Pick GLM 5 for agentic planning and long-horizon coding workflows or complex systems design and backend reasoning. Pick Hunyuan Hy3 for frontier-level reported reasoning and science (gpqa diamond 90.4) at low active-parameter cost or runs a 295b model at the cost of a 21b — only 21b parameters active per token. On a tight budget at scale, Hunyuan Hy3 is the value pick.
GLM 5 (Z.ai) and Hunyuan Hy3 (Tencent) are two of the models people most often weigh against each other in 2026. GLM 5 is z.ai's flagship open-weight (MIT) MoE foundation model, engineered for complex systems design and long-horizon agentic coding. Hunyuan Hy3 is a 295B Apache-2.0 open MoE that reaches frontier reasoning quality while running at roughly 21B active-parameter cost. They diverge most on price and context window — each quantified below from the models' real specs.
Key differences
Context window: Hunyuan Hy3 holds 1.3× more — 256K (~384 pages) vs 200K (~300 pages). But effective recall usually fades long before the advertised ceiling, so the bigger number only helps if the model reasons over it.
Recency: Hunyuan Hy3 is the newer model by about 5 months (released July 6, 2026), usually meaning fresher training data and capabilities.
Specifications
Spec
GLM 5
Hunyuan Hy3
Provider
Z.ai (China)
Tencent (China)
Released
February 11, 2026
July 6, 2026
Context window
200K (~300 pages)
256K (~384 pages)
Price (in/out)
$1/$3.2 per 1M tokens
Open weight (self-host / free)
Open weight?
Yes — self-hostable
Yes — self-hostable
Modalities
text, code
text, code
SWE-Bench Verified
77.8%
Not published
MRCR v2 @ 1M
Not published
Not published
Who wins what
Agentic planning and long-horizon coding workflows: GLM 5 — A core design strength of GLM 5.
Complex systems design and backend reasoning: GLM 5 — A core design strength of GLM 5.
Iterative self-correction on autonomous tasks: GLM 5 — A core design strength of GLM 5.
Frontier-level reported reasoning and science (GPQA Diamond 90.4) at low active-parameter cost: Hunyuan Hy3 — A core design strength of Hunyuan Hy3.
Runs a 295B model at the cost of a 21B — only 21B parameters active per token: Hunyuan Hy3 — A core design strength of Hunyuan Hy3.
Clean, unrestricted Apache-2.0 license with no geographic carve-out: Hunyuan Hy3 — A core design strength of Hunyuan Hy3.
Lowest cost at scale: Hunyuan Hy3 — At Open weight (self-host / free), it is the cheaper of the two — the gap dominates the bill on high-volume workloads.
Largest single-prompt input: Hunyuan Hy3 — Its 256K window is about 1.3× larger, fitting roughly 384 pages in one prompt.
Which should you pick?
A cost-sensitive startup shipping high volume: Hunyuan Hy3 — At Open weight (self-host / free) it undercuts GLM 5, and on millions of tokens that margin decides the monthly bill.
Someone analysing very long documents or codebases: Hunyuan Hy3 — Larger 256K window fits more in one prompt.
Anyone whose priority is agentic planning and long-horizon coding workflows: GLM 5 — It is specifically built for that.
Anyone whose priority is frontier-level reported reasoning and science (gpqa diamond 90.4) at low active-parameter cost: Hunyuan Hy3 — That is its strongest area.
GLM 5: where it fits
Z.ai's flagship open-weight (MIT) MoE foundation model, engineered for complex systems design and long-horizon agentic coding. Released February 11, 2026 by Z.ai, it is built for agentic planning and long-horizon coding workflows, complex systems design and backend reasoning, iterative self-correction on autonomous tasks, and open weights under the permissive MIT license.
Its trade-offs are real: 200K context trails 1M-context rivals, and quickly superseded by GLM-5.1 and GLM-5.2. At $1 in / $3.2 out per million tokens, it sits in the budget price band.
Hunyuan Hy3: where it fits
A 295B Apache-2.0 open MoE that reaches frontier reasoning quality while running at roughly 21B active-parameter cost. Released July 6, 2026 by Tencent, it is built for frontier-level reported reasoning and science (GPQA Diamond 90.4) at low active-parameter cost, runs a 295B model at the cost of a 21B — only 21B parameters active per token, clean, unrestricted Apache-2.0 license with no geographic carve-out, and broad day-one ecosystem support plus an FP8 checkpoint.
Its trade-offs: benchmarks are largely self-reported, and the ultra-low hosted pricing is a limited promotion, and the hosted API is China-jurisdiction, and self-hosting a 295B MoE still needs serious hardware. As an open-weight model, its running cost is your own hardware rather than a per-token fee.
The bottom line for this matchup
GLM 5 and Hunyuan Hy3 overlap enough that the right pick depends on your specific job. Hunyuan Hy3 costs less per token; Hunyuan Hy3 holds the larger context; and each leads in its own area — GLM 5 for agentic planning and long-horizon coding workflows, Hunyuan Hy3 for frontier-level reported reasoning and science (gpqa diamond 90.4) at low active-parameter cost. Rather than crowning one, run the same hard task through both once and let the results decide.
Frequently asked questions
Is GLM 5 or Hunyuan Hy3 better for coding?
Public SWE-Bench figures are not available for Hunyuan Hy3, so the honest test is your own repository — run an identical real bug through both. By design, GLM 5 leans toward agentic planning and long-horizon coding workflows while Hunyuan Hy3 leans toward frontier-level reported reasoning and science (gpqa diamond 90.4) at low active-parameter cost, and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.
Which is cheaper, GLM 5 or Hunyuan Hy3?
Hunyuan Hy3 is cheaper — $1/$3.2 per 1M tokens vs Open weight (self-host / free).
Which has the bigger context window?
Hunyuan Hy3 — 256K vs 200K, about 1.3× larger. Useful only if the model actually reasons over the full window, which not all do.
Can I use both GLM 5 and Hunyuan Hy3 together?
Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you GLM 5, Hunyuan Hy3 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 5 or Hunyuan Hy3?
Hunyuan Hy3 — released July 6, 2026, about 5 months after GLM 5.
GLM 5 vs Hunyuan Hy3
Z.ai · China | Tencent · China · Updated June 2026
Quick verdict
Pick GLM 5 for agentic planning and long-horizon coding workflows or complex systems design and backend reasoning. Pick Hunyuan Hy3 for frontier-level reported reasoning and science (gpqa diamond 90.4) at low active-parameter cost or runs a 295b model at the cost of a 21b — only 21b parameters active per token. On a tight budget at scale, Hunyuan Hy3 is the value pick.
GLM 5 (Z.ai) and Hunyuan Hy3 (Tencent) are two of the models people most often weigh against each other in 2026. GLM 5 is z.ai's flagship open-weight (MIT) MoE foundation model, engineered for complex systems design and long-horizon agentic coding. Hunyuan Hy3 is a 295B Apache-2.0 open MoE that reaches frontier reasoning quality while running at roughly 21B active-parameter cost. They diverge most on price and context window — each quantified below from the models' real specs.
Key differences at a glance
▸Context window: Hunyuan Hy3 holds 1.3× more — 256K (~384 pages) vs 200K (~300 pages). But effective recall usually fades long before the advertised ceiling, so the bigger number only helps if the model reasons over it.
▸Recency: Hunyuan Hy3 is the newer model by about 5 months (released July 6, 2026), usually meaning fresher training data and capabilities.
Side-by-side specs
Spec
GLM 5
Hunyuan Hy3
Provider
Z.ai (China)
Tencent (China)
Released
February 11, 2026
July 6, 2026
Context window
200K (~300 pages)
256K (~384 pages)
Price (in/out)
$1/$3.2 per 1M tokens
Open weight (self-host / free)
Open weight?
Yes — self-hostable
Yes — self-hostable
Modalities
text, code
text, code
SWE-Bench Verified
77.8%
Not published
MRCR v2 @ 1M
Not published
Not published
Who wins what
Agentic planning and long-horizon coding workflows
GLM 5
A core design strength of GLM 5.
Complex systems design and backend reasoning
GLM 5
A core design strength of GLM 5.
Iterative self-correction on autonomous tasks
GLM 5
A core design strength of GLM 5.
Frontier-level reported reasoning and science (GPQA Diamond 90.4) at low active-parameter cost
Hunyuan Hy3
A core design strength of Hunyuan Hy3.
Runs a 295B model at the cost of a 21B — only 21B parameters active per token
Hunyuan Hy3
A core design strength of Hunyuan Hy3.
Clean, unrestricted Apache-2.0 license with no geographic carve-out
Hunyuan Hy3
A core design strength of Hunyuan Hy3.
Lowest cost at scale
Hunyuan Hy3
At Open weight (self-host / free), it is the cheaper of the two — the gap dominates the bill on high-volume workloads.
Largest single-prompt input
Hunyuan Hy3
Its 256K window is about 1.3× larger, fitting roughly 384 pages in one prompt.
Which should you pick?
A cost-sensitive startup shipping high volume
→ Hunyuan Hy3
At Open weight (self-host / free) it undercuts GLM 5, and on millions of tokens that margin decides the monthly bill.
Someone analysing very long documents or codebases
→ Hunyuan Hy3
Larger 256K window fits more in one prompt.
Anyone whose priority is agentic planning and long-horizon coding workflows
→ GLM 5
It is specifically built for that.
Anyone whose priority is frontier-level reported reasoning and science (gpqa diamond 90.4) at low active-parameter cost
→ Hunyuan Hy3
That is its strongest area.
GLM 5: where it fits
Z.ai's flagship open-weight (MIT) MoE foundation model, engineered for complex systems design and long-horizon agentic coding. Released February 11, 2026 by Z.ai, it is built for agentic planning and long-horizon coding workflows, complex systems design and backend reasoning, iterative self-correction on autonomous tasks, and open weights under the permissive MIT license.
Its trade-offs are real: 200K context trails 1M-context rivals, and quickly superseded by GLM-5.1 and GLM-5.2. At $1 in / $3.2 out per million tokens, it sits in the budget price band.
Hunyuan Hy3: where it fits
A 295B Apache-2.0 open MoE that reaches frontier reasoning quality while running at roughly 21B active-parameter cost. Released July 6, 2026 by Tencent, it is built for frontier-level reported reasoning and science (GPQA Diamond 90.4) at low active-parameter cost, runs a 295B model at the cost of a 21B — only 21B parameters active per token, clean, unrestricted Apache-2.0 license with no geographic carve-out, and broad day-one ecosystem support plus an FP8 checkpoint.
Its trade-offs: benchmarks are largely self-reported, and the ultra-low hosted pricing is a limited promotion, and the hosted API is China-jurisdiction, and self-hosting a 295B MoE still needs serious hardware. As an open-weight model, its running cost is your own hardware rather than a per-token fee.
The bottom line for this matchup
GLM 5 and Hunyuan Hy3 overlap enough that the right pick depends on your specific job. Hunyuan Hy3 costs less per token; Hunyuan Hy3 holds the larger context; and each leads in its own area — GLM 5 for agentic planning and long-horizon coding workflows, Hunyuan Hy3 for frontier-level reported reasoning and science (gpqa diamond 90.4) at low active-parameter cost. Rather than crowning one, run the same hard task through both once and let the results decide.
Want both GLM 5 and Hunyuan Hy3 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 Hunyuan Hy3, so the honest test is your own repository — run an identical real bug through both. By design, GLM 5 leans toward agentic planning and long-horizon coding workflows while Hunyuan Hy3 leans toward frontier-level reported reasoning and science (gpqa diamond 90.4) at low active-parameter cost, and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.
Which is cheaper, GLM 5 or Hunyuan Hy3?
Hunyuan Hy3 is cheaper — $1/$3.2 per 1M tokens vs Open weight (self-host / free).
Which has the bigger context window?
Hunyuan Hy3 — 256K vs 200K, about 1.3× larger. Useful only if the model actually reasons over the full window, which not all do.
Can I use both GLM 5 and Hunyuan Hy3 together?
Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you GLM 5, Hunyuan Hy3 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 5 or Hunyuan Hy3?
Hunyuan Hy3 — released July 6, 2026, about 5 months after GLM 5.
Specifications and benchmarks reflect publicly reported figures as of June 2026 and may change as providers release updates. Always verify on your own workload.