GLM-5.1 (Reasoning) vs Qwen3.6 35B A3B (Reasoning)
Which is better for the money: GLM-5.1 (Reasoning) by Z AI or Qwen3.6 35B A3B (Reasoning) by Alibaba? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-10-26.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
GLM-5.1 (Reasoning) scores 7.9 points higher (26.1 vs 18.2) but costs 1.7× as much to run the benchmark ($1487 vs $896; both premium class). Pick GLM-5.1 (Reasoning) when the extra intelligence is worth the premium, otherwise Qwen3.6 35B A3B (Reasoning).
| Metric | GLM-5.1 (Reasoning) | Qwen3.6 35B A3B (Reasoning) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 26.1 | 18.2 | −30.3% Qwen3.6 35B A3B (Reas… is 30.3% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $1,486.78 | $896.39 | −39.7% Qwen3.6 35B A3B (Reas… is 39.7% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 61.77s | 47.02s | −23.9% Qwen3.6 35B A3B (Reas… is 23.9% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $1.28 / $4.07 | $0.38 / $2.25 | |
| Input modalities | Text | Text, Image, Video |
Qwen3.6 35B A3B (Reasoning) vs GLM-5.1 (Reasoning): 30.3% less intelligence, 39.7% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 23.9% 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.
- Qwen3.6 35B A3B (Reasoning) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Xhigh) scores 51.00 for $662.
GLM-5.1 (Reasoning)Qwen3.6 35B A3B (Reasoning)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/qwen3-6-35b-a3b · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/glm-5-1/qwen3-6-35b-a3b?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill