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. Pick MAI-1-preview for microsoft's first fully in-house, end-to-end foundation model - a historic break from relying solely on openai or ranked in the top 15 on lm arena at launch. Choose GLM 4.7 if you need self-hosting or data privacy; MAI-1-preview if you want a managed API.
GLM 4.7 (Z.ai, China) and MAI-1-preview (Microsoft, US) line up two different AI ecosystems against each other — a comparison that is as much about cost philosophy and openness as raw capability. 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. MAI-1-preview is microsoft's first fully in-house foundation model - a strategic break from sole reliance on OpenAI, trained on ~15,000 H100 GPUs. They diverge most on price, context window and open vs. closed weights — each quantified below from the models' real specs.
Key differences
Cost model: GLM 4.7 ships open weights you can self-host (hardware cost only, no per-token fee), while MAI-1-preview is API-metered at Not published. Your choice depends on whether you want zero marginal cost at the price of running infrastructure.
Context window: GLM 4.7 holds 1.6× more — 200K (~304 pages) vs 128K (~192 pages). But effective recall usually fades long before the advertised ceiling, so the bigger number only helps if the model reasons over it.
Recency: GLM 4.7 is the newer model by about 4 months (released December 22, 2025), usually meaning fresher training data and capabilities.
Ecosystem: this is a China-vs-US matchup — they differ in pricing philosophy, data-residency options, and tooling ecosystems, not only benchmarks.
Specifications
Spec
GLM 4.7
MAI-1-preview
Provider
Z.ai (China)
Microsoft (US)
Released
December 22, 2025
August 28, 2025
Context window
200K (~304 pages)
128K (~192 pages)
Price (in/out)
$0.6/$2.2 per 1M tokens
Not published
Open weight?
Yes — self-hostable
No — API only
Modalities
text, code
text, code
SWE-Bench Verified
73.8%
Not published
MRCR v2 @ 1M
Not published
Not published
Who wins what
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 — MAI-1-preview 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 — 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 carries the larger 200K context.
An unusually generous 128K maximum output, which suits bulk refactors and long generation: GLM 4.7 — Its 200K window holds about 1.6× more than MAI-1-preview's 128K in a single prompt.
Microsoft's first fully in-house, end-to-end foundation model - a historic break from relying solely on OpenAI: MAI-1-preview — GLM 4.7 is comparatively weak here — text-only with no vision, and self-hosting a 358B model is a serious hardware commitment
Ranked in the top 15 on LM Arena at launch: MAI-1-preview — MAI-1-preview lists ranked in the top 15 on LM Arena at launch among its strengths; GLM 4.7 does not.
Trained on roughly 15,000 NVIDIA H100 GPUs, a genuine internal infrastructure investment: MAI-1-preview — MAI-1-preview lists trained on roughly 15,000 NVIDIA H100 GPUs, a genuine internal infrastructure investment among its strengths; GLM 4.7 does not.
Lowest cost at scale: MAI-1-preview — Its weights are open, so at volume you pay for your own hardware instead of GLM 4.7's $0.6/$2.2 per 1M tokens.
Largest single-prompt input: GLM 4.7 — Its 200K window is about 1.6× larger than MAI-1-preview's 128K, fitting roughly 304 pages in one prompt.
Which should you pick?
A cost-sensitive startup shipping high volume: MAI-1-preview — At Not published it undercuts GLM 4.7, and on millions of tokens that margin decides the monthly bill.
Someone analysing very long documents or codebases: GLM 4.7 — Larger 200K 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; MAI-1-preview is API-only.
Anyone whose priority is genuinely permissive open weights — an mit-licensed 358b mixture-of-experts with no commercial restrictions: GLM 4.7 — It is specifically built for that.
Anyone whose priority is microsoft's first fully in-house, end-to-end foundation model - a historic break from relying solely on openai: MAI-1-preview — That is its strongest area.
An enterprise with regional data-residency rules: MAI-1-preview or GLM 4.7 — Origin (China vs US) affects where data is processed and which compliance regime applies — check the provider's terms for your region.
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 are real: 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.
MAI-1-preview: where it fits
Microsoft's first fully in-house foundation model - a strategic break from sole reliance on OpenAI, trained on ~15,000 H100 GPUs. Released August 28, 2025 by Microsoft, it is built for microsoft's first fully in-house, end-to-end foundation model - a historic break from relying solely on OpenAI, ranked in the top 15 on LM Arena at launch, trained on roughly 15,000 NVIDIA H100 GPUs, a genuine internal infrastructure investment, and rolled into Copilot alongside OpenAI models, giving Microsoft a real second option.
Its trade-offs: a 'preview' release, not yet positioned as Microsoft's primary Copilot model, no public per-token API pricing - not sold as a standalone product, and distinct from Microsoft's later MAI-Thinking-1 reasoning model - an earlier, more general-purpose entry.
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. MAI-1-preview 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 GLM 4.7 or MAI-1-preview better for coding?
Public SWE-Bench figures are not available for MAI-1-preview, so the honest test is your own repository — run an identical real bug through both. By design, GLM 4.7 leans toward genuinely permissive open weights — an mit-licensed 358b mixture-of-experts with no commercial restrictions while MAI-1-preview leans toward microsoft's first fully in-house, end-to-end foundation model - a historic break from relying solely on openai, and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.
Which is cheaper, GLM 4.7 or MAI-1-preview?
GLM 4.7 is open-weight, so self-hosting means no per-token fee (you pay for hardware instead), while MAI-1-preview is API-metered at Not published. 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?
GLM 4.7 — 200K vs 128K, about 1.6× larger. Useful only if the model actually reasons over the full window, which not all do.
Can I use both GLM 4.7 and MAI-1-preview together?
Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you GLM 4.7, MAI-1-preview 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, GLM 4.7 or MAI-1-preview?
GLM 4.7 — released December 22, 2025, about 4 months after MAI-1-preview.
GLM 4.7 vs MAI-1-preview
Z.ai · China | Microsoft · US · Updated June 2026
Quick verdict
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. Pick MAI-1-preview for microsoft's first fully in-house, end-to-end foundation model - a historic break from relying solely on openai or ranked in the top 15 on lm arena at launch. Choose GLM 4.7 if you need self-hosting or data privacy; MAI-1-preview if you want a managed API.
GLM 4.7 (Z.ai, China) and MAI-1-preview (Microsoft, US) line up two different AI ecosystems against each other — a comparison that is as much about cost philosophy and openness as raw capability. 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. MAI-1-preview is microsoft's first fully in-house foundation model - a strategic break from sole reliance on OpenAI, trained on ~15,000 H100 GPUs. They diverge most on price, context window and open vs. closed weights — each quantified below from the models' real specs.
Key differences at a glance
▸Cost model: GLM 4.7 ships open weights you can self-host (hardware cost only, no per-token fee), while MAI-1-preview is API-metered at Not published. Your choice depends on whether you want zero marginal cost at the price of running infrastructure.
▸Context window: GLM 4.7 holds 1.6× more — 200K (~304 pages) vs 128K (~192 pages). But effective recall usually fades long before the advertised ceiling, so the bigger number only helps if the model reasons over it.
▸Recency: GLM 4.7 is the newer model by about 4 months (released December 22, 2025), usually meaning fresher training data and capabilities.
▸Ecosystem: this is a China-vs-US matchup — they differ in pricing philosophy, data-residency options, and tooling ecosystems, not only benchmarks.
Side-by-side specs
Spec
GLM 4.7
MAI-1-preview
Provider
Z.ai (China)
Microsoft (US)
Released
December 22, 2025
August 28, 2025
Context window
200K (~304 pages)
128K (~192 pages)
Price (in/out)
$0.6/$2.2 per 1M tokens
Not published
Open weight?
Yes — self-hostable
No — API only
Modalities
text, code
text, code
SWE-Bench Verified
73.8%
Not published
MRCR v2 @ 1M
Not published
Not published
Who wins what
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 — MAI-1-preview 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
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 carries the larger 200K context.
An unusually generous 128K maximum output, which suits bulk refactors and long generation
GLM 4.7
Its 200K window holds about 1.6× more than MAI-1-preview's 128K in a single prompt.
Microsoft's first fully in-house, end-to-end foundation model - a historic break from relying solely on OpenAI
MAI-1-preview
GLM 4.7 is comparatively weak here — text-only with no vision, and self-hosting a 358B model is a serious hardware commitment
Ranked in the top 15 on LM Arena at launch
MAI-1-preview
MAI-1-preview lists ranked in the top 15 on LM Arena at launch among its strengths; GLM 4.7 does not.
Trained on roughly 15,000 NVIDIA H100 GPUs, a genuine internal infrastructure investment
MAI-1-preview
MAI-1-preview lists trained on roughly 15,000 NVIDIA H100 GPUs, a genuine internal infrastructure investment among its strengths; GLM 4.7 does not.
Lowest cost at scale
MAI-1-preview
Its weights are open, so at volume you pay for your own hardware instead of GLM 4.7's $0.6/$2.2 per 1M tokens.
Largest single-prompt input
GLM 4.7
Its 200K window is about 1.6× larger than MAI-1-preview's 128K, fitting roughly 304 pages in one prompt.
Which should you pick?
A cost-sensitive startup shipping high volume
→ MAI-1-preview
At Not published it undercuts GLM 4.7, and on millions of tokens that margin decides the monthly bill.
Someone analysing very long documents or codebases
→ GLM 4.7
Larger 200K 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; MAI-1-preview is API-only.
Anyone whose priority is genuinely permissive open weights — an mit-licensed 358b mixture-of-experts with no commercial restrictions
→ GLM 4.7
It is specifically built for that.
Anyone whose priority is microsoft's first fully in-house, end-to-end foundation model - a historic break from relying solely on openai
→ MAI-1-preview
That is its strongest area.
An enterprise with regional data-residency rules
→ MAI-1-preview or GLM 4.7
Origin (China vs US) affects where data is processed and which compliance regime applies — check the provider's terms for your region.
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 are real: 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.
MAI-1-preview: where it fits
Microsoft's first fully in-house foundation model - a strategic break from sole reliance on OpenAI, trained on ~15,000 H100 GPUs. Released August 28, 2025 by Microsoft, it is built for microsoft's first fully in-house, end-to-end foundation model - a historic break from relying solely on OpenAI, ranked in the top 15 on LM Arena at launch, trained on roughly 15,000 NVIDIA H100 GPUs, a genuine internal infrastructure investment, and rolled into Copilot alongside OpenAI models, giving Microsoft a real second option.
Its trade-offs: a 'preview' release, not yet positioned as Microsoft's primary Copilot model, no public per-token API pricing - not sold as a standalone product, and distinct from Microsoft's later MAI-Thinking-1 reasoning model - an earlier, more general-purpose entry.
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. MAI-1-preview 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 GLM 4.7 and MAI-1-preview 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 MAI-1-preview, so the honest test is your own repository — run an identical real bug through both. By design, GLM 4.7 leans toward genuinely permissive open weights — an mit-licensed 358b mixture-of-experts with no commercial restrictions while MAI-1-preview leans toward microsoft's first fully in-house, end-to-end foundation model - a historic break from relying solely on openai, and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.
Which is cheaper, GLM 4.7 or MAI-1-preview?
GLM 4.7 is open-weight, so self-hosting means no per-token fee (you pay for hardware instead), while MAI-1-preview is API-metered at Not published. 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?
GLM 4.7 — 200K vs 128K, about 1.6× larger. Useful only if the model actually reasons over the full window, which not all do.
Can I use both GLM 4.7 and MAI-1-preview together?
Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you GLM 4.7, MAI-1-preview 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, GLM 4.7 or MAI-1-preview?
GLM 4.7 — released December 22, 2025, about 4 months after MAI-1-preview.
Specifications and benchmarks reflect publicly reported figures as of June 2026 and may change as providers release updates. Always verify on your own workload.