Pick DeepSeek V4 for near-frontier coding at ~1/12 the cost or open mit-licensed weights you can self-host. Pick GLM 5.2 for long-horizon agentic coding or project-level software engineering. On a tight budget at scale, DeepSeek V4 is the value pick.
DeepSeek V4 (DeepSeek) and GLM 5.2 (Z.ai) are two of the models people most often weigh against each other in 2026. DeepSeek V4 is china's open-weight price earthquake — near-frontier capability at roughly a twelfth of GPT-5.5's cost. GLM 5.2 is an open-weight reasoning model built for long-horizon coding and multi-step agent workflows — strong and cheap. Their biggest split is price, and the breakdown below shows exactly how that plays out for your workload.
Key differences
Price: DeepSeek V4 is about 2.3× cheaper on input ($0.435/$0.87 per 1M tokens vs $0.98/$3.08 per 1M tokens) — meaningful once you are processing millions of tokens a month.
Context window: both advertise 1M (~1,500 pages). Tie on paper — test on your own long inputs, since usable recall varies by model.
Recency: GLM 5.2 is the newer model by about 53 days (released June 16, 2026), usually meaning fresher training data and capabilities.
Specifications
Spec
DeepSeek V4
GLM 5.2
Provider
DeepSeek (China)
Z.ai (China)
Released
April 24, 2026
June 16, 2026
Context window
1M (~1,500 pages)
1M (~1,500 pages)
Price (in/out)
$0.435/$0.87 per 1M tokens
$0.98/$3.08 per 1M tokens
Open weight?
Yes — self-hostable
Yes — self-hostable
Modalities
text, code
text, code
SWE-Bench Verified
80.6%
Not published
MRCR v2 @ 1M
Not published
Not published
Who wins what
Near-frontier coding at ~1/12 the cost: DeepSeek V4 — A core design strength of DeepSeek V4.
Open MIT-licensed weights you can self-host: DeepSeek V4 — A core design strength of DeepSeek V4.
No long-context surcharge: DeepSeek V4 — A core design strength of DeepSeek V4.
Long-horizon agentic coding: GLM 5.2 — A core design strength of GLM 5.2.
Project-level software engineering: GLM 5.2 — A core design strength of GLM 5.2.
Tool use across long-running tasks: GLM 5.2 — A core design strength of GLM 5.2.
Lowest cost at scale: DeepSeek V4 — At $0.435/$0.87 per 1M tokens, it is the cheaper of the two — the gap dominates the bill on high-volume workloads.
Which should you pick?
A cost-sensitive startup shipping high volume: DeepSeek V4 — At $0.435/$0.87 per 1M tokens it undercuts GLM 5.2, and on millions of tokens that margin decides the monthly bill.
Anyone whose priority is near-frontier coding at ~1/12 the cost: DeepSeek V4 — It is specifically built for that.
Anyone whose priority is long-horizon agentic coding: GLM 5.2 — That is its strongest area.
DeepSeek V4: where it fits
China's open-weight price earthquake — near-frontier capability at roughly a twelfth of GPT-5.5's cost. Released April 24, 2026 by DeepSeek, it is built for near-frontier coding at ~1/12 the cost, open MIT-licensed weights you can self-host, no long-context surcharge, and highest LiveCodeBench result.
Its trade-offs are real: trails the very best on hardest agentic coding, and text/code focused, less multimodal. At $0.435 in / $0.87 out per million tokens, it sits in the budget price band.
GLM 5.2: where it fits
An open-weight reasoning model built for long-horizon coding and multi-step agent workflows — strong and cheap. Released June 16, 2026 by Z.ai, it is built for long-horizon agentic coding, project-level software engineering, tool use across long-running tasks, and tops the open-weight intelligence index.
Its trade-offs: text-only — no native multimodal input, and new release with a limited third-party track record. At $0.98 in / $3.08 out per million tokens, it sits in the budget price band.
The bottom line for this matchup
DeepSeek V4 and GLM 5.2 overlap enough that the right pick depends on your specific job. DeepSeek V4 costs less per token; and each leads in its own area — DeepSeek V4 for near-frontier coding at ~1/12 the cost, GLM 5.2 for long-horizon agentic coding. Rather than crowning one, run the same hard task through both once and let the results decide.
Frequently asked questions
Is DeepSeek V4 or GLM 5.2 better for coding?
Public SWE-Bench figures are not available for GLM 5.2, so the honest test is your own repository — run an identical real bug through both. By design, DeepSeek V4 leans toward near-frontier coding at ~1/12 the cost while GLM 5.2 leans toward long-horizon agentic coding, and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.
Which is cheaper, DeepSeek V4 or GLM 5.2?
DeepSeek V4 is cheaper — $0.435/$0.87 per 1M tokens vs $0.98/$3.08 per 1M tokens, roughly 2.3× apart on input.
Which has the bigger context window?
Both advertise 1M (~1,500 pages). Remember advertised ≠ usable: recall typically degrades before the ceiling.
Can I use both DeepSeek V4 and GLM 5.2 together?
Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you DeepSeek V4, GLM 5.2 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, DeepSeek V4 or GLM 5.2?
GLM 5.2 — released June 16, 2026, about 53 days after DeepSeek V4.
DeepSeek V4 vs GLM 5.2
DeepSeek · China | Z.ai · China · Updated June 2026
Quick verdict
Pick DeepSeek V4 for near-frontier coding at ~1/12 the cost or open mit-licensed weights you can self-host. Pick GLM 5.2 for long-horizon agentic coding or project-level software engineering. On a tight budget at scale, DeepSeek V4 is the value pick.
DeepSeek V4 (DeepSeek) and GLM 5.2 (Z.ai) are two of the models people most often weigh against each other in 2026. DeepSeek V4 is china's open-weight price earthquake — near-frontier capability at roughly a twelfth of GPT-5.5's cost. GLM 5.2 is an open-weight reasoning model built for long-horizon coding and multi-step agent workflows — strong and cheap. Their biggest split is price, and the breakdown below shows exactly how that plays out for your workload.
Key differences at a glance
▸Price: DeepSeek V4 is about 2.3× cheaper on input ($0.435/$0.87 per 1M tokens vs $0.98/$3.08 per 1M tokens) — meaningful once you are processing millions of tokens a month.
▸Context window: both advertise 1M (~1,500 pages). Tie on paper — test on your own long inputs, since usable recall varies by model.
▸Recency: GLM 5.2 is the newer model by about 53 days (released June 16, 2026), usually meaning fresher training data and capabilities.
Side-by-side specs
Spec
DeepSeek V4
GLM 5.2
Provider
DeepSeek (China)
Z.ai (China)
Released
April 24, 2026
June 16, 2026
Context window
1M (~1,500 pages)
1M (~1,500 pages)
Price (in/out)
$0.435/$0.87 per 1M tokens
$0.98/$3.08 per 1M tokens
Open weight?
Yes — self-hostable
Yes — self-hostable
Modalities
text, code
text, code
SWE-Bench Verified
80.6%
Not published
MRCR v2 @ 1M
Not published
Not published
Who wins what
Near-frontier coding at ~1/12 the cost
DeepSeek V4
A core design strength of DeepSeek V4.
Open MIT-licensed weights you can self-host
DeepSeek V4
A core design strength of DeepSeek V4.
No long-context surcharge
DeepSeek V4
A core design strength of DeepSeek V4.
Long-horizon agentic coding
GLM 5.2
A core design strength of GLM 5.2.
Project-level software engineering
GLM 5.2
A core design strength of GLM 5.2.
Tool use across long-running tasks
GLM 5.2
A core design strength of GLM 5.2.
Lowest cost at scale
DeepSeek V4
At $0.435/$0.87 per 1M tokens, it is the cheaper of the two — the gap dominates the bill on high-volume workloads.
Which should you pick?
A cost-sensitive startup shipping high volume
→ DeepSeek V4
At $0.435/$0.87 per 1M tokens it undercuts GLM 5.2, and on millions of tokens that margin decides the monthly bill.
Anyone whose priority is near-frontier coding at ~1/12 the cost
→ DeepSeek V4
It is specifically built for that.
Anyone whose priority is long-horizon agentic coding
→ GLM 5.2
That is its strongest area.
DeepSeek V4: where it fits
China's open-weight price earthquake — near-frontier capability at roughly a twelfth of GPT-5.5's cost. Released April 24, 2026 by DeepSeek, it is built for near-frontier coding at ~1/12 the cost, open MIT-licensed weights you can self-host, no long-context surcharge, and highest LiveCodeBench result.
Its trade-offs are real: trails the very best on hardest agentic coding, and text/code focused, less multimodal. At $0.435 in / $0.87 out per million tokens, it sits in the budget price band.
GLM 5.2: where it fits
An open-weight reasoning model built for long-horizon coding and multi-step agent workflows — strong and cheap. Released June 16, 2026 by Z.ai, it is built for long-horizon agentic coding, project-level software engineering, tool use across long-running tasks, and tops the open-weight intelligence index.
Its trade-offs: text-only — no native multimodal input, and new release with a limited third-party track record. At $0.98 in / $3.08 out per million tokens, it sits in the budget price band.
The bottom line for this matchup
DeepSeek V4 and GLM 5.2 overlap enough that the right pick depends on your specific job. DeepSeek V4 costs less per token; and each leads in its own area — DeepSeek V4 for near-frontier coding at ~1/12 the cost, GLM 5.2 for long-horizon agentic coding. Rather than crowning one, run the same hard task through both once and let the results decide.
Want both DeepSeek V4 and GLM 5.2 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.
Public SWE-Bench figures are not available for GLM 5.2, so the honest test is your own repository — run an identical real bug through both. By design, DeepSeek V4 leans toward near-frontier coding at ~1/12 the cost while GLM 5.2 leans toward long-horizon agentic coding, and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.
Which is cheaper, DeepSeek V4 or GLM 5.2?
DeepSeek V4 is cheaper — $0.435/$0.87 per 1M tokens vs $0.98/$3.08 per 1M tokens, roughly 2.3× apart on input.
Which has the bigger context window?
Both advertise 1M (~1,500 pages). Remember advertised ≠ usable: recall typically degrades before the ceiling.
Can I use both DeepSeek V4 and GLM 5.2 together?
Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you DeepSeek V4, GLM 5.2 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, DeepSeek V4 or GLM 5.2?
GLM 5.2 — released June 16, 2026, about 53 days after DeepSeek V4.
Specifications and benchmarks reflect publicly reported figures as of June 2026 and may change as providers release updates. Always verify on your own workload.