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  • ⚔️ GLM-5.2 vs Claude Opus 4.8 vs GPT-5.5: Which AI Coding Model Should You Use?

⚔️ GLM-5.2 vs Claude Opus 4.8 vs GPT-5.5: Which AI Coding Model Should You Use?

Everyone talks about GLM-5.2 right now, but which AI coding model actually performs in real projects? We ran head-to-head tests on bugs, logic, and problem-solving.

Author

Neil Phan
June 24, 2026

TL;DR

GPT-5.5 looks strongest overall for real coding work. Claude Opus 4.8 is safer for interactive builds, while GLM-5.2 is strong but needs cost checks.

Benchmarks make GLM-5.2 look close to top closed models. But real side-by-side tests show the gap changes by task. Game builds reward smooth interaction. Bug hunting rewards deep code reading.

The game test favored Claude Opus 4.8. The real codebase bug hunt favored GPT-5.5. GLM-5.2 stayed impressive as an open-weight model, but token use and waiting time are the tradeoff.

Key points

  • Important fact: GLM-5.2 scored 46.2% on DeepSWE.

  • Common mistake: choosing only by token price.

  • Practical takeaway: pick the model based on your actual coding task.

Introduction

There’re 3 names dominating every AI coding model debate right now: GLM-5.2, Claude Opus 4.8, and GPT-5.5.

→ GLM-5.2 grabbed attention for being open-weight, priced far lower than the other 2, and showing up on some benchmark charts almost level with the top closed models.

But sorry I don’t trust benchmark numbers by themselves.

So instead, I looked at real side-by-side tests where these models were compared on the same task. In this piece, I’ll walk through:

  • What the official benchmarks actually say

  • Real token pricing for each AI coding model

  • 2 public side-by-side tests

  • Which model looks stronger for each type of coding work

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