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Z.ai (Zhipu AI)Procurement & tendering

GLM (Z.ai) for procurement & tendering

Chinese AI lab (Zhipu, international Z.ai) with the open-weight GLM family under MIT licence, particularly strong at programming and agent tasks at low prices.

Not specifically recommended

GLM (Z.ai) is not on our list for procurement & tendering. Usable for general work, but first look at the options we recommend for procurement & tendering.

GDPR profileOur summary of what the provider itself publishes about your data: EU hosting possible, no training on your data for business use, and self-hosting available. Caution applies to a model with a documented problem, such as an investigation by a regulator. How we measure
GDPR: Caution
QualityQuality from blind duels on LMArena: users choose between two anonymous answers. A difference of about 20 points is noticeable, a few points is noise. How we measure
1483Elo, independent
Editorial scoreOur own assessment on 10 of suitability for professional work, price and privacy. This is a judgement, not a measurement; that is why it always sits alongside the Elo. How we measure
7,7
Entry price
Free
Full GDPR check

What GLM (Z.ai) does in procurement & tendering

Core tasks in procurement & tendering
  • Spend analysis: classifying spend, normalising suppliers and finding savings
  • Finding and assessing suppliers and monitoring risks (ESG, compliance)
  • Setting up RFIs, RFQs and eAuctions, comparing bids and awarding
  • Finding tenders, extracting requirements and writing submissions (bid management)
What GLM (Z.ai) is strong at
  • Top performance on coding and agent benchmarks at a fraction of the price
  • GLM-5.2 is fully open-weight under the MIT licence
  • 1 million tokens of context on the flagship
  • Affordable Coding Plan subscriptions for tools such as Claude Code

GLM (Z.ai) carries a concrete GDPR concern. The parent company Zhipu (Beijing) falls under Chinese data and security legislation, regardless of where the servers are located. For sensitive data, self-hosting the MIT-licensed weights is the recommended mitigation. Weigh this heavily before deploying it in procurement & tendering.

Confidentiality and GDPR

GDPR: Caution

Quotes, prices, contracts and submissions are commercially confidential; supplier and contact details also contain personal data. Sign a data processing agreement, ask where the data is stored (EU hosting) and which AI sub-processors are used, and get it recorded that your bids and spend data are not used to train models. Never paste confidential documents from an ongoing tender into a free chatbot. In public procurement, the Dutch Public Procurement Act and the principles of equal treatment and transparency apply: do not let AI award or exclude on its own, and explain how an assessment was reached. If you as a public body procure AI yourself, use the PIANOo guideline 'Buying or having algorithms and AI developed' and take the AI Act into account. An AI-generated submission remains your responsibility: check every commitment.

The international service Z.ai runs through JINGSHENG HENGXING TECHNOLOGY PTE. LTD. (Singapore); personal data is in principle processed in Singapore. According to the data processing agreement, API content is processed in real time and not stored. GLM-5.2 is open-weight under MIT and can therefore be fully self-hosted or hosted through an EU provider.

Rule of thumb Use the business variant with a data processing agreement, and keep a human in the loop for decisions that matter.
Caution Parent company Zhipu (Beijing) falls under Chinese data and security legislation, regardless of where the servers are located. For sensitive data, self-hosting the MIT-licensed weights is the recommended mitigation.

Prices

Z.ai ChatFreeFree chatbot at chat.z.ai with GLM-5.x
GLM Coding Plan Lite$18 / monthIntroductory promo $12.60/month; Pro $72 and Max $160 per month
API, GLM-5.3$1.40 / $4.40 per 1MSame price as GLM-5.2 (calls are forwarded to 5.3); GLM-5.3-Flash $0.15 / $0.50; GLM-5 $1.00 / $3.20; GLM-4.7-Flash free

Questions about GLM (Z.ai) for procurement & tendering

Is GLM (Z.ai) suitable for procurement & tendering?
Not specifically. GLM (Z.ai) is not on our list for procurement & tendering; it is broadly applicable, but first look at the options we recommend for procurement & tendering. Keep a professional in the loop for every use.
May I put confidential data into GLM (Z.ai)?
Quotes, prices, contracts and tenders are commercially confidential, and supplier and contact details also contain personal data. Sign a data processing agreement, ask where the data is stored (EU hosting) and which AI sub-processors are used, and have it recorded in writing that your bids and spend data are not used to train models. Never paste confidential documents from an ongoing tender into a free chatbot. In public procurement, the Dutch Public Procurement Act and the principles of equal treatment and transparency apply: do not let AI award or exclude bids on its own, and explain how any assessment was reached. If you are a government body buying AI yourself, use the PIANOo guideline 'Buying or having algorithms and AI developed' and take the EU AI Act into account. An AI-generated bid remains your responsibility: check every commitment. The international service of Z.ai runs through JINGSHENG HENGXING TECHNOLOGY PTE. LTD. (Singapore); personal data is in principle processed in Singapore. According to the data processing agreement, API content is processed in real time and not stored. GLM-5.2 is open-weight under MIT and can therefore be hosted entirely in-house or through an EU provider.
How much does GLM (Z.ai) cost?
There is Z.ai Chat (Free), GLM Coding Plan Lite ($18 / month), API, GLM-5.3 ($1.40 / $4.40 per 1M). Check current prices on the official site.

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