GLM-5.3-Flash vs Step 5 Preview
Which is better for the money: GLM-5.3-Flash by Z AI or Step 5 Preview by StepFun? Intelligence, total benchmark cost, and end-to-end time from Artificial Analysis & other sources, snapshot 2026-10-24.
Trade-off
Verdict
Depends on your budget
Step 5 Preview scores 1.9 points higher (43.7 vs 41.8) but costs 3.9× as much to run the benchmark ($1190 vs $306; premium vs mid-range cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick Step 5 Preview when you need intelligence above 41.8, and GLM-5.3-Flash when 41.8 is enough.
| Metric | GLM-5.3-Flash | Step 5 Preview | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 41.8 | 43.7 | +4.5% Step 5 Preview is 4.5% more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $305.52 | $1,190.26 | +289.6% Step 5 Preview is 3.9× more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 39.33s | 12.06s | −69.3% Step 5 Preview is 69.3% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $0.15 / $0.50 | $1.00 / $2.70 | |
| Input modalities | Text, Image | Text, Image |
Step 5 Preview vs GLM-5.3-Flash: 4.5% more intelligence, 289.6% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 69.3% faster end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- GLM-5.3-Flash is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, MiMo-V2.6-Pro scores 46.30 for $207.
- Step 5 Preview is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) scores 51.80 for $1082.
GLM-5.3-FlashStep 5 PreviewToday'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-5-3-flash/step-5 · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/glm-5-3-flash/step-5?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill