GLM-5.1 (Reasoning) vs GPT-5 mini (High)
Which is better for the money: GLM-5.1 (Reasoning) by Z AI or GPT-5 mini (High) by OpenAI? 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-5.1 (Reasoning) scores 9.3 points higher (26.1 vs 16.8) but costs 7.9× as much to run the benchmark ($1487 vs $189; premium vs mid-range cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick GLM-5.1 (Reasoning) when you need intelligence above 16.8, and GPT-5 mini (High) when 16.8 is enough.
| Metric | GLM-5.1 (Reasoning) | GPT-5 mini (High) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 26.1 | 16.8 | −35.6% GPT-5 mini (High) is 35.6% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $1,486.78 | $188.66 | −87.3% GPT-5 mini (High) is 87.3% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 64.38s | 60.90s | −5.4% GPT-5 mini (High) is 5.4% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $1.28 / $4.07 | $0.25 / $2.00 | |
| Input modalities | Text | Text, Image |
GPT-5 mini (High) vs GLM-5.1 (Reasoning): 35.6% less intelligence, 87.3% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 5.4% faster end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- GLM-5.1 (Reasoning) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) scores 51.80 for $1082.
- GPT-5 mini (High) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, Claude Haiku 5.5 (Xhigh) scores 41.20 for $158.
GLM-5.1 (Reasoning)GPT-5 mini (High)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/glm-5-1/gpt-5-mini · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/glm-5-1/gpt-5-mini?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill