DeepSeek V3 (Dec '24) vs GLM-5.3-Flash
Which is better for the money: DeepSeek V3 (Dec '24) by DeepSeek or GLM-5.3-Flash 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-5.3-Flash scores 33.3 points higher (41.8 vs 8.5) but costs 12× as much to run the benchmark ($306 vs $25.4; mid-range vs budget cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick GLM-5.3-Flash when you need intelligence above 8.5, and DeepSeek V3 (Dec '24) when 8.5 is enough.
| Metric | DeepSeek V3 (Dec '24) | GLM-5.3-Flash | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 8.5 | 41.8 | +391.8% GLM-5.3-Flash is 4.9× more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $25.37 | $305.52 | +1104.3% GLM-5.3-Flash is 12× more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 11.89s | 39.33s | +230.8% GLM-5.3-Flash is 230.8% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.32 / $0.89 | $0.15 / $0.50 | |
| Input modalities | Text | Text, Image |
GLM-5.3-Flash vs DeepSeek V3 (Dec '24): 391.8% more intelligence, 1104.3% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 230.8% 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-5.3-Flash is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, MiMo-V2.6-Pro scores 46.30 for $207.
DeepSeek V3 (Dec '24)GLM-5.3-FlashToday's Pareto frontierOpen-weights frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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