AI model comparison

GLM 5.3 vs Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B

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

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

Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B is an open-weight sparse mixture-of-experts model from Qwen and the open-weight variant of [Qwen3.8 Max](/qwen/qwen3.8-max), with 95 billion active parameters out of 2.4 trillion total.

Input / 1M
$2
Output / 1M
$6
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

2.0x cheaper for a typical chat

Higher intelligence score

z-ai logo

GLM 5.3

44.8 vs 39.9 on Artificial Analysis

Larger context window

Tie

1.05M vs 1.05M tokens

Newer release

z-ai logo

GLM 5.3

Released August 18, 2026

Benchmarks

Benchmark scores

Independent scores from Artificial Analysis. Higher is better.

Intelligence index

z-ai logoGLM 5.344.8
qwen logoQwen3.8 2.4T A95B39.9

Coding index

z-ai logoGLM 5.374.8
qwen logoQwen3.8 2.4T A95B71.9

Agentic index

z-ai logoGLM 5.353.1
qwen logoQwen3.8 2.4T A95B50.1

Pricing

GLM 5.3 vs Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B API pricing

Per-token API rates. Cheaper option highlighted.

Metricz-ai logoGLM 5.3qwen logoQwen3.8 2.4T A95B
Input tokensPer 1M tokens$0.04$2
Output tokensPer 1M tokens$7$6
Cached input (read)Per 1M tokens$0.04$0.25
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$3.58
qwen logoQwen3.8 2.4T A95B$7

Coding task

30K in, 4K out

z-ai logoGLM 5.3$29.20$29.17 cached
qwen logoQwen3.8 2.4T A95B$84$31.50 cached

Long document summary

150K in, 2K out

z-ai logoGLM 5.3$20$19.85 cached
qwen logoQwen3.8 2.4T A95B$312$49.50 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 5.3qwen logoQwen3.8 2.4T A95B
Context window1.05M tokens1.05M tokens
Max output944K tokens131K tokens
Input typesTextText
Output typesTextText
Reasoning effort levelsMax, High, LowExtra high, Medium, Low
Default reasoning effortMaxExtra high
Release dateAugust 18, 2026August 12, 2026

Features

Supported features

API features available for each model.

Metricz-ai logoGLM 5.3qwen logoQwen3.8 2.4T A95B
Tool callingSupportedSupported
Structured outputsSupportedSupported
JSON modeSupportedSupported
ReasoningSupportedSupported
TemperatureSupportedSupported
Stop sequencesSupportedSupported
Deterministic seedSupportedSupported
Verbosity controlNot supportedNot supported

Our take

GLM 5.3 is 2.0x cheaper for a typical chat. GLM 5.3 scores higher on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index (44.8 vs 39.9). 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 or Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B cheaper?

GLM 5.3 is cheaper for a typical chat (2K input tokens and 500 output tokens). GLM 5.3 costs $0.04 per 1M input tokens and $7 per 1M output tokens, while Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B costs $2 per 1M input tokens and $6 per 1M output tokens.

Which has a bigger context window, GLM 5.3 or Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B?

GLM 5.3 supports up to 1.05M tokens of context, compared with 1.05M for Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B.

Is GLM 5.3 smarter than Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B?

On the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index, GLM 5.3 scores 44.8 and Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B scores 39.9, 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 and Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B at the same time?

Yes. Shortcut Chat sends one prompt to multiple models at once, so you can see GLM 5.3 and Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B answer side by side and keep the better response.

z-ai logoqwen logo

Why choose? Ask both.

Send one prompt to GLM 5.3 and Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B at the same time. Compare the answers side by side and keep the best one.