text model comparison
GLM-5.3-Flash vs Qwen3.8-Flash-Next
GLM-5.3-Flash and Qwen3.8-Flash-Next are both current text models, from Z.ai and Alibaba Qwen. On Arena WebDev, GLM-5.3-Flash scores 1607 Elo and Qwen3.8-Flash-Next 1628 Elo (Arena, measured October 28, 2026). GLM-5.3-Flash has the larger context window, 1,000,000 vs 262,144 tokens.
- Higher Arena WebDev
- Qwen3.8-Flash-Next1628 Elo against 1607 Elo
- Longer context window
- GLM-5.3-Flash1M tokens against 262K tokens
Data verified November 3, 2026 · Dataset 2026-11-03
Side by side
GLM-5.3-Flash and Qwen3.8-Flash-Next, line by line
Prices in effect today, compared at the same tier wherever both list one. The better value in each row is highlighted.
| Fact | GLM-5.3-Flash | Qwen3.8-Flash-Next |
|---|---|---|
| Price | ||
| Price per 1M input tokens | $0.15 | Not listed |
| Price per 1M output tokens | $0.50 | Not listed |
| Independent benchmarks | ||
| Arena WebDev | 1607 Elo (#23 of 45) | 1628 Elo (#18 of 45) (better) |
| Arena Text | 1477 Elo (#19 of 51) | Not measured |
| FrontierMath Tiers 1-3 (v2) | 55.8% (#33 of 42) | Not measured |
| GPQA Diamond | 90.2% (#28 of 41) | Not measured |
| Specs | ||
| Provider | Z.ai | Alibaba Qwen |
| Release date | August 26, 2026 | August 26, 2026 |
| Access | API and open weights | open weights |
| Context window | 1,000,000 tokens | 262,144 tokens |
| Max output | 128,000 tokens | Not reported |
| Input | text, image, video | text, image, video |
| Output | text | text |
Charts
Against every current text model
Where GLM-5.3-Flash and Qwen3.8-Flash-Next land among the current models of their task, on every independent benchmark, on price and on context.
Where each stands
On Arena WebDev, GLM-5.3-Flash ranks #23 and Qwen3.8-Flash-Next #18 of 45 current models. Each bar is the share of current models it beats: on score, price and context.
Independent benchmarks
Arena Text
GLM-5.3-Flash:#19of 51
1,477 Elo · ahead of 62%
Qwen3.8-Flash-Next: Not scored
Arena WebDev
GLM-5.3-Flash:#23of 45
1,607 Elo · ahead of 50%
Qwen3.8-Flash-Next:#18of 45
1,628 Elo · ahead of 61%
FrontierMath Tiers 1-3 (v2)
GLM-5.3-Flash:#33of 42
55.8% · ahead of 22%
Qwen3.8-Flash-Next: Not scored
GPQA Diamond
GLM-5.3-Flash:#28of 41
90.2% · ahead of 30%
Qwen3.8-Flash-Next: Not scored
Price and context
Price per 1M input tokens
GLM-5.3-Flash:#5of 52
$0.15 · cheaper than 90%
Qwen3.8-Flash-Next: Not listed
Price per 1M output tokens
GLM-5.3-Flash:#3of 52
$0.50 · cheaper than 92%
Qwen3.8-Flash-Next: Not listed
Context window
GLM-5.3-Flash:#26of 64
1M tokens · longer than 22%
Qwen3.8-Flash-Next:#55of 64
262K tokens · longer than 13%
Quality against price
GLM-5.3-Flash scores 1,477 at $0.238 (blended price per 1M tokens). The line joins the current models no other beats on both price and Arena Text score; hover any point to name it.
Quality against price: the data
| Model | Provider | Blended price per 1M tokens | Arena Text (Elo) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gemini 4 Argon | $4 | 1,520 | |
| Claude Opus 5.5 | Anthropic | $8 | 1,509 |
| Muse Wonder | Meta | $8 | 1,507 |
| Claude Fable 5 | Anthropic | $20 | 1,504 |
| Claude Fable 5.1 | Anthropic | $20 | 1,504 |
| Gemini 3.8 Flash | $1.50 | 1,496 | |
| Muse Spark 1.3 | Meta | $2 | 1,495 |
| Claude Opus 5 | Anthropic | $10 | 1,492 |
| Kimi K3 | Moonshot Kimi | $6 | 1,488 |
| GPT-5.6 Sol | OpenAI | $8 | 1,485 |
| Gemini 3.6 Flash | $3 | 1,483 | |
| GPT-5.5 | OpenAI | $11 | 1,482 |
| Claude Opus 4.8 | Anthropic | $10 | 1,482 |
| Qwen3.8-Max | Alibaba Qwen | $3 | 1,482 |
| GPT-6.1 Sol | OpenAI | $4 | 1,481 |
| GLM-5.3 | Z.ai | $2.15 | 1,481 |
| MiMo-V2.6-Pro | Xiaomi MiMo | $0.54 | 1,480 |
| Claude Sonnet 5.5 | Anthropic | $4 | 1,477 |
| GLM-5.3-Flash | Z.ai | $0.24 | 1,477 |
| GPT-6 Astra | OpenAI | $20 | 1,476 |
| DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash | DeepSeek | $0.52 | 1,476 |
| GPT-5.4 | OpenAI | $5.63 | 1,475 |
| Gemini 3 Flash Preview | $1.13 | 1,473 | |
| Grok 4.20 | xAI | $1.56 | 1,472 |
| GPT-5.6 Terra | OpenAI | $4.50 | 1,467 |
| Grok 4.5 | xAI | $3 | 1,465 |
| DeepSeek-V4-Pro | DeepSeek | $1.98 | 1,465 |
| Claude Sonnet 5 | Anthropic | $4 | 1,462 |
| GPT-6 Sol | OpenAI | $4 | 1,458 |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite | $0.85 | 1,456 | |
| Grok 4.6 | xAI | $3 | 1,455 |
| GPT-5.6 Luna | OpenAI | $0.45 | 1,453 |
| MiMo-V2.6-Flash | Xiaomi MiMo | $0.18 | 1,448 |
| Step 5 Preview | StepFun | $1.43 | 1,448 |
| Grok 4.3 | xAI | $1.56 | 1,442 |
| GPT-6 Luna | OpenAI | $0.20 | 1,441 |
| Grok 4.7 | xAI | $3 | 1,441 |
| Mistral Large 4 | Mistral AI | $1.05 | 1,432 |
| Claude Haiku 5.5 | Anthropic | $0.20 | 1,425 |
| GPT-4.1 | OpenAI | $3.50 | 1,415 |
| Solar Pro 4 | Upstage | $0.52 | 1,388 |
| GPT-4.1 mini | OpenAI | $0.70 | 1,383 |
| GPT-4.1 nano | OpenAI | $0.18 | 1,322 |
Cost
What each costs
Example workloads at each provider's listed rates, then every other rate either one lists. The cheaper figure in each row is highlighted.
| Workload or rate | GLM-5.3-Flash | Qwen3.8-Flash-Next |
|---|---|---|
| Other listed rates | ||
| 1M input tokens, cached | $0.03 | Not listed |
Your own bill will differ. These figures use list prices and example workloads. The AI Model Cost Audit reviews your real usage, shortlists models that score as well for each task for less, and estimates the savings.
Launch price $100, regular price $150
Verdict
When to choose each
GLM-5.3-Flash
Where it leads
- Larger context window 1,000,000 vs 262,144 tokens
- A cached-input rate, $0.03 per 1M tokens
Best for
- Low-cost coding from screenshots or screen recordings
- Document and research agents on a budget
Watch out for
- Thinking cannot be disabled
- A faster GLM-5.3-FlashX is a separate model id at $0.37 input and $1.25 output per 1M tokens
Qwen3.8-Flash-Next
Where it leads
- Higher Arena WebDev score, 1628 Elo vs 1607 Elo
Best for
- Self-hosted agentic coding on limited accelerator memory
- Research on the Qwen4 architecture
Watch out for
- Alibaba calls it experimental; the hosted qwen3.8-flash API is a different, production model
- The Qwen Community License requires a separate licence before a model-as-a-service business uses it
- Native context is 262,144 tokens; 1M needs YaRN scaling
From benchmark to production
Building on GLM-5.3-Flash or Qwen3.8-Flash-Next?
Public scores rarely hold on your own data. We test both models on your real tasks, then build the agent or pipeline around the one that wins.
AI Model Cost AuditLaunch price $100, regular price $150What the audit includes
FAQ
GLM-5.3-Flash vs Qwen3.8-Flash-Next FAQ
Do GLM-5.3-Flash and Qwen3.8-Flash-Next discount cached input?
GLM-5.3-Flash lists a cached-input rate of $0.03 per 1M tokens, 80% below its standard input rate. No cached-input rate is listed for Qwen3.8-Flash-Next.
Which scores higher on independent benchmarks, GLM-5.3-Flash or Qwen3.8-Flash-Next?
Qwen3.8-Flash-Next leads on Arena WebDev, 1628 Elo to 1607 Elo. Scores are independent evaluations, not either vendor's launch figures.
Which has the larger context window, GLM-5.3-Flash or Qwen3.8-Flash-Next?
GLM-5.3-Flash has the larger context window, 1,000,000 vs 262,144 tokens.
Can I run GLM-5.3-Flash or Qwen3.8-Flash-Next myself?
GLM-5.3-Flash is released as open weights you can run yourself; Qwen3.8-Flash-Next is available through its provider's API only.
Further reading
More on GLM-5.3-Flash and Qwen3.8-Flash-Next
Related comparisons
- Claude Haiku 5.5 vs GLM-5.3-Flash
- Gemini 3.8 Flash vs Qwen3.8-Flash-Next
- Claude Sonnet 5.5 vs GLM-5.3-Flash
- Muse Spark 1.3 vs Qwen3.8-Flash-Next
- GLM-5.3-Flash vs GPT-6 Luna
- Claude Fable 5.1 vs Qwen3.8-Flash-Next
- GLM-5.3-Flash vs GPT-6 Sol
- Qwen3.8-Flash-Next vs Qwen3.8-Max
- DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash vs GLM-5.3-Flash
- GLM-5.3-Flash vs GPT-6 Astra
- Gemini 3.8 Flash vs GLM-5.3-Flash
- Claude Sonnet 5 vs GLM-5.3-Flash
Production evaluation
Choosing between GLM-5.3-Flash and Qwen3.8-Flash-Next?
Public benchmarks narrow the shortlist. We run both on your own tasks, data and cost limits, then build the routing and review controls to run the winner in production.
- A head-to-head evaluation on your real workload
- Routing between models by cost and difficulty