Domestic Large Models Start a Price Hike! Zhipu's GLM-5 Fires the First Shot: Overseas API Prices Rise by Up to Double, Has the Era of Low Prices Come to an End?

The intense "price war" among domestic large models is quietly shifting. On February 12, 2026, Zhipu launched two major actions: the new flagship model GLM-5 was first launched overseas, and a price adjustment notice was released, implementing structural price increases for related packages.

This is the first significant price increase for domestic large models since 2026, signaling a strong shift in the industry's commercialization logic.

Price Adjustment Details: Overseas Prices Rise Far More Than Domestic

According to exclusive information from Science and Technology Daily, Zhipu's price adjustment shows a clear "dual pricing" characteristic:

Domestic Market: The subscription price of Coding Plan has increased by at least 30%, and the initial purchase discount has been canceled.

Overseas Market: The price adjustment is even more significant. The subscription price of Coding Plan has increased by 30%-60%, and the API call price has increased by as much as 67%-100%.

User Benefits: The price adjustment will take effect starting February 12. However, Zhipu has provided a "buffer period" for existing users, and their original pricing benefits remain unchanged.

Why Raise Prices? The Dual Pressure of Demand Surge and Computing Cost

Regarding this price adjustment, Zhipu's official explanation is "strong demand growth." Considering the industry fundamentals, the price adjustment is not simply due to a lack of computing power, but rather a result of multiple factors:

Demand Side: The usage volume of GLM Coding Plan targeting developers has rapidly increased, and the platform has been operating under high load for a long time.

Cost Side: To ensure service quality under high load, companies have significantly increased investment in computing power procurement, model iteration, and infrastructure expansion. Raising prices is essentially a reasonable transfer of upgrading costs to the market.

Value Return: This means that domestic large models are moving away from the early stage of "low-price user acquisition" and pursuing a high-quality commercial cycle.

Industry Trendsetter: From "Price Competition" to "Value Competition"

According to a report from CAIJING, Zhipu's move is highly symbolic. Since 2025, the pricing strategies of the "six small tigers" of domestic large models have diverged:

Price Increase Faction: Zhipu, Yuedi Dark Face, MiniMax, and Jieyue Star had previously raised the prices of some APIs to varying degrees.

Steady Faction: Banchuan Intelligence and Zero One World have kept their prices stable; while big companies (Alibaba, ByteDance, Tencent, Baidu) have adopted more flexible tiered pricing models.

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