DeepSeek V3 (Dec '24) vs GLM-5.1 (Reasoning)
Which is better for the money: DeepSeek V3 (Dec '24) by DeepSeek or GLM-5.1 (Reasoning) by Z AI? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-10-24.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
GLM-5.1 (Reasoning) scores 17.6 points higher (26.1 vs 8.5) but costs 59× as much to run the benchmark ($1487 vs $25.4; premium vs budget cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick GLM-5.1 (Reasoning) when you need intelligence above 8.5, and DeepSeek V3 (Dec '24) when 8.5 is enough.
| Metric | DeepSeek V3 (Dec '24) | GLM-5.1 (Reasoning) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 8.5 | 26.1 | +207.1% GLM-5.1 (Reasoning) is 3.1× more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $25.37 | $1,486.78 | +5760.4% GLM-5.1 (Reasoning) is 59× more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 11.89s | 63.24s | +431.9% GLM-5.1 (Reasoning) is 431.9% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.32 / $0.89 | $1.28 / $4.07 | |
| Input modalities | Text | Text |
GLM-5.1 (Reasoning) vs DeepSeek V3 (Dec '24): 207.1% more intelligence, 5760.4% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 431.9% slower end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- DeepSeek V3 (Dec '24) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6 Luna (Low) scores 21.50 for $10.6.
- GLM-5.1 (Reasoning) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) scores 51.80 for $1082.
DeepSeek V3 (Dec '24)GLM-5.1 (Reasoning)Today's Pareto frontierOpen-weights frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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