GLM-5.3 (Low) vs Grok 4.6 (Medium)
Which is better for the money: GLM-5.3 (Low) by Z AI or Grok 4.6 (Medium) by SpaceXAI? 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
Grok 4.6 (Medium) scores 8.5 points higher (42.8 vs 34.3) but costs 1.5× as much to run the benchmark ($1557 vs $1013; both premium class). Pick Grok 4.6 (Medium) when the extra intelligence is worth the premium, otherwise GLM-5.3 (Low).
| Metric | GLM-5.3 (Low) | Grok 4.6 (Medium) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 34.3 | 42.8 | +24.8% Grok 4.6 (Medium) is 24.8% more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $1,012.50 | $1,557.04 | +53.8% Grok 4.6 (Medium) is 53.8% more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 30.79s | 33.02s | +7.2% Grok 4.6 (Medium) is 7.2% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $1.40 / $4.40 | $2.00 / $6.00 | |
| Input modalities | Text | Text, Image |
Grok 4.6 (Medium) vs GLM-5.3 (Low): 24.8% more intelligence, 53.8% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 7.2% slower end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- GLM-5.3 (Low) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Xhigh) scores 51.00 for $662.
- Grok 4.6 (Medium) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, GPT-6.1 Sol (Max) scores 51.80 for $1082.
GLM-5.3 (Low)Grok 4.6 (Medium)Today's Pareto frontierOpen-weights frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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