AI model comparison
GLM 5.3 FlashX vs GLM 5
Pricing, context window, benchmarks, and features compared side by side. Or skip the guesswork and send one prompt to both.
Z.ai
GLM 5.3 FlashX
GLM-5.3-FlashX is the high-speed variant of Z.ai's GLM-5.3-Flash, a native multimodal model delivering inference speeds of up to 200 tokens/s.
- Input / 1M
- $0.37
- Output / 1M
- $1.25
- Context
- 1.05M
Z.ai
GLM 5
GLM-5 is Z.ai’s flagship open-source foundation model engineered for complex systems design and long-horizon agent workflows.
- Input / 1M
- $0.60
- Output / 1M
- $1.92
- Context
- 205K
At a glance
Quick verdict
How the two models stack up on the things people ask about most.
Lower price
GLM 5.3 FlashX
1.6x cheaper for a typical chat
Higher intelligence score
Tie
Not enough benchmark data
Larger context window
GLM 5.3 FlashX
1.05M vs 205K tokens
Newer release
GLM 5.3 FlashX
Released September 18, 2026
Benchmarks
Benchmark scores
Independent scores from Artificial Analysis. Higher is better.
Intelligence index
Coding index
Agentic index
Pricing
GLM 5.3 FlashX vs GLM 5 API pricing
Per-token API rates. Cheaper option highlighted.
| Metric | ||
|---|---|---|
| Input tokensPer 1M tokens | $0.37 | $0.60 |
| Output tokensPer 1M tokens | $1.25 | $1.92 |
| Cached input (read)Per 1M tokens | $0.09 | $0.12 |
| Cache writePer 1M tokens | Not available | Not 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
Coding task
30K in, 4K out
Long document summary
150K in, 2K out
Specs
Context window and capabilities
How much each model can read, how much it can write, and what it accepts as input.
| Metric | ||
|---|---|---|
| Context window | 1.05M tokens | 205K tokens |
| Max output | 131K tokens | 128K tokens |
| Input types | Image, Text, Video | Text |
| Output types | Text | Text |
| Reasoning effort levels | Max, High, Low | Not available |
| Default reasoning effort | Max | Not available |
| Release date | September 18, 2026 | February 11, 2026 |
Features
Supported features
API features available for each model.
| Metric | ||
|---|---|---|
| Tool calling | Supported | Supported |
| Structured outputs | Not supported | Supported |
| JSON mode | Supported | Supported |
| Reasoning | Supported | Supported |
| Temperature | Supported | Supported |
| Stop sequences | Not supported | Supported |
| Deterministic seed | Not supported | Supported |
| Verbosity control | Not supported | Not supported |
Keep exploring
More on these models
Other head-to-heads, the full model page, and the alternatives list for each model.
Our take
GLM 5.3 FlashX is 1.6x cheaper for a typical chat. GLM 5.3 FlashX has the larger context window (1.05M vs 205K 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 FlashX or GLM 5 cheaper?
GLM 5.3 FlashX is cheaper for a typical chat (2K input tokens and 500 output tokens). GLM 5.3 FlashX costs $0.37 per 1M input tokens and $1.25 per 1M output tokens, while GLM 5 costs $0.60 per 1M input tokens and $1.92 per 1M output tokens.
Which has a bigger context window, GLM 5.3 FlashX or GLM 5?
GLM 5.3 FlashX supports up to 1.05M tokens of context, compared with 205K for GLM 5.
Can I use GLM 5.3 FlashX and GLM 5 at the same time?
Yes. Shortcut Chat sends one prompt to multiple models at once, so you can see GLM 5.3 FlashX and GLM 5 answer side by side and keep the better response.
Why choose? Ask both.
Send one prompt to GLM 5.3 FlashX and GLM 5 at the same time. Compare the answers side by side and keep the best one.