What it is
z.ai is Zhipu AI’s GLM family of models, offered via a Coding Plan subscription aimed at IDE coding agents (Claude Code, Cline, Cursor, Trae, Kilo Code, etc.).
Tiers
| Tier | Price | Rate limit | Models |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coding Lite | $3/mo (first cycle; $6 after) | 120 prompts / 5hr | GLM-4.5 |
| Coding Pro | $15/mo ($30 after) | 600 prompts / 5hr | GLM-4.5 + newer |
| Coding Max | $80/mo | Higher cap | GLM-5.2, GLM-5-Turbo, GLM-5V-Turbo |
| Pay-as-you-go API | Per-token | None | GLM-5.2 $1.40/$4.40 per M, GLM-5.1 $0.98/$3.08 |
Verdict
GLM-5.2 at $1.40/$4.40 per M is roughly 10x cheaper than Opus. Coding Plan tiers ($3/$15/$80) are aggressively priced but the user feedback is “z.ai is kinda crappy” — verify quality before subscribing.
See What to try after z.ai for migration options.