GLM-5.3 (Max) vs MiniMax-M3.1-Flash
Which is better for the money: GLM-5.3 (Max) by Z AI or MiniMax-M3.1-Flash by MiniMax? 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
GLM-5.3 (Max) scores 2.1 points higher (44.8 vs 42.7) but costs 8.8× as much to run the benchmark ($2503 vs $283; flagship vs mid-range cost classes). They are not alternatives at one budget: pick GLM-5.3 (Max) when you need intelligence above 42.7, and MiniMax-M3.1-Flash when 42.7 is enough.
| Metric | GLM-5.3 (Max) | MiniMax-M3.1-Flash | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Intelligence (higher is better) | 44.8 | 42.7 | −4.7% MiniMax-M3.1-Flash is 4.7% less intelligent |
| Total AA cost (lower is better) | $2,503.48 | $283.18 | −88.7% MiniMax-M3.1-Flash is 88.7% cheaper |
| End-to-end time (lower is better) | 28.79s | 23.83s | −17.2% MiniMax-M3.1-Flash is 17.2% faster |
| Price per 1M tokens (in / out) | $1.40 / $4.40 | $0.15 / $0.60 | |
| Input modalities | Text | Text, Image |
MiniMax-M3.1-Flash vs GLM-5.3 (Max): 4.7% less intelligence, 88.7% less cost to run the AA benchmark, and 17.2% faster 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.
- MiniMax-M3.1-Flash is off the frontier: at the same or lower cost, MiMo-V2.6-Pro scores 46.30 for $207.
GLM-5.3 (Max)MiniMax-M3.1-FlashToday's Pareto frontierOpen-weights frontierEvery other model
Matchup
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