GLM-5.2 (max) vs Qwen3 Coder Next
Which is better for the money: GLM-5.2 (max) by Z AI or Qwen3 Coder Next by Alibaba? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-09-01.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
GLM-5.2 (max) scores 31.3 points higher (52.6 vs 21.3) but costs 3.4× as much to run the benchmark ($843 vs $250; premium vs mid-range cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick GLM-5.2 (max) when you need intelligence above 21.3, and Qwen3 Coder Next when 21.3 is enough.
| Metric | GLM-5.2 (max) | Qwen3 Coder Next | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 52.6 | 21.3 | −59.5% Qwen3 Coder Next is 59.5% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $843.44 | $250.18 | −70.3% Qwen3 Coder Next is 70.3% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 38.18s | 4.49s | −88.2% Qwen3 Coder Next is 88.2% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $1.40 / $4.40 | $0.35 / $1.20 | |
| Input modalities | Not reported | Not reported |
Qwen3 Coder Next vs GLM-5.2 (max): 59.5% less intelligence, 70.3% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 88.2% faster end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- GLM-5.2 (max) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GLM-5.3-Flash scores 57.50 for $138.
- Qwen3 Coder Next is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GLM-5.3-Flash scores 57.50 for $138.
GLM-5.2 (max)Qwen3 Coder NextToday'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-5-2/qwen3-coder-next · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/glm-5-2/qwen3-coder-next?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill