Claude vs Z.ai

Claude

• Writing, analysis and coding help in one assistant
• Developers who want a coding agent included in their subscription
• Teams of 2 to 150 that need SSO and central billing

Z.ai

• People who want a free assistant built on the GLM models
• Generating slide decks and small web projects from a prompt
• Developers who also want GLM quota in coding tools like Claude Code

Claude

• Usage is capped in rolling five-hour sessions on every plan, and paid plans add weekly limits.
• Projects, Research, Claude Code and the Chrome and Microsoft 365 extensions are not in the Free plan.
• Enterprise bills usage at API rates on top of the seat price, and the Max 20x tier has no price on the pricing page.
• Payments are generally non-refundable, listed prices exclude tax, and the Linux desktop app is in beta.

Z.ai

• Paid tiers are the GLM Coding Plan, which the docs limit to supported coding and agent tools; what a tier adds in the chat app beyond higher agent limits is not documented.
• Free usage limits are not published: the app only reports that the agent quota is exhausted and when to retry.
• The chat assistant is a web app only: Z.ai's pages list no mobile app for it, and none appeared in US App Store or Google Play searches when checked.
• Subscriptions renew automatically and are non-refundable once purchased, and team plans need at least 2 seats.

Claude

Chat for writing, analysis and code

Write and edit content, generate code and visualize data in a conversation on the web, in desktop apps or on mobile.

Files, code execution and Artifacts

Claude can create files, run code and present generated content as Artifacts. All three are part of the Free plan.

Web search and Research

Web search is available on every plan. Research, for longer investigations, is listed with the paid plans.

Memory and Projects

Memory carries context across conversations on every plan. Projects, which organize chats and documents, start with Pro.

Connectors

Connect apps and tools such as Slack and Google Workspace, or add other context and tools through remote MCP connectors.

Claude Code

A coding agent for the terminal, VS Code and JetBrains. It is included in all paid plans and draws on the same usage pool as chat.

Z.ai

GLM models with Deep Think

Chat runs on Z.ai's own GLM models, with GLM-5.3 set as the default in the public configuration, and has a Deep Think option. The same models are sold per token through Z.ai's API platform.

Search and Deep Research

Search runs a single quick round and Advanced Search runs multi-round research, reporting the keywords searched and sources referenced. Deep Research is listed as a separate tool.

AI Slides

Generates slide decks from a prompt, lets you edit individual slides and their style, and exports the result as PPTX, PDF or images.

Full-Stack mode

Builds a web project in a cloud workspace with code view and live preview, then deploys it to a public URL. The app advertises full-stack generation as free.

Vision and file tools

Accepts PDF, DOCX and PPTX documents and JPG or PNG images up to 50 MB each and MP4 video up to 200 MB, with tools such as OCR Scan, Math Solve, Video Understanding and Data Insight.

AI Intern (beta)

A cloud-hosted agent with synced context memory that runs scheduled and long-running tasks and can be connected to Feishu, Discord and WeChat.

Claude

• Free$0

  Chat on web, desktop and mobile, with web search, file creation, code execution, memory, connectors and Artifacts.

• Pro$17

  per month, billed annually ($200 up front)

  More usage, Projects, Research, Claude Code, task scheduling, more models and Claude in Chrome and Microsoft 365. $20 if billed monthly.

• Team$20

  per seat / month, billed annually

  For teams of 2 to 150, with SSO and central billing. $25 if billed monthly. Premium seats with 5x more usage are $100, or $125 monthly.

• Enterprise$20

  per seat / month, billed annually, plus usage at API rates

  Team features plus spend limits, role-based access, SCIM, audit logs, a compliance API and custom data retention.

• MaxFrom $100

  per month

  Everything in Pro with a choice of 5x or 20x more usage, higher output limits, early access to features and priority at busy times.

Z.ai

• Free$0

  Chat with GLM models at no charge. Signing in unlocks advanced models, and agent use is capped by a quota whose size is not published.

• Lite$18

  per month, or $151.20 billed yearly ($12.60 a month)

  GLM Coding Plan entry tier: 2,000 credits per 5 hours and 10,000 a week for GLM-5.3 and GLM-5.3-Flash in supported coding tools.

• Pro$80

  per month, or $672 billed yearly ($56 a month)

  GLM Coding Plan with 6x Lite usage (12,000 credits per 5 hours, 60,000 a week), priority access to new flagship models and faster generation.

• Standard Seat (Team)$88

  per seat / month, minimum 2 seats

  GLM Coding Team Plan: 15,000 credits per 5 hours and 66,000 a week per seat, with seat management, usage insights and central billing.

• Max$168

  per month, or $1,411.20 billed yearly ($117.60 a month)

  GLM Coding Plan with 14x Lite usage (28,000 credits per 5 hours, 140,000 a week), first access to new models and dedicated resources at peak times.

• Premium Seat (Team)$188

  per seat / month, minimum 2 seats

  Team seat with 35,000 credits per 5 hours and 155,000 a week, plus early access to new flagship models and priority at peak hours.

Claude

• Annual discount

  Lower price with annual billing

  Pro is $17 per month on an annual subscription ($200 billed up front) instead of $20 billed monthly. Team seats are $20 instead of $25, and premium seats $100 instead of $125.

• Nonprofit

  Nonprofit Team pricing from $3 per user

  Registered 501(c)(3) organizations, their international equivalents and K-12 schools can get the Team plan for $8 per user / month, or $3 in low- or middle-income countries.

• Education

  University-wide Education plan

  Anthropic offers institutions a university-wide plan covering students, faculty and staff at discounted rates, arranged through its Education team.

• Startups

  Startup program with API credits

  Venture-backed startups founded within the last four years can apply for free credits and priority rate limits. Credits apply to the Claude API, not to chat subscriptions.

Z.ai

• Annual discount

  30% off yearly billing, 20% off quarterly

  Lite, Pro and Max cost 30% less on a continuous yearly subscription ($12.60, $56 and $117.60 a month) and 20% less on a quarterly one, compared with the monthly prices.