text model comparison
GLM-5.3 vs Qwen3.8-Flash-Next
GLM-5.3 and Qwen3.8-Flash-Next are both current text models, from Z.ai and Alibaba Qwen. On Arena WebDev, GLM-5.3 scores 1622 Elo and Qwen3.8-Flash-Next 1624 Elo (Arena, measured November 10, 2026). GLM-5.3 has the larger context window, 1,000,000 vs 262,144 tokens.
- Higher Arena WebDev
- Qwen3.8-Flash-Next1624 Elo against 1622 Elo
- Longer context window
- GLM-5.31M tokens against 262K tokens
- Newer release
- Qwen3.8-Flash-NextAug 26, 2026 against Aug 18, 2026
Data verified November 11, 2026 · Dataset 2026-11-11
Side by side
GLM-5.3 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 | Qwen3.8-Flash-Next |
|---|---|---|
| Price | ||
| Price per 1M input tokens | $1.40 | Not listed |
| Price per 1M output tokens | $4.40 | Not listed |
| Independent benchmarks | ||
| Arena WebDev | 1622 Elo (#21 of 44) | 1624 Elo (#19 of 44) (better) |
| Arena Text | 1483 Elo (#11 of 48) | Not measured |
| GPQA Diamond | 90.9% (#24 of 40) | Not measured |
| FrontierMath Tiers 1-3 (v2) | 68.8% (#24 of 39) | Not measured |
| SimpleQA Verified | 41% (#28 of 36) | Not measured |
| Specs | ||
| Provider | Z.ai | Alibaba Qwen |
| Release date | August 18, 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 | text, image, video |
| Output | text | text |
Charts
Against every current text model
Where GLM-5.3 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 ranks #21 and Qwen3.8-Flash-Next #19 of 44 current models. Each bar is the share of current models it beats: on score, price and context.
Independent benchmarks
Arena Text
GLM-5.3:#11of 48
1,483 Elo · ahead of 77%
Qwen3.8-Flash-Next: Not scored
Arena WebDev
GLM-5.3:#21of 44
1,622 Elo · ahead of 53%
Qwen3.8-Flash-Next:#19of 44
1,624 Elo · ahead of 56%
GPQA Diamond
GLM-5.3:#24of 40
90.9% · ahead of 41%
Qwen3.8-Flash-Next: Not scored
FrontierMath Tiers 1-3 (v2)
GLM-5.3:#24of 39
68.8% · ahead of 39%
Qwen3.8-Flash-Next: Not scored
SimpleQA Verified
GLM-5.3:#28of 36
41% · ahead of 20%
Qwen3.8-Flash-Next: Not scored
Price and context
Price per 1M input tokens
GLM-5.3:#31of 57
$1.40 · cheaper than 46%
Qwen3.8-Flash-Next: Not listed
Price per 1M output tokens
GLM-5.3:#30of 57
$4.40 · cheaper than 48%
Qwen3.8-Flash-Next: Not listed
Context window
GLM-5.3:#29of 67
1M tokens · longer than 24%
Qwen3.8-Flash-Next:#57of 67
262K tokens · longer than 12%
Quality against price
GLM-5.3 scores 1,483 at $2.15 (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 Carbon | $4 | 1,526 | |
| Gemini 4 Argon | $4 | 1,522 | |
| Muse Wonder | Meta | $8 | 1,511 |
| Claude Opus 5.5 | Anthropic | $8 | 1,506 |
| Gemini 3.8 Flash | $1.50 | 1,497 | |
| Muse Spark 1.3 | Meta | $2 | 1,496 |
| Kimi K3 | Moonshot Kimi | $6 | 1,487 |
| GPT-5.6 Sol | OpenAI | $8 | 1,485 |
| Qwen3.8-Max | Alibaba Qwen | $3 | 1,484 |
| Gemini 3.6 Flash | $3 | 1,483 | |
| GLM-5.3 | Z.ai | $2.15 | 1,483 |
| GPT-6.1 Sol | OpenAI | $4 | 1,482 |
| GPT-5.5 | OpenAI | $11 | 1,481 |
| MiMo-V2.6-Pro | Xiaomi MiMo | $0.54 | 1,480 |
| GPT-5.4 | OpenAI | $5.63 | 1,475 |
| DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash | DeepSeek | $0.52 | 1,475 |
| GPT-6 Astra | OpenAI | $20 | 1,474 |
| GLM-5.3-Flash | Z.ai | $0.24 | 1,474 |
| Gemini 3 Flash Preview | $1.13 | 1,473 | |
| Grok 4.20 | xAI | $1.56 | 1,472 |
| Claude Sonnet 5.5 | Anthropic | $4 | 1,472 |
| GPT-5.6 Terra | OpenAI | $4.50 | 1,468 |
| Grok 4.5 | xAI | $3 | 1,466 |
| DeepSeek-V4-Pro | DeepSeek | $1.98 | 1,464 |
| GPT-6 Sol | OpenAI | $4 | 1,457 |
| Grok 4.6 | xAI | $3 | 1,456 |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite | $0.85 | 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 |
| Grok 4.7 | xAI | $3 | 1,442 |
| GPT-6 Luna | OpenAI | $0.20 | 1,441 |
| Mistral Large 4 | Mistral AI | $1.05 | 1,423 |
| Claude Haiku 5.5 | Anthropic | $0.20 | 1,422 |
| GPT-4.1 | OpenAI | $3.50 | 1,415 |
| Inkling 2 Small | Thinking Machines Lab | $0.47 | 1,412 |
| Solar Pro 4 | Upstage | $0.52 | 1,387 |
| 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 | Qwen3.8-Flash-Next |
|---|---|---|
| Other listed rates | ||
| 1M input tokens, cached | $0.26 | 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
Where it leads
- Larger context window 1,000,000 vs 262,144 tokens
- A cached-input rate, $0.26 per 1M tokens
Best for
- Long-horizon agentic coding
- Self-hosted reasoning with permissive weights
Watch out for
- Text input only, and reasoning cannot be turned off: requests that disable thinking fail
- The licence requires a Z.ai security review before very large model-as-a-service operators use it commercially
Qwen3.8-Flash-Next
Where it leads
- Higher Arena WebDev score, 1624 Elo vs 1622 Elo
- Accepts image and video input
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 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 vs Qwen3.8-Flash-Next FAQ
Do GLM-5.3 and Qwen3.8-Flash-Next discount cached input?
GLM-5.3 lists a cached-input rate of $0.26 per 1M tokens, 81% 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 or Qwen3.8-Flash-Next?
Qwen3.8-Flash-Next leads on Arena WebDev, 1624 Elo to 1622 Elo. Scores are independent evaluations, not either vendor's launch figures.
Which has the larger context window, GLM-5.3 or Qwen3.8-Flash-Next?
GLM-5.3 has the larger context window, 1,000,000 vs 262,144 tokens.
How do GLM-5.3 and Qwen3.8-Flash-Next differ in features?
GLM-5.3 takes text input; Qwen3.8-Flash-Next takes text, image and video.
Further reading
More on GLM-5.3 and Qwen3.8-Flash-Next
Related comparisons
- Claude Opus 5.5 vs GLM-5.3
- Gemini 3.8 Flash vs Qwen3.8-Flash-Next
- DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash vs GLM-5.3
- Muse Spark 1.3 vs Qwen3.8-Flash-Next
- Gemini 3.8 Flash vs GLM-5.3
- Claude Fable 5.1 vs Qwen3.8-Flash-Next
- DeepSeek-V4-Pro vs GLM-5.3
- GLM-5.3-Flash vs Qwen3.8-Flash-Next
- Gemini 3.6 Flash vs GLM-5.3
- Qwen3.8-Flash-Next vs Qwen3.8-Max
- GLM-5.3 vs Grok 4.20
- GLM-5.3 vs Grok 4.3
Production evaluation
Choosing between GLM-5.3 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