GLM-5.3 (Max) vs GLM-5.3-Flash
Which is better for the money: GLM-5.3 (Max) by Z AI or GLM-5.3-Flash by Z AI? 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
GLM-5.3 (Max) scores 3.0 points higher (44.8 vs 41.8) but costs 8.2× as much to run the benchmark ($2503 vs $306; flagship vs mid-range cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick GLM-5.3 (Max) when you need intelligence above 41.8, and GLM-5.3-Flash when 41.8 is enough.
| Metric | GLM-5.3 (Max) | GLM-5.3-Flash | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 44.8 | 41.8 | −6.7% GLM-5.3-Flash is 6.7% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $2,503.48 | $305.52 | −87.8% GLM-5.3-Flash is 87.8% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 31.61s | 39.33s | +24.4% GLM-5.3-Flash is 24.4% slower |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $1.40 / $4.40 | $0.15 / $0.50 | |
| Input modalities | Text | Text, Image |
GLM-5.3-Flash vs GLM-5.3 (Max): 6.7% less intelligence, 87.8% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 24.4% slower end-to-end.
Today's Pareto frontier
Against the frontier
- GLM-5.3 (Max) is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, Claude Opus 5.5 (High, Default Fallback) scores 53.60 for $2172.
- GLM-5.3-Flash is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, MiMo-V2.6-Pro scores 46.30 for $207.
GLM-5.3 (Max)GLM-5.3-FlashToday'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/glm-5-3-flash · Markdown: /api/v1/compare/glm-5-3/glm-5-3-flash?format=md · llms.txt · agent skill