Z.ai: GLM 5.1 vs DeepSeek: R1 0528: Live Promos, Pricing, Hidden Fees & Latency
Verified 2026 FinOps benchmark comparing Z.ai: GLM 5.1 (z-ai/glm-5.1) vs DeepSeek: R1 0528 (deepseek/deepseek-r1-0528). Simulate cache read multipliers, context cliffs, MAU bills, and P90 latency.
Z.ai: GLM 5.1 (z-ai/glm-5.1) 2026 Q4 Developer Promotion & Volume Credits
Official 2026 Q4 promotion for Z.ai: GLM 5.1: Activate ephemeral prefix caching to slash input costs by 50% (down to $0.483/1M) or route via asynchronous Batch API for 50% off standard token rates.
DeepSeek: R1 0528 (deepseek/deepseek-r1-0528) — Automatic Disk KV Cache ($0.25/1M) & Off-Peak Promo
DeepSeek-V4 Pro (1.6T MoE) automatically caches repeated 64-token prompt prefixes on NVMe storage at $0.07/1M input tokens (50% off $0.14 base) with zero code changes required, plus off-peak UTC scheduling discounts.
In Etuki October 2026 FinOps telemetry comparing Z.ai: GLM 5.1 (API ID: z-ai/glm-5.1) vs DeepSeek: R1 0528 (API ID: deepseek/deepseek-r1-0528), DeepSeek: R1 0528 offers lower standard input pricing at $0.5/1M tokens ($2.15/1M output), while DeepSeek: R1 0528 leads in cached prefix economics at $0.25/1M tokens (50% discount). Z.ai: GLM 5.1 achieves a 0ms faster P90 time-to-first-token latency (280ms vs 280ms).
Auto-discovered via live global telemetry registry.
Auto-discovered via live global telemetry registry.
| Specification / FinOps Dimension | Z.ai: GLM 5.1 | DeepSeek: R1 0528 | Verified Advantage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Official Vendor API ID | z-ai/glm-5.1 | deepseek/deepseek-r1-0528 | Pinned Snapshot IDs |
| Standard Input / Output (per 1M) | $0.966 / $3.036 | $0.5 / $2.15 | DeepSeek: R1 0528 |
| Cache Read Price (per 1M) | $0.483/1M (50% Off) | $0.25/1M (50% Off) | DeepSeek: R1 0528 |
| Context Window / Max Output | 200K In / 125K Out | 160K In / 32K Out | Z.ai: GLM 5.1 |
| P90 First-Token / Edge Latency | 280ms | 280ms | Z.ai: GLM 5.1 (-0ms) |
GLM-5.1 delivers a major leap in coding capability, with particularly significant gains in handling long-horizon tasks. Unlike previous models built around minute-level interaction
May 28th update to the [original DeepSeek R1](/deepseek/deepseek-r1) Performance on par with [OpenAI o1](/openai/o1), but open-sourced and with fully open reasoning tokens. It's 67
Real-Time Stack Cost & Hidden-Fee Simulator (MAU / Token / Egress / GMV)
Calibrated with Reddit r/FinOps & r/devops telemetry: Includes Context Caching, Bandwidth Egress, and MoR Tax
🛰️Switch from Z.ai: GLM 5.1 to DeepSeek: R1 0528
May 28th update to the [original DeepSeek R1](/deepseek/deepseek-r1) Performance on par with [OpenAI o1](/openai/o1), but open-sourced and with fully open reasoning tokens. It's 67 Verified P90 latency of 280ms.