GLM-5.3 (Low) vs Qwen3.8 Max
Which is better for the money: GLM-5.3 (Low) 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 5.9 points higher (40.2 vs 34.3) but costs 3.1× as much to run the benchmark ($3172 vs $1013; flagship vs premium cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick Qwen3.8 Max when you need intelligence above 34.3, and GLM-5.3 (Low) when 34.3 is enough.
| Metric | GLM-5.3 (Low) | Qwen3.8 Max | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 34.3 | 40.2 | +17.2% Qwen3.8 Max is 17.2% more intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $1,012.50 | $3,172.37 | +213.3% Qwen3.8 Max is 3.1× more expensive |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 31.07s | 64.17s | +106.5% Qwen3.8 Max is 106.5% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $1.40 / $4.40 | $2.00 / $6.00 | |
| Input modalities | Text | Text, Image, Video |
Qwen3.8 Max vs GLM-5.3 (Low): 17.2% more intelligence, 213.3% more cost to run the AA benchmark, and 106.5% 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.
- Qwen3.8 Max is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, Kimi K3.1 Pro scores 55.10 for $3117.
GLM-5.3 (Low)Qwen3.8 MaxToday's Pareto frontierOpen-weights frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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