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Model comparison

Cohere Command A+ vs GLM 5.2

Cohere against Z.ai, compared on context, price, and verified benchmark results.

Catalog record checked September 4, 2026Individual provider fields may changeEvidence confidence: High — see receipts below

Cohere

Cohere Command A+

Balanced · Open weights

vs

Z.ai

GLM 5.2

Balanced · Open weights

AI model capability comparison
SpecificationCohere Command A+GLM 5.2
ProviderCohereZ.ai
TierBalancedBalanced
Context window128KWinner: 1M
Max outputNot verifiedUnverified128K
Input / 1M tokensWinner: $0.80$1.40
Output / 1M tokensWinner: $3.20$4.40
WeightsOpenOpen
Parameters218B total / 25B active (sparse MoE)open MoE
Reasoning levelslow, medium, highlow, high, max
Modalitiestexttext
LicenseApache 2.0Not disclosedUnverified
API model idCohereLabs/command-a-plus-05-2026glm-5.2
ReleasedMay 20, 2026March 15, 2026
Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index (2026-08-14)43Winner: 50

Prices are USD per million tokens at standard rates, excluding batch and caching discounts. Bold indicates the better figure where one is objectively better. Values we could not confirm from the provider are shown as “Not verified” rather than estimated.

Benchmark receipts

  • 2026-08-14: Artificial AnalysisComposite index blending reasoning, knowledge, and coding evals into one 0–100 score. Comparability: directly comparable — AA occasionally rebaselines the index scale between snapshots — a score captured on one date is only comparable to same-snapshot scores (check measuredAt).

Pricing tiers: Cohere Command A+: Azure-hosted Global rate $0.80/$3.20 per MTok (effective 2026-07-01; Data Zone $0.88/$3.52). Cohere-direct publishes no per-token price: open weights (Apache 2.0), a free rate-limited trial API, and Model Vault/enterprise licensing. Cohere calls it the last model in the Command A family. 218B/25B active sparse MoE. · GLM 5.2: Z.ai's per-token table lists $1.40/$4.40 per MTok (same list as 5.3). Open-weight, text-only; 1M context, 128K max output per Z.ai docs.

BalancedOpen weightsRecord checked September 4, 2026

Cohere Command A+

Command A+ is Cohere's open-weight (Apache 2.0) 218B/25B sparse MoE for enterprise use.

Best for

  • Open-weight deployments
  • Enterprise RAG
  • Tool use

Watch out

The $0.80/$3.20 figure is the Azure-hosted rate, not a Cohere-direct price — Cohere itself sells licenses and a free rate-limited trial, so budget by deployment path.

BalancedOpen weightsRecord checked September 3, 2026

GLM 5.2

GLM 5.2 is Zhipu's previous-generation open-weight model with strong cost-performance.

Best for

  • Open-weight deployments
  • Reasoning
  • Cost-sensitive work

Watch out

Superseded by GLM 5.3 (Coding Plan 5.2/5.1 requests route to 5.3). Parameter count: sources disagree.

When the cheaper one wins

Cohere Command A+ is cheaper on output at $3.20 per million tokens against $4.40 for GLM 5.2 — about 1.4×. Use the cheaper tier for classification, extraction, summarisation, and any task where the expensive model’s extra score does not change the accepted output. The expensive one only pays if your hardest task actually fails on the cheap tier. These are standard-tier API rates, excluding batch and cache discounts.

Run the model picker

Evidence confidence: High

How strong and complete the evidence behind this comparison is — not a prediction of which model is better.

  • Pricing verified on both sidesInput and output rates are verified for both models.
  • 4/5 core specs verified on both sidesNot published for at least one side: max output.
  • 1 shared named benchmark with differing scoresMeasured on: Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index.
  • Verified within the last 90 daysNewest catalog check was 7 days ago.
  • Both models carry source citationsEach side has at least two catalog sources on record.

Source receipts

Each catalog figure was checked against the provider or an independent second source on the date shown.

Common questions

Cohere Command A+ vs GLM 5.2

Answered from the verified figures on this page rather than general guidance.

Is Cohere Command A+ or GLM 5.2 cheaper for input?

Cohere Command A+ is cheaper at $0.80 per million input tokens, against $1.40 for GLM 5.2 — roughly 1.7× the price. Output tokens usually dominate a real bill, so weigh the output rate more heavily than the input rate. These are base rates; Cohere Command A+ has tiered pricing: Azure-hosted Global rate $0.80/$3.20 per MTok (effective 2026-07-01; Data Zone $0.88/$3.52). Cohere-direct publishes no per-token price: open weights (Apache 2.0), a free rate-limited trial API, and Model Vault/enterprise licensing. Cohere calls it the last model in the Command A family. 218B/25B active sparse MoE. GLM 5.2 has tiered pricing: Z.ai's per-token table lists $1.40/$4.40 per MTok (same list as 5.3). Open-weight, text-only; 1M context, 128K max output per Z.ai docs.

Is Cohere Command A+ or GLM 5.2 cheaper for output?

Cohere Command A+ is cheaper at $3.20 per million output tokens, against $4.40 for GLM 5.2 — roughly 1.4× the price. Output tokens usually dominate a real bill, so weigh the output rate more heavily than the input rate. These are base rates; Cohere Command A+ has tiered pricing: Azure-hosted Global rate $0.80/$3.20 per MTok (effective 2026-07-01; Data Zone $0.88/$3.52). Cohere-direct publishes no per-token price: open weights (Apache 2.0), a free rate-limited trial API, and Model Vault/enterprise licensing. Cohere calls it the last model in the Command A family. 218B/25B active sparse MoE. GLM 5.2 has tiered pricing: Z.ai's per-token table lists $1.40/$4.40 per MTok (same list as 5.3). Open-weight, text-only; 1M context, 128K max output per Z.ai docs.

Which has the larger context window, Cohere Command A+ or GLM 5.2?

GLM 5.2 accepts 1M tokens against 128K for Cohere Command A+. This only matters if you routinely send very long documents or large codebases.

Do Cohere Command A+ and GLM 5.2 support the same reasoning levels?

Cohere Command A+ exposes low, medium, high, while GLM 5.2 exposes low, high, max.

Should I use Cohere Command A+ or GLM 5.2?

Both sit in the balanced tier, so the choice usually comes down to price and context rather than capability. Cohere Command A+ suits open-weight deployments; GLM 5.2 suits open-weight deployments.

Next step

Choosing between them

The verified figures that separate this pair, computed from the catalog rather than restated boilerplate.

  • Input price: Cohere Command A+ costs $0.80 per 1M tokens versus $1.40 for GLM 5.2 — a 1.7x difference at the headline tier.
  • Context: GLM 5.2 takes 1M against 128K for Cohere Command A+ — only decisive if your prompts approach the smaller window.
  • Measured capability: GLM 5.2 leads Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index 50 to 43 (measured 2026-08-14).

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