Compare / Gemini 4 Argon vs GLM-5.3

Gemini 4 Argon vs GLM-5.3

Which is cheaper, which is more capable, and which does better at each kind of work, from 30 results on 4 sources that measured both models.

GoogleGemini 4 Argon Released 13 Oct 2026 · $2.00 in · $10.00 out
Z.aiGLM-5.3 Released 14 Aug 2026 · $1.40 in · $4.40 out
Gemini 4 Argon wins 216 too close to callGLM-5.3 wins 3

Of the 30 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 Google vs Z.ai, every model from both labs.

Gemini 4 Argon or GLM-5.3? The short answer

Pick Gemini 4 Argon: it scores higher (Spring Prompt overall 75 against 37) and costs less.

  • Spring Prompt overall: Gemini 4 Argon 75, GLM-5.3 37 (out of 100; how the score works).
  • Gemini 4 Argon is cheaper to run: $0.004 against $0.016 per game of bullet chess on BulletBench (4.3 times less).
  • Gemini 4 Argon scores higher on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index: 52.6 against 44.8.
  • Gemini 4 Argon is newer: released 13 Oct 2026, against 14 Aug 2026 for GLM-5.3.
  • On our own benchmarks, on the results both models have: Gemini 4 Argon does better for marketing planning.
  • On third-party benchmarks, on the results both models have: Gemini 4 Argon does better for agents and tool use, reasoning and knowledge, writing and sticking to the facts.

Head to head

75
Spring Prompt overall
37
52.6
Intelligence Index
44.8
$4.00
Price per million tokens, blendedlower is better
$2.15
1,048,576
Context window, tokens
1,048,576

Every fact side by side

Gemini 4 ArgonGLM-5.3
Price per million tokens$2.00 in · $10.00 out$1.40 in · $4.40 out
Blended (3 in : 1 out)$4.00$2.15
Cheapest host, blended–$0.65 (Novita, FP8)
Cost per game of bullet chess (BulletBench)$0.004$0.016
Cached input, per million–$0.26 cached input
Intelligence Index52.644.8
Spring Prompt overall7537
Output speed, tokens a second–78
Context window1,048,576 tokens1,048,576 tokens
Released13 Oct 2026 (newer)14 Aug 2026
WeightsClosedOpen
Developer based inthe USChina

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.

Product listingsTurning a sparse product feed and photos into listings that can go live 7 of 22 not measured
Decks from an analysisTurning a finished analysis into a deck you could present as it is 13 of 21 not measured
User surveysPlanning a user survey and reading its results without being misled 5 of 10 not measured
Marketing planningPlanning a year of ad spend without overspending 8 of 21 18 of 21
Agents and tool useMulti-step tasks with tools: support desks, coding agents, function calls 3 of 166 13 of 166
Professional workReal tasks from banking, consulting and law, business documents and freelance projects not measured 15 of 51
Reasoning and knowledgeHard questions across science, maths and general knowledge 3 of 200 27 of 200
WritingWhat people prefer in blind comparisons, and judged writing quality 1 of 189 24 of 189
Sticking to the factsSummarising without inventing things, and factual answers 1 of 153 54 of 153
Speed under pressureGood decisions against a real clock (fast chess) 20 of 25 23 of 25

From our research

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.

MeasureGemini 4 ArgonGLM-5.3
BulletBench measured by Spring Prompt · 3 results
Cost per game · Bullet 60sUS dollars, lower is better 10 · 20 of 30 measured $0.0036 $0.0156
Ladder Elo · Bullet 60sladder Elo, higher is better 26 · 27 of 30 measured 147 33
Games lost on time · Bullet 60s% of games, lower is better 28 · 27 of 30 measured 87.5% 83.3%low reasoning
ROASBench measured by Spring Prompt · 3 results
Overall scorescore out of 100, higher is better 8 · 18 of 21 measured 47.0 24.8
Audience scorescore out of 100, higher is better 8 · 15 of 21 measured 65.5 51.0
Business scorescore out of 100, higher is better 8 · 18 of 21 measured 43.3 12.9
Arena (formerly LMArena) reported by Arena (formerly LMArena) · 3 results
Overall · TextArena rating, higher is better 1 · 24 of 387 measured 1,525high reasoning 1,478max reasoning
Overall · Text factualityArena rating, higher is better 1 · 29 of 163 measured 1,511high reasoning 1,467max reasoning
Business, management and finance · TextArena rating, higher is better 1 · 26 of 380 measured 1,522high reasoning 1,475max reasoning
Artificial Analysis reported by Artificial Analysis · 3 results
Artificial Analysis Intelligence Indexindex score, higher is better 5 · 16 of 244 measured 52.6high reasoning 44.8max reasoning
Humanity's Last Exam% of questions, higher is better 3 · 33 of 243 measured 57.1%high reasoning 42.3%max reasoning
Terminal-Bench 4.0% of tasks, higher is better 4 · 11 of 113 measured 57.1%high reasoning 41.9%max reasoning
Show all 30 results (18 more)
MeasureGemini 4 ArgonGLM-5.3
BulletBench measured by Spring Prompt · 2 results
Invalid moves · Bullet 60s% of moves, lower is better 1 · 1 of 30 measured 0.0% 0.0%
Median move time · Bullet 60smilliseconds, lower is better 28 · 22 of 30 measured 2.9 s 1.6 slow reasoning
ROASBench measured by Spring Prompt · 6 results
Consistency scorescore out of 100, higher is better 5 · 17 of 21 measured 34.7 14.8
Contribution profitsimulated US dollars, higher is better 5 · 19 of 21 measured $673,561 $9,718
Cost of a runUS dollars, lower is better 11 · 6 of 21 measured $0.24 $0.13
Months over budgetmonths of 12, lower is better 1 · 1 of 21 measured 0 0
Planning scorescore out of 100, higher is better 1 · 21 of 21 measured 55.4 51.7
Return on ad spendprofit per $1 spent, higher is better 8 · 19 of 21 measured $0.55 $0.01
Arena (formerly LMArena) reported by Arena (formerly LMArena) · 8 results
Confirmed task success · AgentIPS effect estimate, higher is better 3 · 16 of 48 measured 0.15high reasoning, arena agent 0.05max reasoning, arena agent
Creative writing · TextArena rating, higher is better 1 · 28 of 385 measured 1,519high reasoning 1,454max reasoning
Expert prompts · TextArena rating, higher is better 7 · 16 of 338 measured 1,539high reasoning 1,518max reasoning
Instruction following · TextArena rating, higher is better 1 · 21 of 387 measured 1,528high reasoning 1,476max reasoning
Praise over complaint · AgentIPS effect estimate, higher is better 4 · 18 of 48 measured 0.28high reasoning, arena agent 0.05max reasoning, arena agent
Steerability · AgentIPS effect estimate, higher is better 1 · 26 of 48 measured 0.13high reasoning, arena agent 0.01max reasoning, arena agent
Tool grounding · AgentIPS effect estimate, higher is better 29 · 12 of 48 measured 0.00high reasoning, arena agent 0.00max reasoning, arena agent
Writing, literature and language · TextArena rating, higher is better 1 · 23 of 386 measured 1,522high reasoning 1,466max reasoning
Artificial Analysis reported by Artificial Analysis · 2 results
Long-context reasoning (AA-LCR)% of questions, higher is better 44 · 44 of 234 measured 79.7%high reasoning 79.7%max reasoning
SciCode% of problems, higher is better 3 · 11 of 114 measured 61.8%high reasoning 59.0%max reasoning

Quick answers

Is Gemini 4 Argon better than GLM-5.3?

Pick Gemini 4 Argon: it scores higher (Spring Prompt overall 75 against 37) and costs less.

Which is cheaper, Gemini 4 Argon or GLM-5.3?

Gemini 4 Argon is cheaper to run: $0.004 against $0.016 per game of bullet chess on BulletBench (4.3 times less).

Which is better for marketing planning, Gemini 4 Argon or GLM-5.3?

Gemini 4 Argon ranks 8 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, Gemini 4 Argon or GLM-5.3?

Gemini 4 Argon ranks 3 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 reasoning and knowledge, Gemini 4 Argon or GLM-5.3?

Gemini 4 Argon ranks 3 of 200 models on sale for hard questions across science, maths and general knowledge, against 27 for GLM-5.3.

Which is better for writing, Gemini 4 Argon or GLM-5.3?

Gemini 4 Argon ranks 1 of 189 models on sale for what people prefer in blind comparisons, and judged writing quality, against 24 for GLM-5.3.

Which is better for sticking to the facts, Gemini 4 Argon or GLM-5.3?

Gemini 4 Argon ranks 1 of 153 models on sale for summarising without inventing things, and factual answers, against 54 for GLM-5.3.

Run Gemini 4 Argon and GLM-5.3 on your own prompt

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