How to Use GLM-5 After Pony Alpha
Pony Alpha was an early testing version of GLM-5, according to OpenRouter. If an older guide tells you to select openrouter/pony-alpha, start instead by checking the released GLM-5 listing. You can access GLM-5 through OpenRouter or use Z.AI's API documentation. Their model IDs and authentication belong to different platforms.
This guide gets you to a first response and shows what to verify before using the model for real work. Checked September 23, 2026; steps, pricing, and access can change.
Choose your route
| Route | Useful when | Model ID shown in documentation |
|---|---|---|
| OpenRouter | You want one API account that can access multiple model providers. | z-ai/glm-5 |
| Z.AI | You want the developer's own API and documentation. | glm-5 |
Check the live page before copying a model ID. A key created for one service is not a key for the other.
Option A: try GLM-5 through OpenRouter
Open OpenRouter's GLM-5 page. Confirm the model is available and review prices, context, and provider details.
Follow OpenRouter's quickstart to create an account and API key. Store the key securely, for example in your terminal's OPENROUTER_API_KEY environment variable. Do not paste it into a public webpage.
Send a small example request using OpenRouter's documented chat completions endpoint:
curl https://openrouter.ai/api/v1/chat/completions \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $OPENROUTER_API_KEY" \
-d '{
"model": "z-ai/glm-5",
"messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Explain what an API model ID is in two sentences."}]
}'Check that the response contains an answer. Review token usage and cost in your provider dashboard before scaling up. See OpenRouter's quickstart for current SDK examples and optional parameters.
Option B: use Z.AI directly
Open Z.AI's GLM-5 guide, create an API key under its current account instructions, then follow its Basic Call example. Its documented endpoint is https://api.z.ai/api/paas/v4/chat/completions, and its model parameter is glm-5. The Z.AI key and rates are separate from OpenRouter's. Verify Z.AI's current pricing before making a large request.
Moving an old Pony Alpha project
If your application already used openrouter/pony-alpha, first try z-ai/glm-5 in a development environment. Check one simple request, then a small sample of actual workloads. Verify that output parsing, tool calls, timeouts, context size, and costs still fit the application. An early test version and a released model are related, but a model ID swap does not guarantee identical behavior. For the historical relationship, see Pony Alpha and GLM-5.
Common setup problems
| Problem | What to check |
|---|---|
| Authentication error | The API key belongs to the same provider as the endpoint; the environment variable is set in the current terminal. |
| Model not found or unavailable | The model ID on the live listing; your account access; whether you are still using the old test ID. |
| Unexpected bill | Provider price, input and output token counts, repeated retries, and provider routing. |
| Incorrect JSON or tool output | The provider's documented options and your parsing code; test with a smaller prompt. |
| Slow or inconsistent response | Provider health, request size, and retries; compare several runs before drawing a conclusion. |
What should I try first?
Ask for an explanation or a short code snippet whose correctness you can check. For coding, use our GLM-5 coding evaluation guide. If you are deciding whether to pay for access, read the Pony Alpha pricing guide.
FAQs
Do I need to install Pony Alpha?
Not for an API request. Create an account with an access provider, check the current model listing, and use that provider's instructions. This site does not offer a download or host the model.
Is openrouter/pony-alpha the right model ID today?
It is the old test ID. OpenRouter points users to the separate released GLM-5 page, where the current ID is listed. See our Pony Alpha OpenRouter guide.
Which API is cheaper?
It depends on live provider pricing and the size of your actual requests. Compare the OpenRouter GLM-5 listing with Z.AI's pricing.
Back to the Pony Alpha homepage.