GLM 5.2: why I’m replacing Opus in Claude Code with this new model

GLM 5.2, an open-weight coding model from Z.AI, outperformed Claude Opus in four real-world coding tasks including a codebase audit, UI redesign, and autonomous bug hunting, costing only $3.36 for 6 million tokens. The model matched a design system on the first try and produced shippable results, though it struggled in some areas. The test suggests GLM 5.2 is a viable, cost-effective alternative for developers seeking vendor independence.

I put GLM 5.2, the open-weight coding model from Z.AI, through four real tasks inside my actual codebase: a codebase architecture audit, a UI redesign, and a 45-minute autonomous bug-hunting session pulling from Sentry and Vercel logs. Total cost: $3.36 for roughly 6 million tokens, a prioritized bug-fix dashboard I’m actually shipping from, and a landing page redesign that matched Chat PRD’s design system on the first try. Listen or watch on YouTube, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts What you’ll learn: What “open-weight” actually means and why it matters for cost and vendor independence How to connect GLM 5.2 to Cursor and Claude Code How it performs on codebase exploration and autonomous architecture summarization in a real production Next.js app Whether GLM 5.2 can match an existing design system How the model handles a 45-minute long-running autonomous task Where GLM 5.2 stumbled The actual cost breakdown Brought to you by: Mercury —Radically different banking loved by over 300K entrepreneurs In this episode, we cover: 00:00 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoBfQZ5utQk What open-weight models are and why GLM 5.2 is worth testing 01:38 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoBfQZ5utQk&t=98s GLM 5.2 model overview 04:02 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoBfQZ5utQk&t=242s Capabilities and benchmark results 06:02 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoBfQZ5utQk&t=362s How to set up GLM 5.2 in Cursor 08:37 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoBfQZ5utQk&t=517s How to set up GLM 5.2 in Claude Code 11:04 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoBfQZ5utQk&t=664s Live test 1: codebase exploration and architecture audit on ChatPRD 12:43 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoBfQZ5utQk&t=763s Live test 2: generating an HTML architecture and roadmap page 16:37 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoBfQZ5utQk&t=997s Live test 3: redesigning the How I AI landing page in Cursor 20:57 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoBfQZ5utQk&t=1257s Live test 4: 45-minute autonomous task, pulling Sentry errors and Vercel logs 22:35 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoBfQZ5utQk&t=1355s Where it struggled 23:49 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoBfQZ5utQk&t=1429s My verdict on the output 25:23 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoBfQZ5utQk&t=1523s Cost breakdown Tools referenced: z.ai: https://z.ai https://z.ai GLM 5.2: https://z.ai/blog/glm-5.2 https://z.ai/blog/glm-5.2 OpenRouter: https://openrouter.ai https://openrouter.ai Cursor: https://cursor.com https://cursor.com Claude Code: https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/claude-code https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/claude-code Sentry: https://sentry.io https://sentry.io Vercel: https://vercel.com https://vercel.com Other references: SWE-Bench Pro leaderboard coding benchmark scores referenced in episode : https://www.swebench.com https://www.swebench.com Frontier Suite and Post-Train Bench additional benchmarks cited : https://scale.com/leaderboard https://scale.com/leaderboard Use Claude Code with OpenRouter: https://openrouter.ai/docs/cookbook/coding-agents/claude-code-integration https://openrouter.ai/docs/cookbook/coding-agents/claude-code-integration Where to find Claire Vo: ChatPRD: https://www.chatprd.ai/ https://www.chatprd.ai/ Website: https://clairevo.com/ https://clairevo.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clairevo/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/clairevo/ Production and marketing by https://penname.co/ https://penname.co/ . For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email email protected /cdn-cgi/l/email-protection .