AI model comparison

GLM 5.3 Flash vs GLM 5.3

Pricing, context window, benchmarks, and features compared side by side. Or skip the guesswork and send one prompt to both.

GLM-5.3-Flash is a native multimodal model from Z.ai. It is suited for efficient coding and long-horizon agent tasks.

Input / 1M
$0.15
Output / 1M
$0.50
Context
1.05M

GLM-5.3 is a large-scale reasoning model from Z.ai, built for complex software engineering and long-horizon agent tasks.

Input / 1M
$0.04
Output / 1M
$7
Context
1.05M

At a glance

Quick verdict

How the two models stack up on the things people ask about most.

Lower price

z-ai logo

GLM 5.3 Flash

6.5x cheaper for a typical chat

Higher intelligence score

z-ai logo

GLM 5.3

44.8 vs 41.8 on Artificial Analysis

Larger context window

Tie

1.05M vs 1.05M tokens

Newer release

z-ai logo

GLM 5.3 Flash

Released August 26, 2026

Benchmarks

Benchmark scores

Independent scores from Artificial Analysis. Higher is better.

Intelligence index

z-ai logoGLM 5.3 Flash41.8
z-ai logoGLM 5.344.8

Coding index

z-ai logoGLM 5.3 Flash71.5
z-ai logoGLM 5.374.8

Agentic index

z-ai logoGLM 5.3 Flash50.9
z-ai logoGLM 5.353.1

Pricing

GLM 5.3 Flash vs GLM 5.3 API pricing

Per-token API rates. Cheaper option highlighted.

Metricz-ai logoGLM 5.3 Flashz-ai logoGLM 5.3
Input tokensPer 1M tokens$0.15$0.04
Output tokensPer 1M tokens$0.50$7
Cached input (read)Per 1M tokens$0.03$0.04
Cache writePer 1M tokensNot availableNot available

What it costs in practice

Estimated cost per 1,000 requests at standard rates. Coding and long-document figures also show the cost when the input is already cached.

Chat message

2K in, 500 out

z-ai logoGLM 5.3 Flash$0.55
z-ai logoGLM 5.3$3.58

Coding task

30K in, 4K out

z-ai logoGLM 5.3 Flash$6.50$2.90 cached
z-ai logoGLM 5.3$29.20$29.17 cached

Long document summary

150K in, 2K out

z-ai logoGLM 5.3 Flash$23.50$5.50 cached
z-ai logoGLM 5.3$20$19.85 cached

Specs

Context window and capabilities

How much each model can read, how much it can write, and what it accepts as input.

Metricz-ai logoGLM 5.3 Flashz-ai logoGLM 5.3
Context window1.05M tokens1.05M tokens
Max output944K tokens944K tokens
Input typesImage, Text, VideoText
Output typesTextText
Reasoning effort levelsMax, High, LowMax, High, Low
Default reasoning effortMaxMax
Release dateAugust 26, 2026August 18, 2026

Features

Supported features

API features available for each model.

Metricz-ai logoGLM 5.3 Flashz-ai logoGLM 5.3
Tool callingSupportedSupported
Structured outputsSupportedSupported
JSON modeSupportedSupported
ReasoningSupportedSupported
TemperatureSupportedSupported
Stop sequencesSupportedSupported
Deterministic seedSupportedSupported
Verbosity controlNot supportedNot supported

Our take

GLM 5.3 Flash is 6.5x cheaper for a typical chat. GLM 5.3 scores higher on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index (44.8 vs 41.8). The right pick depends on your workload, so the quickest way to settle it is to send the same prompt to both and compare.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Is GLM 5.3 Flash or GLM 5.3 cheaper?

GLM 5.3 Flash is cheaper for a typical chat (2K input tokens and 500 output tokens). GLM 5.3 Flash costs $0.15 per 1M input tokens and $0.50 per 1M output tokens, while GLM 5.3 costs $0.04 per 1M input tokens and $7 per 1M output tokens.

Which has a bigger context window, GLM 5.3 Flash or GLM 5.3?

GLM 5.3 Flash supports up to 1.05M tokens of context, compared with 1.05M for GLM 5.3.

Is GLM 5.3 Flash smarter than GLM 5.3?

On the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, GLM 5.3 Flash scores 41.8 and GLM 5.3 scores 44.8, putting GLM 5.3 ahead. Benchmarks don't capture everything, so the best test is running your own prompts through both.

Can I use GLM 5.3 Flash and GLM 5.3 at the same time?

Yes. Shortcut Chat sends one prompt to multiple models at once, so you can see GLM 5.3 Flash and GLM 5.3 answer side by side and keep the better response.

z-ai logoz-ai logo

Why choose? Ask both.

Send one prompt to GLM 5.3 Flash and GLM 5.3 at the same time. Compare the answers side by side and keep the best one.