ZCode Pricing: Pro $80/mo, Max $168 — 30% Promo Live

Z.ai's GLM Coding Plan — the subscription that powers ZCode IDE and third-party coding tools with GLM-5.2 — has standard list pricing of Lite $18/mo, Pro $80/mo, and Max $168/mo. A 30% introductory promotional discount is currently live, bringing monthly costs down to $12.60, $56, and $117.60 respectively (Z.ai(opens in new tab), Aug 2026). Even at standard rates, ZCode remains the cheapest agentic coding subscription among frontier competitors.

What happened

The GLM Coding Plan's pricing page now clearly shows standard rates alongside an active 30% introductory promotion. The standard prices are the published list rates — the promo is a time-limited launch incentive.

Yearly billing locks in the same 30% discount annually, bringing annual costs to $151.20 (Lite), $672 (Pro), and $1,411.20 (Max). All three tiers include the same model lineup — GLM-5.2, GLM-5-Turbo, GLM-4.7, and GLM-4.5-air — with differences in quota size, MCP allowance, and priority during peak demand.

The GLM-5.2 API remains at $1.40/$4.40 per 1M tokens for direct API access (AI Pricing Guru(opens in new tab), Aug 2026). Developers who need flexibility rather than a subscription can still access the same model on a pay-as-you-go basis.

Why ZCode pricing matters

At standard pricing — Pro $80/mo, Max $168/mo — ZCode's competitive position shifts somewhat from the earlier promotional framing but still undercuts Western competitors:

A few things to note about the comparison:

• Cursor Pro at $20/mo includes usage-based overage pricing — heavy agent-mode users pay significantly more than the sticker price. Cursor's Pro+ tier is $20/mo+ and Ultra is $20/mo+, with overages scaling with usage (Cursor pricing(opens in new tab)).
• Claude Code Max at $200/mo is a flat-rate subscription for Anthropic's terminal agent. For pure coding workloads where GLM-5.2 quality meets your bar, ZCode Max at $168 (or $117.60 promo) is ~16% cheaper at standard rates and ~41% cheaper at promo rates.
• At promo rates, ZCode's price advantage is dramatic: Pro at $56/mo is less than a third of what heavy Cursor agent-mode usage can cost, and Max at $117.60/mo is roughly 41% cheaper than Claude Code Max.

What changes for you

If you're on annual billing: You're locked in at your plan's rate until renewal. Check whether you're on promo or standard pricing.

If you're on monthly billing: If you subscribed during the 30% promo window, enjoy the discount while it lasts — this is an introductory offer with no publicly stated end date.

If you're considering ZCode: Evaluate against the standard prices ($18/$80/$168) as your baseline, since the 30% promo is time-limited. Compare against Cursor ($20/mo Pro, with usage-based overages) and Claude Code ($200/mo Max) — ZCode remains the budget leader at every tier, but the gap narrows at standard rates.

If you need to cut costs: The GLM-5.2 API at $1.40/$4.40 per 1M tokens may be cheaper than a subscription depending on your usage volume. Calculate your monthly token consumption before switching.

FAQ

Is the 30% promo a permanent discount? No. Z.ai shows this as a "New" promotional discount with no publicly stated end date. There is no publicly stated end date on the subscribe page, but promotional pricing is inherently time-limited.

Did the quota change? The quota allocations — credits per week, MCP calls per month — are consistent across both promo and standard pricing. The only difference is the monthly price.

Is ZCode still worth it at standard pricing? For developers who use GLM-5.2 heavily and value the agent-first IDE experience, yes. ZCode Lite at $18/mo undercuts Cursor Pro at $20/mo. At the high end, ZCode Max at $168/mo is ~16% cheaper than Claude Code Max at $200/mo. The price advantage is real but narrower at standard rates — the 30% promo is where ZCode's value proposition really shines.

How does the API compare to the subscription? The GLM-5.2 API at $1.40/$4.40 per 1M tokens is pay-as-you-go. If you fire off occasional calls from a script, the API is cheaper. If you live inside an agent IDE for hours a day, the subscription caps your bill and almost always wins on $/token. Use the subscription vs API calculator(opens in new tab) to model your break-even point.