Gemini 3.8 Flash (High) vs GLM-5.3 (Low)
Which is better for the money: Gemini 3.8 Flash (High) 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 2026-10-25.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
Gemini 3.8 Flash (High) scores 6.6 points higher (40.9 vs 34.3) but costs 1.6× as much to run the benchmark ($1623 vs $1013; both premium class). Pick Gemini 3.8 Flash (High) when the extra intelligence is worth the premium, otherwise GLM-5.3 (Low).
| Metric | Gemini 3.8 Flash (High) | GLM-5.3 (Low) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 40.9 | 34.3 | −16.1% GLM-5.3 (Low) is 16.1% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $1,622.73 | $1,012.50 | −37.6% GLM-5.3 (Low) is 37.6% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 31.03s | 31.07s | +0.1% GLM-5.3 (Low) is 0.1% slower |
| 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 (High): 16.1% less intelligence, 37.6% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 0.1% slower end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- Gemini 3.8 Flash (High) 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 (High)GLM-5.3 (Low)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-3-8-flash/glm-5-3-low · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/gemini-3-8-flash/glm-5-3-low?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill