Compare / Qwen3.8-Max (0902) vs GLM-5.3
Qwen3.8-Max (0902) vs GLM-5.3
Which is cheaper, which is more capable, and which does better at each kind of work, from 32 results on 4 sources that measured both models.
Of the 32 results both models have, the better value on each. Results whose reported ranges overlap are too close to call.
Results as of 14 October 2026 (catalogue release 2026-10-14-7d7cf32c3f6d). See also Alibaba vs Z.ai, every model from both labs.
Qwen3.8-Max (0902) or GLM-5.3? The short answer
Pick Qwen3.8-Max (0902) if quality matters most: it scores higher (Spring Prompt overall 46 against 37). Pick GLM-5.3 if cost matters more: it costs 28% less per token. GLM-5.3 is also faster.
- Spring Prompt overall: Qwen3.8-Max (0902) 46, GLM-5.3 37 (out of 100; how the score works).
- GLM-5.3 is cheaper: $2.15 against $3.00 per million tokens, 28% less.
- They score about the same on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index (45.4 and 44.8).
- GLM-5.3 writes faster: 78 tokens a second against 40.
- GLM-5.3 is newer: released 14 Aug 2026, against 3 Aug 2026 for Qwen3.8-Max (0902).
- On our own benchmarks, on the results both models have: Qwen3.8-Max (0902) does better for marketing planning.
- On third-party benchmarks, on the results both models have: Qwen3.8-Max (0902) does better for reasoning and knowledge and sticking to the facts; GLM-5.3 for agents and tool use.
Head to head
Every fact side by side
| Qwen3.8-Max (0902) | GLM-5.3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Price per million tokens | $2.00 in · $6.00 out | $1.40 in · $4.40 out |
| Blended (3 in : 1 out) | $3.00 | $2.15 |
| Cheapest host, blended | – | $0.65 (Novita, FP8) |
| Cached input, per million | – | $0.26 cached input |
| Intelligence Index | 45.4 | 44.8 |
| Spring Prompt overall | 46 | 37 |
| Output speed, tokens a second | 40 | 78 |
| Context window | 1,000,000 tokens | 1,048,576 tokens |
| Released | 3 Aug 2026 | 14 Aug 2026 (newer) |
| Weights | Closed | Open |
| Developer based in | China | China |
Prices are the developer's list price where we have read it, otherwise the typical host on OpenRouter; see every model's price. Intelligence and speed from Artificial Analysis.
Which is better for what
Each model's rank among the models on sale today, for each kind of work, from our own benchmarks and licensed sources. Further right is better; the better rank is in green.
Every shared result
Each model's best result on every measure both have, grouped by benchmark, with the setting that produced it. Under each measure, every model that benchmark has measured is a grey tick, best to the right, so you can see where the two sit in the field. The headline measures of each benchmark come first; the rest are under "Show all". Green marks the better value; where a source reports ranges that overlap, neither is marked.
| Measure | Qwen3.8-Max (0902) | GLM-5.3 |
|---|---|---|
| ROASBench measured by Spring Prompt · 3 results | ||
| Overall scorescore out of 100, higher is better 16 · 18 of 21 measured | 25.4 | 24.8 |
| Audience scorescore out of 100, higher is better 19 · 15 of 21 measured | 39.7 | 51.0 |
| Business scorescore out of 100, higher is better 16 · 18 of 21 measured | 15.6 | 12.9 |
| Arena (formerly LMArena) reported by Arena (formerly LMArena) · 3 results | ||
| Overall · TextArena rating, higher is better 20 · 24 of 387 measured | 1,482 | 1,478max reasoning |
| Overall · Text factualityArena rating, higher is better 22 · 29 of 163 measured | 1,472 | 1,467max reasoning |
| Business, management and finance · TextArena rating, higher is better 16 · 26 of 380 measured | 1,484 | 1,475max reasoning |
| Artificial Analysis reported by Artificial Analysis · 3 results | ||
| Artificial Analysis Intelligence Indexindex score, higher is better 15 · 16 of 244 measured | 45.4 | 44.8max reasoning |
| GPQA Diamond% of questions, higher is better 15 · 26 of 231 measured | 92.8% | 91.7%max reasoning |
| Humanity's Last Exam% of questions, higher is better 25 · 33 of 243 measured | 43.1% | 42.3%max reasoning |
| SimpleQA Verified (Epoch AI) reported by SimpleQA Verified (Epoch AI) · 1 result | ||
| Correct answers% of questions, higher is better 30 · 42 of 76 measured | 47.3%xhigh reasoning | 41.0%max reasoning |
Show all 32 results (22 more)
| Measure | Qwen3.8-Max (0902) | GLM-5.3 |
|---|---|---|
| ROASBench measured by Spring Prompt · 6 results | ||
| Consistency scorescore out of 100, higher is better 15 · 17 of 21 measured | 19.3 | 14.8 |
| Contribution profitsimulated US dollars, higher is better 16 · 19 of 21 measured | $99,775 | $9,718 |
| Cost of a runUS dollars, lower is better 17 · 6 of 21 measured | $0.73 | $0.13 |
| Months over budgetmonths of 12, lower is better 19 · 1 of 21 measured | 2 | 0 |
| Planning scorescore out of 100, higher is better 11 · 21 of 21 measured | 54.8 | 51.7 |
| Return on ad spendprofit per $1 spent, higher is better 16 · 19 of 21 measured | $0.09 | $0.01 |
| Arena (formerly LMArena) reported by Arena (formerly LMArena) · 8 results | ||
| Confirmed task success · AgentIPS effect estimate, higher is better 20 · 16 of 48 measured | 0.05arena agent | 0.05max reasoning, arena agent |
| Creative writing · TextArena rating, higher is better 17 · 28 of 385 measured | 1,468 | 1,454max reasoning |
| Expert prompts · TextArena rating, higher is better 20 · 16 of 338 measured | 1,513 | 1,518max reasoning |
| Instruction following · TextArena rating, higher is better 25 · 21 of 387 measured | 1,474 | 1,476max reasoning |
| Praise over complaint · AgentIPS effect estimate, higher is better 20 · 18 of 48 measured | 0.03arena agent | 0.05max reasoning, arena agent |
| Steerability · AgentIPS effect estimate, higher is better 18 · 26 of 48 measured | 0.03arena agent | 0.01max reasoning, arena agent |
| Tool grounding · AgentIPS effect estimate, higher is better 43 · 12 of 48 measured | -0.01arena agent | 0.00max reasoning, arena agent |
| Writing, literature and language · TextArena rating, higher is better 18 · 23 of 386 measured | 1,472 | 1,466max reasoning |
| Artificial Analysis reported by Artificial Analysis · 8 results | ||
| Terminal-Bench 2.1% of tasks, higher is better 5 · 17 of 130 measured | 88.8% | 83.9%max reasoning |
| Terminal-Bench 4.0% of tasks, higher is better 13 · 11 of 113 measured | 38.9% | 41.9%max reasoning |
| τ-bench banking% of tasks, higher is better 7 · 4 of 121 measured | 47.8% | 50.3%max reasoning |
| Artificial Analysis Coding Indexindex score, higher is better 10 · 14 of 131 measured | 76.2 | 74.8max reasoning |
| Long-context reasoning (AA-LCR)% of questions, higher is better 36 · 44 of 234 measured | 80.3% | 79.7%max reasoning |
| Output speedtokens per second, higher is better 70 · 49 of 73 measured | 40.0 | 77.5low reasoning |
| SciCode% of problems, higher is better 37 · 11 of 114 measured | 52.1% | 59.0%max reasoning |
| Time to first answer tokenseconds, lower is better 72 · 61 of 73 measured | 51.7 | 28.9low reasoning |
Compare them with other models
- Alibaba vs Z.aiEvery model from both labs, best against best
- Qwen3.8-Max (0902) vs Claude Opus 5.5Most intelligent at $3–10 per million tokens
- Qwen3.8-Max (0902) vs Claude Haiku 5.5Cheapest with similar intelligence
- GLM-5.3 vs Muse Spark 1.3Most intelligent at $1–3 per million tokens
- GLM-5.3 vs Claude Haiku 5.5Cheapest with similar intelligence
- GLM-5.3 vs Claude Opus 5.5Most intelligent available today
Quick answers
Is Qwen3.8-Max (0902) better than GLM-5.3?
Pick Qwen3.8-Max (0902) if quality matters most: it scores higher (Spring Prompt overall 46 against 37). Pick GLM-5.3 if cost matters more: it costs 28% less per token. GLM-5.3 is also faster.
Which is cheaper, Qwen3.8-Max (0902) or GLM-5.3?
GLM-5.3 is cheaper: $2.15 against $3.00 per million tokens, 28% less.
Which is faster, Qwen3.8-Max (0902) or GLM-5.3?
GLM-5.3 writes about 78 tokens a second on its usual API, against 40 for Qwen3.8-Max (0902) (Artificial Analysis).
Which is better for marketing planning, Qwen3.8-Max (0902) or GLM-5.3?
Qwen3.8-Max (0902) ranks 16 of 21 models on sale for planning a year of ad spend without overspending, against 18 for GLM-5.3.
Which is better for agents and tool use, Qwen3.8-Max (0902) or GLM-5.3?
Qwen3.8-Max (0902) ranks 9 of 166 models on sale for multi-step tasks with tools: support desks, coding agents, function calls, against 13 for GLM-5.3.
Which is better for professional work, Qwen3.8-Max (0902) or GLM-5.3?
GLM-5.3 ranks 15 of 51 models on sale for real tasks from banking, consulting and law, business documents and freelance projects, against 18 for Qwen3.8-Max (0902).
Which is better for reasoning and knowledge, Qwen3.8-Max (0902) or GLM-5.3?
Qwen3.8-Max (0902) ranks 18 of 200 models on sale for hard questions across science, maths and general knowledge, against 27 for GLM-5.3.
Which has the bigger context window, Qwen3.8-Max (0902) or GLM-5.3?
GLM-5.3: 1,048,576 tokens, against 1,000,000 for Qwen3.8-Max (0902).
Run Qwen3.8-Max (0902) and GLM-5.3 on your own prompt
Benchmarks aren't your data. Try both side by side in the playground, with the cost of every answer.