GLM-5.1 (Reasoning) vs Qwen3.8 Max
Which is better for the money: GLM-5.1 (Reasoning) by Z AI or Qwen3.8 Max by Alibaba? 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
Qwen3.8 Max scores 14.1 points higher (40.2 vs 26.1) but costs 2.1× as much to run the benchmark ($3172 vs $1487; flagship vs premium cost classes). Pick Qwen3.8 Max when the extra intelligence is worth the premium, otherwise GLM-5.1 (Reasoning).
| Metric | GLM-5.1 (Reasoning) | Qwen3.8 Max | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 26.1 | 40.2 | +54.0% Qwen3.8 Max is 54.0% more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $1,486.78 | $3,172.37 | +113.4% Qwen3.8 Max is 2.1× more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 60.66s | 64.64s | +6.6% Qwen3.8 Max is 6.6% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $1.28 / $4.07 | $2.00 / $6.00 | |
| Input modalities | Text | Text, Image, Video |
Qwen3.8 Max vs GLM-5.1 (Reasoning): 54.0% more intelligence, 113.4% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 6.6% slower 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.
- Qwen3.8 Max is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, Kimi K3.1 Pro scores 55.10 for $3117.
GLM-5.1 (Reasoning)Qwen3.8 MaxToday's Pareto frontierOpen-weights frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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