As platform membership fees continue to climb, both new and existing users are resorting to covert transactions.

I invested real money in a Zhipu membership, only to find my account suddenly banned. If this happened to you, wouldn't you feel like going mad the moment your account was suspended?

Don't panic just yet. Zhipu frequently bans users when it detects anomalies in their login devices or IP addresses, suspecting account sharing among multiple users.

This situation arises not only because Zhipu's pricing has become increasingly steep but also because the price disparity between new and existing members creates opportunities for arbitrage.

The rationale behind Zhipu's 'dual pricing system' for members is twofold: immense financial and cost pressures, coupled with the need to retain existing users.

However, for a company like Zhipu that heavily relies on capital infusion, merely distinguishing between new and existing member prices may not suffice. To ultimately prevail in the fierce AI competition, the company must secure more funding in the capital market.

Recently, some Zhipu members who rely on the platform for productivity have found their accounts suddenly banned by the authorities.

Xiao Yan, a Zhipu Max member, shared with Pang Ge: "I typically log in to Claude Code using up to four devices: the company server, my home desktop, and two laptops. My IP address switches between the company and home, and occasionally, I use my phone's hotspot."

"One day, Zhipu abruptly banned my account, citing a violation of usage rules but without specifying the exact reason," he said.

Zhipu's sudden account ban severely disrupted Xiao Yan's work; such inexplicable bans could also happen to other Zhipu users.

Member A Zhu told Pang Ge: "I've always used Zhipu for Claude Code. Last week, I just switched to Codex when my account was banned. Both my home and company accounts were functioning normally before."

A Zhu commented: "I contacted 12315 to lodge a complaint. Later, Zhipu replied, stating that my VPN was causing my IP address to fluctuate, and my account was logging in from multiple locations. But even though they knew it was due to the VPN, they still banned my account."

On the other hand, Zhipu Pro member A Shui also informed Pang Ge: "I logged in to Zhipu using more than three devices, and the authorities determined it was account sharing, banning my account for 30 days."

It is evident that Zhipu bans members' accounts primarily due to suspicious account-sharing behavior during usage. So, what are the official criteria for such judgments?

Regarding this, Pang Ge consulted Zhipu's customer service, who replied: "Currently, there is no limit on multi-device logins, but logging in to the same account from multiple devices poses security risks. We recommend one account per device."

As for account bans that may result from frequent IP switching, customer service stated: "It depends on the actual situation."

For most honest users, being banned by Zhipu feels unjust; however, account-sharing behavior is indeed prevalent among Zhipu members.

Member Xiao Li told Pang Ge: "A shared Zhipu membership costs 150 yuan per month. I use a relay station to allocate Token quotas, giving me 400 million Tokens per week. During peak hours from 2 PM to 6 PM, Tokens are calculated at triple the rate. If the 5-hour limit of the Coding Plan is reached, we have to wait together for it to refresh."

On the other hand, Zhipu Max member Xiao Xiao also shared with Pang Ge: "I only need 10% of the quota, so we need three or four people to share the cost. After sharing, I create a group and report the weekly Token usage to ensure everyone stays within the limit. The price is 200 yuan per month."

The fundamental reason why many Zhipu users resort to account sharing seems to be the exorbitant membership prices.

In July 2026, Zhipu adjusted its membership prices for three versions: Lite, Pro, and Max packages, with monthly prices set at 118 yuan, 538 yuan, and 1078 yuan, respectively. The Token quotas for the latter two versions are 6 times and 14 times that of the Lite version.

Previously, the monthly fees for Zhipu's Lite, Pro, and Max versions were 49 yuan, 149 yuan, and 469 yuan, respectively, representing increases of 2.4 times, 3.6 times, and 2.3 times.

Zhipu's significant membership price hikes have made it difficult for many users to afford; however, if you were previously a Zhipu member, you could benefit from this round of price increases.

Pang Ge learned that Zhipu's existing members are categorized into two levels: V1 and V2. The oldest V1 members, upon expiration, will automatically stop renewing their original services and receive a two-month compensation package of the same level as V2.

Meanwhile, V2 members' current packages remain unaffected, and upon expiration, they can continue subscribing to Zhipu packages at the previous price.

If a user is a Zhipu V1 member, their best course of action is: after expiration, enjoy two months of free packages, then subscribe to Zhipu membership at the V2 price.

In addition to price differences, new and existing members of Zhipu's AI large model also have varying Token quotas.

V1 members have no weekly quota limits, allowing for more flexible Token usage; V2 members, while not as free as V1 members, still have significantly higher Token quotas than current V3 members.

After all, today's Zhipu V3 members use a point system to calculate Token consumption, with weekly total quotas and doubled Token consumption during peak hours.

In this context, the differences in prices and benefits between new and existing Zhipu members create opportunities for arbitrage in membership packages; some new users may find it more worthwhile to acquire old Zhipu member accounts from others rather than recharging through official channels.

This has also elevated the status of many old Zhipu members. Pang Ge consulted a Zhipu V1 member, who said: "Transferring an old Zhipu Lite package, with over five months remaining, offers a better experience than the current Zhipu Pro package. The package price is 3000 yuan."

On the other hand, another account transferor said: "The transfer fee for a current Zhipu V2 member is around 1000 to 1200 yuan, with the membership package fee calculated separately."

As an AI large model company, why does Zhipu need to raise its package prices? There seem to be two reasons:

First, the company's costs are becoming unsustainable.

The widespread increase in demand for AI large models has led to a shortage of upstream hardware such as GPUs; at the same time, the growing number of users has resulted in higher Token consumption.

Zhipu's financial report shows: In 2025, the company achieved revenue of 724 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 131.85%; net loss was 4.698 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase in loss of 58.91%.

In 2023 and 2024, Zhipu achieved revenue of 125 million yuan and 312 million yuan, with year-on-year increases of 116.93% and 150.86%, respectively. However, its net losses were 788 million yuan and 2.956 billion yuan, with year-on-year increases in loss of 449.58% and 275.21%, respectively.

From the financial data, Zhipu's total losses over the past three years have accumulated to over 8.4 billion yuan, while cumulative revenue is only 1.161 billion yuan. Achieving profitability is crucial for the company's future development.

Second, as various AI companies frequently adjust their prices, Zhipu has to make corresponding adjustments to cope with industry competition.

On August 17, 2026, DeepSeek adjusted its prices: the output price of its AI large model V4-Pro increased by 350%, the cache hit input price increased by 1100%, and a peak-valley pricing model was introduced.

However, less than a week later, DeepSeek revised its peak-valley billing rules, eliminating peak-valley periods on weekends and only dividing weekdays into two tiers for billing.

Meanwhile, in July 2026, after releasing the K3 large model, Kimi adjusted its Token billing rules: the output price increased by approximately 270%, and the input price increased by approximately 208%.

It is evident that Zhipu's membership price hikes were a necessary move; the implementation of a 'dual pricing system' is also to protect the interests of existing users and prevent them from leaving due to price increases.

As of August 2026, the number of registered API users on Zhipu's MaaS open platform has exceeded 7 million; half a year ago, this figure was just over 4 million.

In the first quarter of 2026, Zhipu's API calls increased by 400% year-on-year, making it one of the Chinese vendors with the highest paid Token consumption.

Zhipu's cautious approach to pricing seems to stem from its increasingly severe development situation.

As a Hong Kong-listed company, after its market value exceeded one trillion Hong Kong dollars in June 2026, Zhipu lost approximately half of its market value in just over two months, now standing at just over 500 billion Hong Kong dollars.

For AI companies, the strength of their financing capabilities often determines how far they can go in the future. To succeed in the AI competition, Zhipu may need to focus not only on pricing issues but also on effectively telling its own capital story.