Gemini 3.8 Flash (Medium) vs GLM-5.3 (Low)
Which is better for the money: Gemini 3.8 Flash (Medium) by Google or GLM-5.3 (Low) 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
Gemini 3.8 Flash (Medium) scores 5.5 points higher (39.8 vs 34.3) but costs 1.1× as much to run the benchmark ($1100 vs $1013; both premium class). Pick Gemini 3.8 Flash (Medium) when the extra intelligence is worth the premium, otherwise GLM-5.3 (Low).
| Metric | Gemini 3.8 Flash (Medium) | GLM-5.3 (Low) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 39.8 | 34.3 | −13.8% GLM-5.3 (Low) is 13.8% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $1,100.06 | $1,012.50 | −8.0% GLM-5.3 (Low) is 8.0% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | Not reported | 31.21s | — not comparable |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.75 / $3.75 | $1.40 / $4.40 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image, Speech, Video | Text |
GLM-5.3 (Low) vs Gemini 3.8 Flash (Medium): 13.8% less intelligence, 8.0% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and end-to-end time not fully reported.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- Gemini 3.8 Flash (Medium) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) scores 51.80 for $1082.
- GLM-5.3 (Low) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Xhigh) scores 51.00 for $662.
Gemini 3.8 Flash (Medium)GLM-5.3 (Low)Today's Pareto frontierOpen-weights frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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