AI model comparison

GLM 5.3 Flash vs Step 3.7 Flash

Side by side comparison of GLM 5.3 Flash and Step 3.7 Flash on pricing, benchmark scores, context window, and more.

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

Step 3.7 Flash is StepFun's latest high-efficiency multimodal Mixture-of-Experts model.

Input / 1M
$0.20
Output / 1M
$1.15
Context
262K

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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

1.8x cheaper for a typical chat

Higher intelligence score

Not available

Not enough benchmark data

Larger context window

z-ai logo

GLM 5.3 Flash

1.05M vs 262K 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 FlashNot available
stepfun logoStep 3.7 FlashNot available

Coding index

z-ai logoGLM 5.3 Flash71.5
stepfun logoStep 3.7 Flash39.6

Agentic index

z-ai logoGLM 5.3 Flash50.9
stepfun logoStep 3.7 FlashNot available

Pricing

GLM 5.3 Flash vs Step 3.7 Flash API pricing

Per-token API rates. Cheaper option highlighted.

Metricz-ai logoGLM 5.3 Flashstepfun logoStep 3.7 Flash
Input tokensPer 1M tokens$0.15$0.20
Output tokensPer 1M tokens$0.50$1.15
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
stepfun logoStep 3.7 Flash$0.98

Coding task

30K in, 4K out

z-ai logoGLM 5.3 Flash$6.50$2.90 cached
stepfun logoStep 3.7 Flash$10.60$5.80 cached

Long document summary

150K in, 2K out

z-ai logoGLM 5.3 Flash$23.50$5.50 cached
stepfun logoStep 3.7 Flash$32.30$8.30 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 Flashstepfun logoStep 3.7 Flash
Context window1.05M tokens262K tokens
Max output944K tokens230K tokens
Input typesImage, Text, VideoImage, Text, Video
Output typesTextText
Reasoning effort levelsMax, High, LowHigh, Medium, Low
Default reasoning effortMaxMedium
Release dateAugust 26, 2026May 28, 2026

Features

Supported features

API features available for each model.

Metricz-ai logoGLM 5.3 Flashstepfun logoStep 3.7 Flash
Tool callingSupportedSupported
Structured outputsSupportedSupported
JSON modeSupportedSupported
ReasoningSupportedSupported
TemperatureSupportedSupported
Stop sequencesSupportedSupported
Deterministic seedSupportedSupported
Verbosity controlNot supportedNot supported

Our take

GLM 5.3 Flash is 1.8x cheaper for a typical chat. GLM 5.3 Flash has the larger context window (1.05M vs 262K tokens). 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 Step 3.7 Flash 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 Step 3.7 Flash costs $0.20 per 1M input tokens and $1.15 per 1M output tokens.

Which has a bigger context window, GLM 5.3 Flash or Step 3.7 Flash?

GLM 5.3 Flash supports up to 1.05M tokens of context, compared with 262K for Step 3.7 Flash.

Can I use GLM 5.3 Flash and Step 3.7 Flash at the same time?

Yes. Shortcut Chat sends one prompt to multiple models at once, so you can see GLM 5.3 Flash and Step 3.7 Flash answer side by side and keep the better response.

z-ai logostepfun logo

Why choose? Ask both.

Send one prompt to GLM 5.3 Flash and Step 3.7 Flash at the same time. Compare the answers side by side and keep the best one.