Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite vs GLM-5.2 (Max)
Which is better for the money: Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite by Google or GLM-5.2 (Max) by Z AI? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-10-25.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
GLM-5.2 (Max) scores 11.5 points higher (33.7 vs 22.2) but costs 5.7× as much to run the benchmark ($2097 vs $366; flagship vs mid-range cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick GLM-5.2 (Max) when you need intelligence above 22.2, and Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite when 22.2 is enough.
| Metric | Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite | GLM-5.2 (Max) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 22.2 | 33.7 | +51.8% GLM-5.2 (Max) is 51.8% more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $365.63 | $2,097.29 | +473.6% GLM-5.2 (Max) is 5.7× more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 8.50s | 29.25s | +244.1% GLM-5.2 (Max) is 244.1% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.30 / $2.50 | $1.40 / $4.40 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image, Speech, Video | Text |
GLM-5.2 (Max) vs Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite: 51.8% more intelligence, 473.6% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 244.1% slower end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Medium) scores 47.80 for $361.
- GLM-5.2 (Max) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) scores 51.80 for $1082.
Gemini 3.5 Flash-LiteGLM-5.2 (Max)Today's Pareto frontierOpen-weights frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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Accept: text/markdown or ?format=md returns this page as Markdown. JSON: /api/v1/compare/gemini-3-5-flash-lite/glm-5-2 · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/gemini-3-5-flash-lite/glm-5-2?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill