Pairwise benchmark snapshot · Aug 16, 2026
In this head-to-head showdown, GLM-5.3 delivers higher overall intelligence and human-preferred responses (Elo 1,558 vs 1,358), while GLM-5.3 leads in SWE-bench software engineering benchmarks (76.4%), while GLM-5.3 is more budget-friendly at $1.8/1M per 1M output tokens. Review the complete breakdown below to determine which model best fits your performance and budget requirements.
9 direct benchmark disciplines evaluated across capability, speed, and cost
Z.ai Aug 14 2026 post-train of the GLM-5.2 744B base. Coding-plan live; open weights promised after a two-week safety review (z.ai/blog/glm-5.3).
Simulate accuracy gains vs added response time & token cost
Reasoning models “think before answering” by generating internal reasoning tokens. Higher effort improves math, coding, and logic accuracy, but increases response delay and token costs.
Δ 200 Arena Elo pts
90 tok/s
$1.8 / 1M output
Relative percentile scores computed across all active models in the benchmark catalog.
Comparing top Western standard models with China's leading frontier rival across 6 skill dimensions. Tap any spoke or dot to inspect.
Category wins across reasoning intelligence, generation speed, and token cost.
Preference Elo, Coding proficiency, SWE-bench & LiveBench accuracy
Generation throughput and time to first token responsiveness
Cost per million tokens and max context window length
| Benchmark | DeepSeek R1 | GLM-5.3 | Advantage Delta |
|---|---|---|---|
| Preference Elo | +200 | ||
| Coding Elo | — | — | |
| LiveBench | +11.8% | ||
| SWE-bench | +11.2% | ||
| GPQA Diamond | +3.4% | ||
| Time to first token | +165 ms | ||
| Output speed | 62 tok/s | 90 tok/s | +28 tok/s |
| Input price | $0.55/1M | +$0.05/1M | |
| Output price | $2.19/1M | +$0.39/1M | |
| Context window | +72k |
Simulate monthly production API costs in USD (US Dollar).
GLM-5.3 is estimated to save $7.60/month ($91/year).
Higher SWE-bench (76.4%).
Lower output list price ($1.8/1M).
Lower TTFT (255 ms).
Larger window (200k).
GLM-5.3 is the side marked multimodal in the catalog.
| Target Workload | Recommended Pick | Evaluation Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Repo / coding agents | GLM-5.3 | Higher SWE-bench (76.4%). |
| High-volume chat | GLM-5.3 | Lower output list price ($1.8/1M). |
| Voice / low-latency UI | GLM-5.3 | Lower TTFT (255 ms). |
| Long-document RAG | GLM-5.3 | Larger window (200k). |
| Screenshots / vision | GLM-5.3 | GLM-5.3 is the side marked multimodal in the catalog. |
Coding-plan live; open weights promised after a two-week safety review. Newest Zhipu row.
Strong Chinese/English coding. 5.3 is the new row; 5.2 stays so the delta is visible.
Jan 2025 reasoning model. Still searched. V4 Pro is the newer DeepSeek buy.
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Verified Head-to-Head Telemetry
