Cheaper overall
GLM 5.3 Flash
89% lower blended rate
Higher benchmark scores
GLM 5.3
leads on 14 of 19 figures
Cheaper cached input
GLM 5.3 Flash
$0.03 vs $0.26, 88% less
Where each one wins
GLM 5.3 Flash
- Cheaper input tokens $0.15 vs $1.40, 89% less
- Cheaper output tokens $0.50 vs $4.40, 89% less
- Cheaper cached input $0.03 vs $0.26, 88% less
- Cheaper on all four workloads
- Higher long-context reasoning (AA-LCR) 80 vs 79.7
- Higher real-world task performance (GDPval) 57.7 vs 57.2
- Higher answer reliability (Omniscience Non-Hallucination) 72.4 vs 70.4
- Ahead on 2 more benchmark figures
GLM 5.3
- Higher overall intelligence (Intelligence Index) 44.8 vs 41.9
- Higher coding ability (Coding Index) 74.8 vs 71.5
- Higher multi-step tool use (Agentic Index) 53.1 vs 51.2
- Ahead on 11 more benchmark figures
What four workloads cost
One run, and the same run a thousand times.
GLM 5.3 Flash is cheaper on all four workloads, by much the same margin each time — about 9.1 times, from $0.0004 against $0.0036 on a chat turn to $0.0615 against $0.5732 on a long document.
| Workload | GLM 5.3 Flash | GLM 5.3 | ×1,000 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chat turn 1,000 in / 500 out | $0.0004 | $0.0036 | $0.4000 / $3.60 | GLM 5.3 Flash is 89% cheaper |
| RAG answer 10,000 in / 800 out | $0.0019 | $0.0175 | $1.90 / $17.52 | GLM 5.3 Flash is 89% cheaper |
| Agent loop 32,000 in / 700 out × 20 calls | $0.0310 | $0.2736 | $31.00 / $273.60 | GLM 5.3 Flash is 89% cheaper |
| Long document 400,000 in / 3,000 out | $0.0615 | $0.5732 | $61.50 / $573.20 | GLM 5.3 Flash is 89% cheaper |
Price per 1M tokens
Neither model changes its rate with prompt length, so these rates apply to every request.
| Context band | Price | GLM 5.3 Flash | GLM 5.3 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Any prompt length | Input | $0.15 | $1.40 | GLM 5.3 Flash is 89% cheaper |
| Any prompt length | Cached input | $0.03 | $0.26 | GLM 5.3 Flash is 88% cheaper |
| Any prompt length | Output | $0.50 | $4.40 | GLM 5.3 Flash is 89% cheaper |
Blended: GLM 5.3 Flash $0.2375, GLM 5.3 $2.15 per 1M — one rate at 3:1 input to output, for comparing two models at a glance.
Both priced by Z.ai. Standard tier, pay-as-you-go.
Benchmarks
They share 19 figures: GLM 5.3 Flash leads on 5, GLM 5.3 on 14. The widest gap is 60 points, on Gamedev Elo.
Overall intelligence
Intelligence Index — Overall intelligence across reasoning, knowledge & math evals
GLM 5.3 ahead by 2.9
Coding ability
Coding Index — Coding ability across software-engineering evals
GLM 5.3 ahead by 3.3
Multi-step tool use
Agentic Index — Tool use & multi-step agent task performance
GLM 5.3 ahead by 1.9
Graduate-level science
GPQA Diamond — Graduate-level questions in biology, chemistry & physics
GLM 5.3 ahead by 0.5
Expert-exam performance
Humanity's Last Exam — Expert-level questions across many academic domains
GLM 5.3 ahead by 2.4
Long-context reasoning
AA-LCR — Long-context reasoning across large inputs
GLM 5.3 Flash ahead by 0.3
Scientific coding
SciCode — Research-level scientific coding tasks
GLM 5.3 ahead by 7.4
Physics research reasoning
CritPt — Unpublished physics research reasoning problems
GLM 5.3 ahead by 3.7
Real-world task performance
GDPval — Economically valuable, real-world knowledge work
GLM 5.3 Flash ahead by 0.5
Factual accuracy
Omniscience Accuracy — Breadth of factual knowledge across domains
GLM 5.3 ahead by 6.4
Answer reliability
Omniscience Non-Hallucination — How reliably the model avoids fabricated answers
GLM 5.3 Flash ahead by 2
3d Elo
Design Arena head-to-head rating in the 3d category
GLM 5.3 ahead by 38
Asciiart Elo
Design Arena head-to-head rating in the asciiart category
GLM 5.3 Flash ahead by 54
Codecategories Elo
Design Arena head-to-head rating in the codecategories category
GLM 5.3 ahead by 30
Dataviz Elo
Design Arena head-to-head rating in the dataviz category
GLM 5.3 Flash ahead by 2
Gamedev Elo
Design Arena head-to-head rating in the gamedev category
GLM 5.3 ahead by 60
Svg Elo
Design Arena head-to-head rating in the svg category
GLM 5.3 ahead by 8
Uicomponent Elo
Design Arena head-to-head rating in the uicomponent category
GLM 5.3 ahead by 3
Website Elo
Design Arena head-to-head rating in the website category
GLM 5.3 ahead by 29
Each figure is that model's best published run, with the effort level named beside it — where these scores come from.
Specifications
GLM 5.3 Flash also takes file, image and video. Only GLM 5.3 Flash lists computer use.
| Specification | GLM 5.3 Flash | GLM 5.3 |
|---|---|---|
| Context window | 1,000,000 tokens | 1,000,000 tokens |
| Max output | 128,000 tokens | 128,000 tokens |
| Takes in | Text, image, video, file | Text |
| Puts out | Text | Text |
| Released | 26 Aug 2026 | 14 Aug 2026 |
| Status | Active | Active |
| Sold by | Perplexity, Z.ai | Perplexity, Z.ai |
| Tool use | Yes | Yes |
| Structured outputs | Yes | Yes |
| Web search | Not listed | Not listed |
| Prompt caching | Yes | Yes |
| Code execution | Yes | Yes |
| Computer use | Yes | Not listed |
| Open weights | Yes | Yes |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yes |
FAQs
- Is GLM 5.3 Flash cheaper than GLM 5.3?
- Yes. A 1,000-token prompt with a 500-token reply costs $0.0004 on GLM 5.3 Flash and $0.0036 on GLM 5.3, and the same model is cheaper on every workload on this page.
- How much do GLM 5.3 Flash and GLM 5.3 cost per 1M tokens?
- GLM 5.3 Flash costs $0.15 for input and $0.50 for output. GLM 5.3 costs $1.40 and $4.40. Standard pay-as-you-go rates, as of 26 Aug 2026.
- Which is better, GLM 5.3 Flash or GLM 5.3?
- On published benchmarks, GLM 5.3. It leads on 14 of the 19 figures both models report, including overall intelligence (Intelligence Index), where it scores 44.8 against 41.9.