro – $30/month, ~400 prompts per 5 h, ~2000 prompts per week

Max – $80/month, ~1600 prompts per 5 h, ~8000 prompts per week

According to Z.AI, the Lite tier provides roughly three times the usage of Claude Pro ($20/month), while Pro offers about five times the Lite usage.

Whether the price is justified depends on how many agent tasks you run daily. GLM‑5.1 is noticeably stronger than GLM‑4.7, so users satisfied with the older model should see smoother performance.

How to Switch to GLM-5.1

Important: The default configuration still points to GLM‑4.7, so you must change it manually.

Claude Code users:

{
  "env": {
    "ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_HAIKU_MODEL": "glm-4.5-air",
    "ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_SONNET_MODEL": "glm-5.1",
    "ANTHROPIC_DEFAULT_OPUS_MODEL": "glm-5.1"
  }
}

Edit ~/.claude/settings.json, then restart a terminal and run claude. Use the /status command to confirm the active model.

OpenClaw users:

In ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json, add the GLM‑5.1 configuration to the models.providers.zai.models array, and set agents.defaults.model.primary to "zai/glm-5.1". The official Z.AI documentation provides a ready‑to‑copy snippet.

Compatibility with 20+ Coding Tools

Z.AI states that the Coding Plan works with tools such as Claude Code, Cursor, Cline, Kilo Code, OpenCode, Goose, Crush, and OpenClaw. Any IDE can be used as long as you provide the API key and base URL.

All Pro‑tier and higher plans also include four MCP tools—Vision Analysis, Web Search, Web Reader, and Zread MCP—enabling the model to see images, browse the web, and read documents during agent tasks.

Bottom Line

If you already use the GLM Coding Plan, simply switch the default model from GLM‑4.7 to GLM‑5.1 at no extra cost. New users can start with the low‑cost Lite tier; the benchmark score of 45.3 on 113 tasks provides a concrete reference to decide whether the upgrade is worthwhile.