Z.ai GLM vs OpenCode Go: Price and Plan Comparison

Table of Contents

• The table you came for: prices face to face
• Where they are similar
• Where they actually differ

  • Models: one proprietary, the other an open catalog
  • Supported tools
  • Privacy and data origin
  • Teams
• Who is each one for?
• Frequently asked questions

  • Are Z.ai GLM and OpenCode Go the same type of product?
  • Can I use GLM inside OpenCode Go?
  • Which is cheaper, Z.ai or OpenCode Go?
  • Is this comparison the same as OpenCode Zen vs OpenCode Go?
  • Do I have to pick only one?
• Verdict

The table you came for: prices face to face

	Z.ai GLM Coding Plan (Lite)	OpenCode Go
Monthly price	$18 USD ($12.60 with a 30% annual discount)	$5 the first month, $10 from the second
Type of limit	Credits with a multiplier by model	Dollars of estimated "usage value" per request
5-hour window	2,000 credits	$12
Weekly window	10,000 credits	$30
Monthly ceiling	No explicit monthly ceiling; it is governed by the weekly window	$60
Included models	GLM-5.3, GLM-5-Turbo, GLM-4.7 (the same across all three tiers)	18 open models from different providers
Refundable	No	Not documented in the source we consulted — confirm on the official page before paying
Off-peak discount	Yes, 50% outside Monday–Friday 14:00–18:00 Singapore time	Not documented in the source we consulted
Team limit	Not documented in the source we consulted	Only one member per workspace can subscribe
Data retention	Prompts processed on Zhipu AI infrastructure (a Chinese company)	0 days on almost all models; 30 days on Grok 4.5 and GPT 5.6 Luna

Two things jump out immediately. First, OpenCode Go's entry price ($5–$10) is lower than even Z.ai's cheapest tier (~$18), but they are not measuring the same thing: one distributes credits with per-model multipliers, the other distributes a budget in dollars. Second, neither of them is "unlimited" — both document hard usage ceilings, just with different mechanics.

Z.ai, moreover, is not a single plan: it has three tiers. To complete the picture:

Z.ai plan	Monthly price	Credits/5h	Credits/week
Lite	~$18	2,000	10,000
Pro	~$72–80	12,000	60,000
Max	~$160–168	28,000	140,000

OpenCode Go has no tiers: it is a single flat plan. That is the first structural difference between the two.

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Where they are similar

• Both use a 5-hour window as a firewall. Z.ai measures it in credits (2,000 on Lite); OpenCode Go measures it in dollars ($12). In both cases, that is the limit that will actually bite you in an intense work session, before the weekly or monthly ceiling.
• Both apply multipliers depending on the model you use, not a flat cost per request. On Z.ai, GLM-5.3 output has a multiplier of 24 versus 6.9 for input; on OpenCode Go, models are split into two leagues with a 6x or 1.5x multiplier depending on the budget the provider managed to negotiate.
• Neither is an unrestricted open API. Z.ai limits usage to a list of officially supported coding agents (outside that list, you get an insufficient-balance error). OpenCode Go works as a provider inside OpenCode, although it also exposes endpoints compatible with the OpenAI and Anthropic formats for anyone who wants to integrate it into their own scripts.
• Both recommend, in their own analyses, not depending on a single provider. In the OpenCode Go guide we concluded that you should combine it with Z.ai or other tools so you don't run out of quota in the middle of the month.

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Where they actually differ

Models: one proprietary, the other an open catalog

Z.ai gives you access to its own models —GLM-5.3, GLM-5-Turbo, and GLM-4.7— and they are identical across all three tiers; the only thing that changes when you upgrade is the amount of credits, not the quality of the model.

OpenCode Go, on the other hand, gives you a catalog of 18 open models from multiple providers: Grok 4.5, GLM-5.2 and GLM-5.1, Kimi K3/K2.7/K2.6, Qwen3.8/3.7/3.6, DeepSeek V4 Pro/Flash, MiniMax M3/M2.7, MiMo-V2.5, and Hy3. Here is a curious fact that connects both posts: GLM is also available inside OpenCode Go, but it is the previous generation (GLM-5.2/5.1), not the GLM-5.3 that comes with Z.ai's own plan. If what you specifically want is the latest version of GLM, you only get it by subscribing directly to Z.ai.

Supported tools

Z.ai documents a long, explicit list of compatible agents: ZCode, Claude Code, Claude for IDE, Codex, Cursor, Cline, OpenCode, Roo Code, Kilo Code, Crush, Goose, Droid, TRAE, Qoder, Pi, and Eigent, plus "best-effort" support for general-purpose agents such as OpenClaw, Hermes Agent, and SillyTavern. Integration is a matter of changing the base URL according to the protocol you use.

OpenCode Go is designed, first and foremost, as a provider inside OpenCode, although the documentation mentions that it can also be used "with other compatible agents" without giving a list as detailed as Z.ai's. If your workflow already lives in Claude Code, Cursor, or any of the agents Z.ai names explicitly, that concrete list weighs in your favor.

Privacy and data origin

Z.ai is a Chinese company (Zhipu AI) and your prompts go through its infrastructure — something worth reviewing if you handle code under a strict NDA or regulated data. OpenCode Go documents 0-day retention on almost all of its models, with the exception of Grok 4.5 and GPT 5.6 Luna, which retain 30 days due to their own providers' policies.

Teams

Neither of the two source posts documents a teams policy for Z.ai. For OpenCode Go it is clear: only one member per workspace can subscribe, so it is not an option for splitting among several people on a team under the same quota.

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Who is each one for?

Z.ai GLM Coding Plan makes more sense if:

• You already know how to write clear specs and your bottleneck is the cost of executing a lot, not the quality of frontier reasoning.
• You work with popular coding agents such as Claude Code, Cursor, or Cline and you want your subscription to support them in an official, documented way.
• It works for you to have a single consistent flagship model (GLM-5.3) instead of choosing among 18 different options.
• You can absorb a higher entry price (~$18/month minimum) in exchange for access to the latest model in the GLM family.

OpenCode Go makes more sense if:

• You want the lowest possible entry price ($5 the first month) to test whether an AI-in-the-terminal workflow works for you before committing to more.
• You are interested in experimenting with several open models —DeepSeek, Kimi, Qwen, MiniMax, Grok— without paying separate subscriptions for each one.
• Your work already lives inside OpenCode and you don't need the extended list of agents Z.ai supports.
• You program solo or as a freelancer; you are not looking for a shared team quota.

And if you don't want to choose: the two source posts of this comparison each arrive, on their own, at the same conclusion — it is better not to depend on a single provider. GLM-5.3 via Z.ai for heavy, frontier work, and cheap OpenCode Go models for execution volume, is a reasonable combination if your budget allows it.

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Frequently asked questions

Are Z.ai GLM and OpenCode Go the same type of product?

No. Z.ai is a tiered subscription to its own GLM models, with credits and multipliers. OpenCode Go is a low-cost flat plan that gives access to a catalog of 18 open models from different providers, with limits denominated in dollars.

Can I use GLM inside OpenCode Go?

Yes, but with caveats: OpenCode Go's catalog includes GLM-5.2 and GLM-5.1, which are one generation behind the GLM-5.3 that comes with Z.ai's own plan.

Which is cheaper, Z.ai or OpenCode Go?

On entry price, OpenCode Go ($5 the first month, $10 after) is cheaper than Z.ai's Lite tier (~$18/month). But they compare different mechanics —credits with a multiplier versus dollars of usage value— so the real cost depends on which models you use and how much volume you run.

Is this comparison the same as OpenCode Zen vs OpenCode Go?

No. Zen is a pay-as-you-go gateway with a much broader catalog (around 70 models, including Claude, GPT, Gemini, and also GLM), while Go is the flat subscription with a ceiling that we compare here against Z.ai. If what you want is Zen vs Go specifically, that analysis is in our OpenCode Zen and Go comparison.

Do I have to pick only one?

Not necessarily. Both source analyses agree that combining providers —instead of depending on a single one— is the most reasonable strategy when the budget allows it.

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Verdict

There is no absolute winner between Z.ai GLM Coding Plan and OpenCode Go, because they do not solve exactly the same problem. Z.ai sells you consistent access to a proprietary frontier model with a long list of supported tools; OpenCode Go sells you variety among open models at a minimum entry price, inside the OpenCode ecosystem. If your budget is tight and you want to experiment, start with OpenCode Go. If you already know what you need and your workflow depends on a specific coding agent with official support, Z.ai's GLM Coding Plan is the more solid bet.

The prices, limits, and model data in this article come exclusively from our full review of Z.ai and GLM, the OpenCode Go pricing guide, and the OpenCode Zen and Go comparison, previously verified by us. Before paying for either subscription, confirm the current amounts on the corresponding official page.