Pick Claude Sonnet 4.6 for best value in the claude family or everyday professional work. Pick GLM 4.7 for genuinely permissive open weights — an mit-licensed 358b mixture-of-experts with no commercial restrictions or strong agentic coding for the price — 73.8% on swe-bench verified undercut most closed frontier models at launch. Choose GLM 4.7 if you need self-hosting or data privacy; Claude Sonnet 4.6 if you want a managed API.
Claude Sonnet 4.6 (Anthropic, US) and GLM 4.7 (Z.ai, China) line up two different AI ecosystems against each other — a comparison that is as much about cost philosophy and openness as raw capability. Claude Sonnet 4.6 is opus-class quality at lower cost; superseded as the default Sonnet by Claude Sonnet 5 (June 2026). GLM 4.7 is an MIT-licensed 358B open mixture-of-experts with strong 73.8% SWE-Bench Verified coding — but two generations behind GLM 5.2. They diverge most on price, context window, open vs. closed weights and coding benchmarks — each quantified below from the models' real specs.
Key differences
Price: GLM 4.7 is about 5× cheaper on input ($0.6/$2.2 per 1M tokens vs $3/$15 per 1M tokens) — a large enough gap that at scale it can be the single biggest line item in the decision.
Context window: Claude Sonnet 4.6 holds 4.9× more — 1M (~1,500 pages) vs 200K (~304 pages). But effective recall usually fades long before the advertised ceiling, so the bigger number only helps if the model reasons over it.
Coding: Claude Sonnet 4.6 leads SWE-Bench Verified by 5.8 points (79.6% vs 73.8%) — a real edge on hard, real-world software tasks.
Recency: Claude Sonnet 4.6 is the newer model by about 57 days (released February 17, 2026), usually meaning fresher training data and capabilities.
Ecosystem: this is a US-vs-China matchup — they differ in pricing philosophy, data-residency options, and tooling ecosystems, not only benchmarks.
Specifications
Spec
Claude Sonnet 4.6
GLM 4.7
Provider
Anthropic (US)
Z.ai (China)
Released
February 17, 2026
December 22, 2025
Context window
1M (~1,500 pages)
200K (~304 pages)
Price (in/out)
$3/$15 per 1M tokens
$0.6/$2.2 per 1M tokens
Open weight?
No — API only
Yes — self-hostable
Modalities
text, image, code
text, code
SWE-Bench Verified
79.6%
73.8%
MRCR v2 @ 1M
Not published
Not published
Who wins what
Best value in the Claude family: Claude Sonnet 4.6 — Opus-class quality at lower cost; superseded as the default Sonnet by Claude Sonnet 5 (June 2026) — and it leads SWE-Bench Verified 79.6% to 73.8%.
Everyday professional work: Claude Sonnet 4.6 — Opus-class quality at lower cost; superseded as the default Sonnet by Claude Sonnet 5 (June 2026) — and it carries the larger 1M context.
Long-document analysis: Claude Sonnet 4.6 — Its 1M window holds about 4.9× more than GLM 4.7's 200K in a single prompt.
Genuinely permissive open weights — an MIT-licensed 358B mixture-of-experts with no commercial restrictions: GLM 4.7 — Open weights make this possible at all — Claude Sonnet 4.6 is API-only, so it cannot leave the vendor's servers.
Strong agentic coding for the price — 73.8% on SWE-Bench Verified undercut most closed frontier models at launch: GLM 4.7 — At $0.6/$2.2 per 1M tokens it undercuts Claude Sonnet 4.6 ($3/$15 per 1M tokens), and that gap compounds at volume.
An unusually generous 128K maximum output, which suits bulk refactors and long generation: GLM 4.7 — An MIT-licensed 358B open mixture-of-experts with strong 73.8% SWE-Bench Verified coding — but two generations behind GLM 5.2 — and it runs cheaper at $0.6/$2.2 per 1M tokens.
Lowest cost at scale: GLM 4.7 — At $0.6/$2.2 per 1M tokens, it is the cheaper of the two — the gap dominates the bill on high-volume workloads.
Largest single-prompt input: Claude Sonnet 4.6 — Its 1M window is about 4.9× larger than GLM 4.7's 200K, fitting roughly 1,500 pages in one prompt.
Which should you pick?
A cost-sensitive startup shipping high volume: GLM 4.7 — At $0.6/$2.2 per 1M tokens it undercuts Claude Sonnet 4.6, and on millions of tokens that margin decides the monthly bill.
Someone analysing very long documents or codebases: Claude Sonnet 4.6 — Larger 1M window fits more in one prompt.
A team with data-privacy or self-hosting needs: GLM 4.7 — Open weights let you run it on your own hardware; Claude Sonnet 4.6 is API-only.
Anyone whose priority is best value in the claude family: Claude Sonnet 4.6 — It is specifically built for that.
Anyone whose priority is genuinely permissive open weights — an mit-licensed 358b mixture-of-experts with no commercial restrictions: GLM 4.7 — That is its strongest area.
An enterprise with regional data-residency rules: Claude Sonnet 4.6 or GLM 4.7 — Origin (US vs China) affects where data is processed and which compliance regime applies — check the provider's terms for your region.
Claude Sonnet 4.6: where it fits
Opus-class quality at lower cost; superseded as the default Sonnet by Claude Sonnet 5 (June 2026). Released February 17, 2026 by Anthropic, it is built for best value in the Claude family, everyday professional work, long-document analysis, and coding at lower cost than Opus.
Its trade-offs are real: trails Opus on the hardest agentic tasks, and not an open-weight option. At $3 in / $15 out per million tokens, it sits in the mid price band.
GLM 4.7: where it fits
An MIT-licensed 358B open mixture-of-experts with strong 73.8% SWE-Bench Verified coding — but two generations behind GLM 5.2. Released December 22, 2025 by Z.ai, it is built for genuinely permissive open weights — an MIT-licensed 358B mixture-of-experts with no commercial restrictions, strong agentic coding for the price — 73.8% on SWE-Bench Verified undercut most closed frontier models at launch, an unusually generous 128K maximum output, which suits bulk refactors and long generation, and cheap long-running agent loops thanks to aggressive prompt caching.
Its trade-offs: two generations behind — GLM 5, 5.1 and 5.2 have all shipped since, and new builds should default to those, its Verified lead narrows sharply on harder evaluations like SWE-Bench Pro, and text-only with no vision, and self-hosting a 358B model is a serious hardware commitment. At $0.6 in / $2.2 out per million tokens, it sits in the budget price band.
The bottom line for this matchup
The defining split here is open vs. closed. GLM 4.7 gives you weights you control — self-host it, fine-tune it, keep data in-house, pay only for hardware. Claude Sonnet 4.6 gives you a managed, always-updated API with no infrastructure to run. Teams with GPUs, privacy requirements, or huge volume often favour the open model; teams that want zero ops and the latest capabilities favour the closed one. Capability is close enough that this operational question, not the benchmark, usually decides it.
Frequently asked questions
Is Claude Sonnet 4.6 or GLM 4.7 better for coding?
On SWE-Bench Verified, Claude Sonnet 4.6 scores 79.6% and GLM 4.7 scores 73.8% — Claude Sonnet 4.6 has the measurable edge.
Which is cheaper, Claude Sonnet 4.6 or GLM 4.7?
GLM 4.7 is open-weight, so self-hosting means no per-token fee (you pay for hardware instead), while Claude Sonnet 4.6 is API-metered at $3/$15 per 1M tokens. For most teams without GPUs, the API model is cheaper to start; at very high volume, self-hosting can win.
Which has the bigger context window?
Claude Sonnet 4.6 — 1M vs 200K, about 4.9× larger. Useful only if the model actually reasons over the full window, which not all do.
Can I use both Claude Sonnet 4.6 and GLM 4.7 together?
Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you Claude Sonnet 4.6, GLM 4.7 and 40+ others under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day), so you can draft with one and cross-check with the other instead of buying two subscriptions.
Which is newer, Claude Sonnet 4.6 or GLM 4.7?
Claude Sonnet 4.6 — released February 17, 2026, about 57 days after GLM 4.7.
Claude Sonnet 4.6 vs GLM 4.7
Anthropic · US | Z.ai · China · Updated June 2026
Quick verdict
Pick Claude Sonnet 4.6 for best value in the claude family or everyday professional work. Pick GLM 4.7 for genuinely permissive open weights — an mit-licensed 358b mixture-of-experts with no commercial restrictions or strong agentic coding for the price — 73.8% on swe-bench verified undercut most closed frontier models at launch. Choose GLM 4.7 if you need self-hosting or data privacy; Claude Sonnet 4.6 if you want a managed API.
Claude Sonnet 4.6 (Anthropic, US) and GLM 4.7 (Z.ai, China) line up two different AI ecosystems against each other — a comparison that is as much about cost philosophy and openness as raw capability. Claude Sonnet 4.6 is opus-class quality at lower cost; superseded as the default Sonnet by Claude Sonnet 5 (June 2026). GLM 4.7 is an MIT-licensed 358B open mixture-of-experts with strong 73.8% SWE-Bench Verified coding — but two generations behind GLM 5.2. They diverge most on price, context window, open vs. closed weights and coding benchmarks — each quantified below from the models' real specs.
Key differences at a glance
▸Price: GLM 4.7 is about 5× cheaper on input ($0.6/$2.2 per 1M tokens vs $3/$15 per 1M tokens) — a large enough gap that at scale it can be the single biggest line item in the decision.
▸Context window: Claude Sonnet 4.6 holds 4.9× more — 1M (~1,500 pages) vs 200K (~304 pages). But effective recall usually fades long before the advertised ceiling, so the bigger number only helps if the model reasons over it.
▸Coding: Claude Sonnet 4.6 leads SWE-Bench Verified by 5.8 points (79.6% vs 73.8%) — a real edge on hard, real-world software tasks.
▸Recency: Claude Sonnet 4.6 is the newer model by about 57 days (released February 17, 2026), usually meaning fresher training data and capabilities.
▸Ecosystem: this is a US-vs-China matchup — they differ in pricing philosophy, data-residency options, and tooling ecosystems, not only benchmarks.
Side-by-side specs
Spec
Claude Sonnet 4.6
GLM 4.7
Provider
Anthropic (US)
Z.ai (China)
Released
February 17, 2026
December 22, 2025
Context window
1M (~1,500 pages)
200K (~304 pages)
Price (in/out)
$3/$15 per 1M tokens
$0.6/$2.2 per 1M tokens
Open weight?
No — API only
Yes — self-hostable
Modalities
text, image, code
text, code
SWE-Bench Verified
79.6%
73.8%
MRCR v2 @ 1M
Not published
Not published
Who wins what
Best value in the Claude family
Claude Sonnet 4.6
Opus-class quality at lower cost; superseded as the default Sonnet by Claude Sonnet 5 (June 2026) — and it leads SWE-Bench Verified 79.6% to 73.8%.
Everyday professional work
Claude Sonnet 4.6
Opus-class quality at lower cost; superseded as the default Sonnet by Claude Sonnet 5 (June 2026) — and it carries the larger 1M context.
Long-document analysis
Claude Sonnet 4.6
Its 1M window holds about 4.9× more than GLM 4.7's 200K in a single prompt.
Genuinely permissive open weights — an MIT-licensed 358B mixture-of-experts with no commercial restrictions
GLM 4.7
Open weights make this possible at all — Claude Sonnet 4.6 is API-only, so it cannot leave the vendor's servers.
Strong agentic coding for the price — 73.8% on SWE-Bench Verified undercut most closed frontier models at launch
GLM 4.7
At $0.6/$2.2 per 1M tokens it undercuts Claude Sonnet 4.6 ($3/$15 per 1M tokens), and that gap compounds at volume.
An unusually generous 128K maximum output, which suits bulk refactors and long generation
GLM 4.7
An MIT-licensed 358B open mixture-of-experts with strong 73.8% SWE-Bench Verified coding — but two generations behind GLM 5.2 — and it runs cheaper at $0.6/$2.2 per 1M tokens.
Lowest cost at scale
GLM 4.7
At $0.6/$2.2 per 1M tokens, it is the cheaper of the two — the gap dominates the bill on high-volume workloads.
Largest single-prompt input
Claude Sonnet 4.6
Its 1M window is about 4.9× larger than GLM 4.7's 200K, fitting roughly 1,500 pages in one prompt.
Which should you pick?
A cost-sensitive startup shipping high volume
→ GLM 4.7
At $0.6/$2.2 per 1M tokens it undercuts Claude Sonnet 4.6, and on millions of tokens that margin decides the monthly bill.
Someone analysing very long documents or codebases
→ Claude Sonnet 4.6
Larger 1M window fits more in one prompt.
A team with data-privacy or self-hosting needs
→ GLM 4.7
Open weights let you run it on your own hardware; Claude Sonnet 4.6 is API-only.
Anyone whose priority is best value in the claude family
→ Claude Sonnet 4.6
It is specifically built for that.
Anyone whose priority is genuinely permissive open weights — an mit-licensed 358b mixture-of-experts with no commercial restrictions
→ GLM 4.7
That is its strongest area.
An enterprise with regional data-residency rules
→ Claude Sonnet 4.6 or GLM 4.7
Origin (US vs China) affects where data is processed and which compliance regime applies — check the provider's terms for your region.
Claude Sonnet 4.6: where it fits
Opus-class quality at lower cost; superseded as the default Sonnet by Claude Sonnet 5 (June 2026). Released February 17, 2026 by Anthropic, it is built for best value in the Claude family, everyday professional work, long-document analysis, and coding at lower cost than Opus.
Its trade-offs are real: trails Opus on the hardest agentic tasks, and not an open-weight option. At $3 in / $15 out per million tokens, it sits in the mid price band.
GLM 4.7: where it fits
An MIT-licensed 358B open mixture-of-experts with strong 73.8% SWE-Bench Verified coding — but two generations behind GLM 5.2. Released December 22, 2025 by Z.ai, it is built for genuinely permissive open weights — an MIT-licensed 358B mixture-of-experts with no commercial restrictions, strong agentic coding for the price — 73.8% on SWE-Bench Verified undercut most closed frontier models at launch, an unusually generous 128K maximum output, which suits bulk refactors and long generation, and cheap long-running agent loops thanks to aggressive prompt caching.
Its trade-offs: two generations behind — GLM 5, 5.1 and 5.2 have all shipped since, and new builds should default to those, its Verified lead narrows sharply on harder evaluations like SWE-Bench Pro, and text-only with no vision, and self-hosting a 358B model is a serious hardware commitment. At $0.6 in / $2.2 out per million tokens, it sits in the budget price band.
The bottom line for this matchup
The defining split here is open vs. closed. GLM 4.7 gives you weights you control — self-host it, fine-tune it, keep data in-house, pay only for hardware. Claude Sonnet 4.6 gives you a managed, always-updated API with no infrastructure to run. Teams with GPUs, privacy requirements, or huge volume often favour the open model; teams that want zero ops and the latest capabilities favour the closed one. Capability is close enough that this operational question, not the benchmark, usually decides it.
Want both Claude Sonnet 4.6 and GLM 4.7 without two subscriptions? LumiChats gives you these plus 40+ models under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day) — draft with one, cross-check with the other.
Is Claude Sonnet 4.6 or GLM 4.7 better for coding?
On SWE-Bench Verified, Claude Sonnet 4.6 scores 79.6% and GLM 4.7 scores 73.8% — Claude Sonnet 4.6 has the measurable edge.
Which is cheaper, Claude Sonnet 4.6 or GLM 4.7?
GLM 4.7 is open-weight, so self-hosting means no per-token fee (you pay for hardware instead), while Claude Sonnet 4.6 is API-metered at $3/$15 per 1M tokens. For most teams without GPUs, the API model is cheaper to start; at very high volume, self-hosting can win.
Which has the bigger context window?
Claude Sonnet 4.6 — 1M vs 200K, about 4.9× larger. Useful only if the model actually reasons over the full window, which not all do.
Can I use both Claude Sonnet 4.6 and GLM 4.7 together?
Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you Claude Sonnet 4.6, GLM 4.7 and 40+ others under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day), so you can draft with one and cross-check with the other instead of buying two subscriptions.
Which is newer, Claude Sonnet 4.6 or GLM 4.7?
Claude Sonnet 4.6 — released February 17, 2026, about 57 days after GLM 4.7.
Specifications and benchmarks reflect publicly reported figures as of June 2026 and may change as providers release updates. Always verify on your own workload.