The coding-agent model developers quietly swapped in to cut their bills.
GLM has become the default open substitute inside coding agents — near-Claude quality on real repository work, with a flat monthly coding plan instead of per-token anxiety. It slots straight into Claude Code and Cline via an endpoint swap.
Best for
Recommended workflow
Step 1
Subscribe to the coding plan
Step 2
Point Claude Code or Cline at the GLM endpoint
Step 3
Keep a frontier model for the hardest tickets
OpenAI
The default consumer AI; GPT-5.5 reasoning + agents + image.
Anthropic
Best long-context reasoning, writing, and Artifacts.
Native Workspace integration, 2M-token context, Veo + Imagen built in.
xAI
Real-time X data + uncensored research; fastest at breaking news.
Meta
Best open-weight family; self-host for privacy and price.
Mistral AI
European, multilingual, GDPR-friendly frontier model.