GLM 4.6 vs Qwen3.6 27B
Qwen3.6 27B leads GLM 4.6 on coding, 36.8 to 8.8 on the Vibe Coding Index, and GLM 4.6 costs 1.2x less per output token ($2.20 vs $2.70 per million). Updated October 22, 2026; 11 benchmarks have a result for both.
GLM 4.6 or Qwen3.6 27B: which to pick
Pick Qwen3.6 27B for coding: it scores 36.8 on the Vibe Coding Index against 8.8 for GLM 4.6.
Pick GLM 4.6 for output tokens 1.2x cheaper ($2.20 vs $2.70 per million).
- Shared results
- 11
- GLM 4.6 only
- 58
- Qwen3.6 27B only
- 13
- Like-for-like categories
- 6 of 9
Only benchmarks that tested both models count toward a pick; a result only one model has is shown but not compared.
Which one for your work
Each card is decided by one number both models carry. Where only one has it, the card says so and makes no call.
Coding
Vibe Coding Index, six public coding benchmarks
Qwen3.6 27B
Qwen3.6 27B scores 36.8 against 8.8.
2 benchmarks behind each score
Intelligence
AA Intelligence Index
Qwen3.6 27B
Qwen3.6 27B leads, 21.4 against 18.5.
Same board, both measured
Agentic work
AA Agentic Index
No call
Only Qwen3.6 27B has a AA Agentic Index result, 18.5.
Directional only
Reasoning
GPQA Diamond
No call
Only GLM 4.6 has a GPQA Diamond result, 74.5%.
Directional only
Math
AIME
No call
Only GLM 4.6 has a AIME result, 92.7%.
Directional only
Knowledge
MMLU Pro
No call
Only GLM 4.6 has a MMLU Pro result, 82.2%.
Directional only
Web design
Design Arena: websites
No call
Only GLM 4.6 has a Design Arena: websites result, 1174.
Directional only
Long documents
Listed context window
Qwen3.6 27B
Qwen3.6 27B takes 262K tokens against 205K.
Listed by OpenRouter
Everyday cost
1K input + 500 output tokens
GLM 4.6
GLM 4.6 $0.0017, Qwen3.6 27B $0.0018 per turn.
List prices
Cost per solved task
One SWE-bench Verified task, solved
No call
Only Qwen3.6 27B has the number, $1.30.
Directional only
At a glance
- Coding index
- GLM 4.6 8.8 from 2 benchmarks, Qwen3.6 27B 36.8 from 2 benchmarks.
- Widest category
- General, 23.7 points apart on average over 2 shared benchmarks.
- Widest single gap
- IFBench: GLM 4.6 43.4% against Qwen3.6 27B 67.6%, 24.1 points apart on a 0 to 100 scale.
- Output price
- GLM 4.6 $2.20 against Qwen3.6 27B $2.70 per million output tokens, 1.2x apart.
- Context window
- GLM 4.6 takes 205K tokens, Qwen3.6 27B 262K.
Benchmark by benchmark
First the score: boards each model leads, per category, where both have a result. Then every board, a category to a fold; bars are each result on a 0 to 100 scale, so compare the two in a row, not one row with another.
| Category | GLM 4.6 | Bars | Qwen3.6 27B | Ties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coding | 0 | 3 | ||
| Intelligence | 0 | 1 | ||
| Agentic work | 0 | 1 | ||
| Reasoning | 0 | 2 | ||
| Knowledge | 0 | 2 | ||
| General | 0 | 2 | ||
| All shared boards | 0 | 11 |
CodingLike-for-likeSix of these boards feed the Vibe Coding Index03
| Benchmark | GLM 4.6 | Qwen3.6 27B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| SWE-bench Verified | 68.2% | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| LMArena WebDev | 1341 | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| AA Coding Index | 45.8 | 53.7 | Qwen3.6 27B |
| LiveCodeBench (Vals AI) | 81.0% | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| SWE-bench Verified (Vals AI) | Not measured | 70.0% | Only Qwen3.6 27B measured |
| Vibe Code Bench (Vals AI) | 3.1% | 11.9% | Qwen3.6 27B |
| LiveCodeBench (Artificial Analysis run) | 69.5% | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| SciCode | Not measured | 42.8% | Only Qwen3.6 27B measured |
| Terminal-Bench Hard (Artificial Analysis run) | 28.8% | 34.8% | Qwen3.6 27B |
| Terminal-Bench | 24.5% | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| ALE-Bench | 340.8 | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| LMArena Text: coding | 1449 | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| LMArena Text: software and IT | 1455 | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| LMArena WebDev: HTML | 1350 | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 25 boards here | |||
IntelligenceLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index01
| Benchmark | GLM 4.6 | Qwen3.6 27B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Intelligence Index | 18.5 | 21.4 | Qwen3.6 27B |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | Not measured | 146.2 | Only Qwen3.6 27B measured |
Agentic workLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index01
| Benchmark | GLM 4.6 | Qwen3.6 27B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AA Agentic Index | Not measured | 18.5 | Only Qwen3.6 27B measured |
| Design Arena: agents building full-stack apps | 1029 | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| Design Arena: agents building mobile apps | 1096 | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| Design Arena: agents building Android apps | 1084 | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| Design Arena: agents building Godot games | 1180 | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| τ²-Bench Telecom | 76.9% | 94.2% | Qwen3.6 27B |
| Berkeley Function Calling Leaderboard (BFCL) | 72.4% | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| BrowseComp-Plus | 48.2% | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 33 boards here | |||
ReasoningLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index02
| Benchmark | GLM 4.6 | Qwen3.6 27B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond | 74.5% | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| GPQA Diamond (Artificial Analysis run) | 78.0% | 84.2% | Qwen3.6 27B |
| Humanity's Last Exam (Artificial Analysis run) | 14.5% | 23.1% | Qwen3.6 27B |
| GPQA Diamond (Epoch AI run) | Not measured | 85.9% | Only Qwen3.6 27B measured |
| Mystery game puzzles | Not measured | 7.0% | Only Qwen3.6 27B measured |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts | 1440 | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| LMArena Text: expert | 1432 | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| LMArena Text: hard prompts in English | 1445 | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| Kagi LLM Benchmark | 45.7% | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 13 boards here | |||
MathDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index8 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | GLM 4.6 | Qwen3.6 27B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| AIME | 92.7% | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| MGSM (Vals AI) | 89.8% | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| AA Math Index | 86.0 | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| AIME 2025 (Artificial Analysis run) | 86.0% | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| OTIS Mock AIME | Not measured | 91.1% | Only Qwen3.6 27B measured |
| FrontierMath, tiers 1 to 3 | Not measured | 35.1% | Only Qwen3.6 27B measured |
| LMArena Text: math | 1432 | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| LMArena Text: mathematical work | 1447 | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 5 boards here | |||
KnowledgeLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index02
| Benchmark | GLM 4.6 | Qwen3.6 27B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| MMLU Pro | 82.2% | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| LegalBench (Vals AI) | 79.6% | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| CaseLaw (Vals AI) | Not measured | 53.2% | Only Qwen3.6 27B measured |
| CorpFin (Vals AI) | 56.8% | 62.3% | Qwen3.6 27B |
| TaxEval (Vals AI) | 66.2% | 71.3% | Qwen3.6 27B |
| MortgageTax (Vals AI) | Not measured | 68.3% | Only Qwen3.6 27B measured |
| MedQA (Vals AI) | 92.2% | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| MMLU Pro (Artificial Analysis run) | 82.9% | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| LMArena Text: science | 1456 | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| LMArena Text: medicine and healthcare | 1455 | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| LMArena Text: legal and government | 1448 | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| LMArena Text: business and finance | 1416 | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 6 boards here | |||
Web designDirectional onlyPublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index7 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | GLM 4.6 | Qwen3.6 27B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design Arena: websites | 1174 | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| Design Arena: UI components | 1145 | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| Design Arena: game dev | 1150 | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| Design Arena: data viz | 1161 | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| Design Arena: 3D | 1128 | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| Design Arena: all code categories | 1165 | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| Design Arena: SVG | 1108 | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 2 boards here | |||
GeneralLike-for-likePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index02
| Benchmark | GLM 4.6 | Qwen3.6 27B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| SAGE (Vals AI) | Not measured | 45.6% | Only Qwen3.6 27B measured |
| IFBench | 43.4% | 67.6% | Qwen3.6 27B |
| Long context reasoning (AA-LCR) | 54.0% | 77.3% | Qwen3.6 27B |
| DTBench | Not measured | 78.1% | Only Qwen3.6 27B measured |
| LMCA | Not measured | 34.5% | Only Qwen3.6 27B measured |
| LMArena Text | 1440 | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| LMArena Text: instruction following | 1410 | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| LMArena Text: creative writing | 1412 | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| LMArena Text: English | 1449 | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| LMArena Text: non-English | 1426 | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| LMArena Text: Chinese | 1499 | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| LMArena Text: German | 1447 | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| LMArena Text: Japanese | 1393 | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| LMArena Text: Korean | 1400 | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| LMArena Text: French | 1459 | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| LMArena Text: Spanish | 1436 | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| LMArena Text: Russian | 1418 | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| LMArena Text: Polish | 1447 | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| LMArena Text: multi-turn | 1427 | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| LMArena Text: longer queries | 1422 | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| LMArena Text: writing and language | 1415 | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| LMArena Text: entertainment and media | 1409 | Not measured | Only GLM 4.6 measured |
| Neither model has a result on the other 24 boards here | |||
Image generationNot comparablePublic boards, shown as published, kept out of the index0 boards, none shared
| Benchmark | GLM 4.6 | Qwen3.6 27B | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neither model has a result on 5 boards here | |||
What each workload costs
Three fixed token mixes at each model's listed price, so per-token rates become a bill.
Chat turn
1K input + 500 output tokens
GLM 4.6 costs less
Repository review
50K input + 3K output tokens
Qwen3.6 27B costs less
Agent loop
200K input + 10K output tokens
Qwen3.6 27B costs less
Listed OpenRouter rates, without cache or batch discounts. A workload that does not fit a model's context window would need splitting.
Specification differences
The leading value in a row is marked; a row with a missing value names no leader. Our two rows are marked in red.
| Specification | Z.ai GLM 4.6 | Qwen3.6 27B |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Z.ai | Qwen |
| Weights | Open weights | Open weights |
| Released | September 30, 2025 | April 27, 2026 |
| Context window | 205K | 262K |
| Input $/Mtok | $0.60 | $0.45 |
| Output $/Mtok | $2.20 | $2.70 |
| Coding index | 8.8 | 36.8 |
| Independent measurements behind it | 2 | 2 |
| Cost per solved task | Not computable | $1.30 |
| Source | OpenRouter listing | OpenRouter listing |
Questions
Is GLM 4.6 better than Qwen3.6 27B for coding?
Pick Qwen3.6 27B for coding: it scores 36.8 on the Vibe Coding Index against 8.8 for GLM 4.6. Pick GLM 4.6 for output tokens 1.2x cheaper ($2.20 vs $2.70 per million).
Which is cheaper, GLM 4.6 or Qwen3.6 27B?
GLM 4.6 costs $0.60 per million input tokens and $2.20 per million output tokens; Qwen3.6 27B costs $0.45 and $2.70. Cost per solved task is known for Qwen3.6 27B only.
Which has the bigger context window, GLM 4.6 or Qwen3.6 27B?
Qwen3.6 27B, with 262K tokens against 205K.
How many benchmarks is the GLM 4.6 vs Qwen3.6 27B comparison based on?
11 benchmarks have a result for both models as of October 22, 2026. GLM 4.6's coding index rests on 2 independent benchmarks and Qwen3.6 27B's on 2. Where only one model has a result, the page says so instead of naming a winner.