GLM-4.6 (Reasoning) vs Qwen3 Coder Next
Which is better for the money: GLM-4.6 (Reasoning) by Z AI or Qwen3 Coder Next by Alibaba? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-08-19.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
GLM-4.6 (Reasoning) scores 8.0 points higher (29.3 vs 21.3) but costs 1.3× as much to run the benchmark ($314 vs $250; both mid-range class). Pick GLM-4.6 (Reasoning) when the extra intelligence is worth the premium, otherwise Qwen3 Coder Next.
| Metric | GLM-4.6 (Reasoning) | Qwen3 Coder Next | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 29.3 | 21.3 | −27.3% Qwen3 Coder Next is 27.3% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $314.30 | $250.18 | −20.4% Qwen3 Coder Next is 20.4% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 52.69s | 4.97s | −90.6% Qwen3 Coder Next is 90.6% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.55 / $2.20 | $0.35 / $1.20 | |
| Input modalities | Not reported | Not reported |
Qwen3 Coder Next vs GLM-4.6 (Reasoning): 27.3% less intelligence, 20.4% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 90.6% faster end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- GLM-4.6 (Reasoning) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, Gemini 3.7 Flash (medium) scores 53.40 for $278.
- Qwen3 Coder Next is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-5.6 Luna (max) scores 52.30 for $172.
GLM-4.6 (Reasoning)Qwen3 Coder NextToday's Pareto frontierOpen-weights frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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