News / Model Watch · API General Availability
GLM-5.3 API Goes GA: $1.40/$4.40, One-Day Slip, and an Ecosystem That Didn't Wait
Five days after GLM-5.3's Aug 14 launch (Coding Plan first, API "coming"), Zhipu opened general API access in the early hours of August 19 — one day later than planned, at prices identical to GLM-5.2. This brief has the verified timeline, the pricing table against its Chinese-model peers, the platform roll call, and what changes for API builders before the open weights land around Aug 28.
The GLM-5.3 API is generally available as of August 19, 2026 (Beijing, early hours), per Zhipu's official announcement carried by 证券时报 and 第一财经. Pricing is unchanged from GLM-5.2 — $1.40 / $4.40 per 1M tokens (input / output) on the docs.z.ai pricing page. It enters at Artificial Analysis Index 60, tied with Kimi K3 as open-source co-#1; open weights delivered Aug 28 — see our open-weights brief.
The launch week, verified
| When | What happened · source |
|---|---|
| Aug 14 | GLM-5.3 launches — Coding Plan / ZCode first, API promised. z.ai blog; our launch brief. PhanRouter and JD Cloud MaaS adapt same-day (量子位). |
| Aug 18 | The API doesn't open on schedule — customers who'd budgeted for launch weekend push hard (华尔街见闻: "delay一天我们的管理成本就多好几万"). |
| Aug 19 (凌晨) | API GA. Zhipu's WeChat announcement: 即日起正式上线, 定价与 5.2 持平, 权重下周五开源 (IT之家, 界面新闻). English side: VentureBeat notes the $1.4/$4.4 hold. |
| Aug 21 | China's National Supercomputing Internet platform adds GLM-5.3 API one-click calls (OpenAI- and Anthropic-compatible); Zhipu (2513.HK) jumps 11% alongside MiniMax in the "HK large-model duo" rally (ZAKER). |
Pricing: unchanged, and where that lands it
Zhipu held the line at $1.40 / $4.40 per 1M tokens (cached input ~$0.26) — the same slot GLM-5.2 occupied, and still among the cheapest frontier-grade API slots available.
| Model (2026) | Input $/1M | Output $/1M | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| GLM-5.3 (GA) | $1.40 | $4.40 | cached ~$0.26; AA 60, open co-#1 |
| qwen3.8-max | $2.00 | $6.00 | open weights since Aug 12–17 |
| Kimi K3 | $3.00 | $15.00 | 2.8T open weights, modified license |
| deepseek-v4-flash (off/peak) | $0.22 / $0.44 | $0.66 / $1.32 | new peak/off-peak windows since Aug 17 |
Comparison rows reuse prices verified in our earlier briefs; GLM row per docs.z.ai pricing page.
What shipped — and the one breaking change to remember
- General API access. OpenAI-compatible calls per docs.z.ai (the official quickstart covers curl/Python/Node); the model is positioned for complex coding, defensive cybersecurity, and long-horizon tasks.
- Day-one surfaces. ZCode and the GLM Coding Plan are the reference integrations; PhanRouter (same-day Aug 14), JD Cloud MaaS (Aug 14), and the National Supercomputing Internet (Aug 21, OpenAI + Anthropic compatible) are already serving it.
- The breaking change.
thinking.type: 'disabled'was removed — if your 5.2-era code sets it, drop it before switching (flagged in our launch brief). - Independent scores are in. AA Intelligence Index 60 — same tier as Kimi K3 for open models, near Claude Fable 5 / GPT-5.6 Sol; the earlier "very verbose" flag (170M vs 72M median tokens on AA's index run) is worth remembering for cost-sensitive agent loops.
Get GLM through one OpenAI-compatible endpoint
ChinaModelAPI is an independent relay bringing Chinese frontier models — GLM, DeepSeek, Qwen, Kimi — to builders worldwide behind a single OpenAI-compatible API with USDT/USD1 payments. On the relay, glm-5.2 / glm-5.1 remain the production IDs today; the glm-5.3 ID follows once GA is confirmed healthy through relays.
ChinaModelAPI is an independent relay with no official relationship to Zhipu / Z.ai.
Primary sources
- 证券时报 — 智谱GLM-5.3 API今日凌晨上线 (2026-08-19)
- IT之家 — 智谱 GLM-5.3 模型 API 上线，权重下周五开源 (2026-08-19)
- 第一财经/东方财富 — GLM-5.3 API即日起正式上线 (2026-08-19)
- 界面新闻 — 智谱GLM-5.3 API正式上线 (2026-08-19)
- docs.z.ai — 官方定价页 ($1.40/$4.40，缓存输入更低)
- Z.ai 官方博客 — GLM-5.3 发布公告 (2026-08-14)
- VentureBeat — GLM-5.3 hits the API at $1.4/$4.4 per million tokens
- 量子位 — 范式PhanRouter上线智谱GLM-5.3，即日开放调用 (2026-08-17)
- ZAKER — 国家超算互联网上线GLM-5.3 API；港股大模型双雄大涨 (2026-08-21)
- 华尔街见闻 — 5000亿智谱如何「逆风改命」(API推迟一天的客户压力叙事)
FAQ (2026)
When did the API go live?
Aug 19, 2026, early hours Beijing time — one day after the originally expected Aug 18, per Zhipu's official announcement.
Pricing?
Same as GLM-5.2: $1.40 in / $4.40 out per 1M on docs.z.ai, cached input much lower. No GA price bump.
Open weights when?
Delivered Aug 28 (night): 141 shards + BF16 live on zai-org, custom glm-5.3 license. Our open-weights brief has the details.
Where can I call it?
Z.ai/bigmodel API, ZCode + Coding Plan, PhanRouter, JD Cloud MaaS, and the National Supercomputing Internet platform (OpenAI/Anthropic-compatible).
vs GLM-5.2 for developers?
Same base, post-training gains (Terminal-Bench 3.0 4.6→28.3; AA 60 open co-#1). Remember: thinking.type 'disabled' was removed — a breaking change.
Through ChinaModelAPI?
Not yet at publication — glm-5.2/glm-5.1 are the relay's production IDs; glm-5.3 routing follows once GA is healthy through relays. Waitlist gets first notice.