New GLM 5.2 + Claude Code = ABSOLUTELY INSANE COMBO

Income stream surfers| 00:06:23|Jun 16, 2026
Chapters8
Introduces the GLM 5.2 model and notes its availability outside Z AI plans, along with initial impressions.

GLM 5.2 combined with Claude Code Router shows promising design and SEO, but costs about $12 per run and raises questions on value vs. performance.

Summary

Income stream surfers’ latest review puts GLM 5.2 up against Claude Code Router, with clear enthusiasm about the model’s design and benchmarks. The creator notes GLM 5.2’s availability through OpenRouter and cites its price points (about $140 for input tokens and $440 for larger contexts or 1 million tokens) as a consideration. Claude Code Router (CCR) is chosen for its flexible setup, allowing quick model switching, and the reviewer even relies on his school community prompts to test real-world workflows. He compares performance to Claude models and observes strong design and technical build, but flags a few translation quirks when switching between English and Italian. The test also critiques Fusion and Opus 4.8 pricing, labeling Fusion a “massive scam” due to high costs, and notes a real-world burn of around $12 in a single pass. The verdict lands around a solid 9/10 for design, SEO readiness, and overall user experience, while acknowledging some cost-efficiency concerns and room for improvement. Finally, the video closes with a plug for Harbor SEO.ai, emphasizing founder pricing and practical utility for agencies.

Key Takeaways

  • GLM 5.2 is available via OpenRouter with quoted prices of $140 for input tokens and $440 for 1 million tokens, affecting cost-per-use decisions.
  • Claude Code Router is used for its easy model-switching workflow, enabling quick comparison between GLM 5.2 and CCR in a single session.
  • The reviewer notes the design and technical build of GLM 5.2 as strong, rating it near Claude-level performance for certain benchmarks.
  • Translation quirks appear when switching from English to Italian, highlighting compatibility concerns with cheaper model tiers.
  • Pricing scrutiny reveals a $12 credit-cost impression in one run, prompting questions about value versus performance compared to cheaper options like Opus-based models.
  • Fusion is dismissed as overpriced in the tester’s view, reinforcing the point that cost-effectiveness matters as much as raw capability.
  • Overall impression lands at about 9 out of 10 for design, SEO, and workflow potential, with caveats on cost efficiency.

Who Is This For?

This is essential viewing for AI developers and creators evaluating high-end multilingual LLMs and cost-conscious teams weighing GLM 5.2 and Claude Code Router for production prompts and prompt workflows.

Notable Quotes

""GLM 5.2 has finally dropped in Open Routter. It's no longer connected to Z.A.I.'s plans.""
Opening remarks establishing the model and pricing context.
""Claude Code routter, which uh I love CCR, Claude Code routter. I use it all the time.""
Emphasizes CCR as the preferred workflow tool.
""I want to know if this is fast. I want to know if it's good. I want to know everything about this model.""
Sets the tester’s intent for the evaluation.
""Fusion is a massive scam, by the way. It just literally uses Opus 4.8 as you can see.""
Critiques competing solution on cost grounds.
""This has actually been running for a little while now. Uh, it's entered plan mode itself... I just want it to kind of show me what it can do.""
Describes setup and controlled testing approach.

Questions This Video Answers

  • How does GLM 5.2 compare to Claude Code Router in practical prompt testing?
  • Is OpenRouter pricing killing the ROI on high-end LLM tests?
  • What are the real costs of testing LLMs like GLM 5.2 with CCR in a production-like workflow?
  • Why do translation issues appear when using cheaper models for multilingual prompts?
  • Is Fusion worth considering at all for budget-conscious AI teams?
GLM 5.2Claude Code RouterOpenRouterClaude modelsIn-out tokens pricingEnglish-Italian translation issuesFusion pricing critiqueOpus 4.8Harbor SEO.ai
Full Transcript
This is a model that everyone is talking about, guys. GLM 5.2 has finally dropped in Open Routter. It's no longer connected to Z.A.I.'s plans. The prices $140, $440 for in out 1 million tokens. Context 1 million. People are saying very, very good things about this model. And in today's video, we're going to test out if they're full of crap or if this is genuinely a good model. So, we're going to be using Claude Code routter, which uh I love CCR, Claude Code routter. I use it all the time. I basically just have a very easy setup where I can change models as I want. So, I'm basically using Claude Code with GLM 5.2. And we're going to use my school community prompt, which is on my school community. So, if I just go to school.com, go to classroom, and then all my prompts and workflows. And then just uh it's always open. So, I just grab this prompt right here. I'm very curious to see how this does. I've heard very very good things about this model. So yeah, this is my first time using it. Just so everybody knows, we're all on the same page. We're all at the same point. Um, and yeah, I want to know if this is fast. I want to know if it's good. I want to know everything about this model. I personally have had the best experience with Kimmy. Kimmy models, in my opinion, are much better than all of the other Chinese models. But yeah, we'll see how this one performs. Just before we jump too deep into the video, guys, quick shout out from our sponsor, me. This is harbor seo.ai. the best AI SEO content writer for the best price on the market. We have founder pricing back. This is not permanent. 14 days left to go and grab founder membership. Founder membership, you get 50% more articles as well as a few other things. This thing is popping off right now, guys. A lot of people are using this tool. A lot of people like this tool and uh I'm improving it every single day. So, I've been working all day on certain features. Um, I just wrote 15 articles or 30 articles for a client. It's such a good writer, guys. We have 2,000 pages published, 600,000 impressions, 10,000 clicks. And this is founder pricing. So, €29 a month gets you 35 articles a month, €49 a month, 75 articles a month, 150 articles a month, 99 a month. This is enough to run an entire agency for €99 a month. So, go and check out Harbor while you can and go and lock in founder pricing. There is a link in the description and in the pin comment. This thing is an absolute beast. And yeah, basically guys, if you have any feedback, just press messages right here or press um thingy, write feedback down here and just write some feedback and say like add this please and then send message and you'll see it appears in my admin dashboard straight away. I'm basically going through all of that at all times to make sure that people are helped. There's a link in the comment, link in the pin comment. Go and lock in founder pricing. Let's jump into the video. So, yeah, this has actually been running for a little while now. Uh, it's entered plan mode itself, which I didn't actually want to do. So, just going to change this. I'm just going to say, um, just get on with it. Don't bother planning. Don't use super. I'm just going to make sure it doesn't use superpowers because I don't want it to be like skewed by superpowers. I just want it to kind of show me what it can do. So, we'll just let this build. Okay. Okay, so just so everyone knows, I am using Z.AI. It's right here. As you can see, this is my open router account. I just went to logs and I'm letting it run. I did have uh either 20 or 10. Yeah, I had 20 bucks uh credit. So, we'll see how much this costs as well. I tried this test with Fusion. Fusion is a massive scam, by the way. It just literally uses Opus 4.8 as you can see. Like, it literally just uses Opus 4.8, which is dumb expensive and will literally just drain you of all your credits. So, yeah, this is a huge scam. So, just be careful with that. They're claiming it's better than Methos, but yeah, it's not. Okay, guys. So, yeah, this is the final result. This is the first time I'm looking at it with you guys. And the first thing I can say is the design is pretty phenomenal, honestly. One of the better ones that I've seen for sure. I mean, all models are getting better, but yeah, this is definitely very, very good. Uh, let's go to Italian. Okay, so technical build is looking pretty damn good as well. I might need a new uh a new benchmark honestly guys because yeah, these things are just getting better and better uh at these benchmarks that I have. Um this is phenomenally good. The SEO is done. The design is amazing. Technical build is perfect. This is as good as uh the claude models for sure. Oh, there's a technical issue. There we go. Okay, so it's not quite as good as the claw models then. obviously standard but um yeah there is a slight difference there is a slight problem here when you switch from looks like only when you switch from English to Italian okay yeah it's both so that is something that happens quite a lot with uh cheaper models or whatever let's see how much or how many credits we used overall so let's just go to credits here oh they used 12 bucks Jesus okay well that's a lot of money for a Chinese model to spend let's see if there's anything else here Doesn't look like it. It looks like it was all um yeah all all just said.ai. That's crazy expensive actually. I don't like how expensive that is. That makes me not want to use this model. There is some other usage here. It looks like uh GBT 5.4 Nano, but that's a very very cheap model. So yeah, there's a little bit. What is this? This is an hour ago though. So yeah, this isn't this isn't us doing this test. So yeah, 12 bucks. Jesus, that is not that good. Um, very, very expensive. About the same as it would have cost to use something like Opus 4.8 on usage to build this to be honest with you. If not, yeah, probably about the same to be honest. So, yeah, I don't know. Good model, but maybe too expensive. Maybe usage is too much. I'd be excited to see what Miniax drops next because they're the ones that are doing everything for cheap. So, I'd be very, very curious. But for now, guys, I think I'll leave the video there. Not too much to say. This is a very, very well-designed website. It's, you know, Opus 4.8 levels. I would say design is really, really good. Technical build is almost there with just a couple of things missing and SEO is also there. So, this is like a nine out of 10. Thank you so much for watching. If you are watching on the way in video and obviously legend, go and check out harbor seo.ai and I'll see you very, very soon with some more content. Peace out.

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