Compare / MiniMax vs Z.ai
MiniMax vs Z.ai: which AI lab is ahead?
Each lab's best model on sale goes head to head on every kind of work we measure, from our own benchmarks and licensed sources. 16 models in all; a lab is only as good as the model you would actually pick from it.
Kinds of work led by each lab's best model there, of the 5 both are measured on.
Results as of 8 October 2026 (catalogue release 2026-10-08-4199ce0620fe). Models on sale means listed on OpenRouter today.
MiniMax or Z.ai? The short answer
Z.ai is ahead: its best models beat MiniMax's in all 5 kinds of work both are measured on.
- Pick Z.ai for agents and tool use, professional work, reasoning and knowledge, writing and sticking to the facts.
- Z.ai's GLM-5.3 is #16 on our overall leaderboard; no MiniMax model has enough of our results to be ranked there yet.
- Prices start at $0.52 per million tokens for MiniMax (MiniMax-M3) and $0.15 for Z.ai (GLM-4.7-Flash).
Head to head
Each line names the model behind the number. Prices are blended, three input tokens to one output, at the developer's list price where we have read it; see every model's price. Intelligence Index from Artificial Analysis; overall score from our leaderboard.
Which lab is better for what
For each kind of work, each lab's best model there and its rank among every model on sale. Further right is better; the better rank is in green.
Every model, by intelligence and price
Each dot is a model on sale with an Intelligence Index from Artificial Analysis. Up is smarter; left is cheaper. Hover or tap a dot for its name.
MiniMaxZ.ai
On our overall leaderboard
The 2 of their models we rank overall: one score out of 100 across everything we publish (how the score works). Only models with enough of our own results are ranked.
- #16GLM-5.338
- #21GLM-5V-Turbo11
Benchmark by benchmark
The headline result of every benchmark both labs have models on: each lab's best model and its rank among the models on sale. Green marks the better rank.
| Measure | MiniMax | Z.ai |
|---|---|---|
| Agents and tool use | ||
| OpenHands Index · Average% resolved, higher is better | 57.2%MiniMax-M3 · 13 of 33 | 58.2%GLM-5.1 · 12 of 33 |
| Artificial Analysis · Terminal-Bench 4.0% of tasks, higher is better | 2.0%MiniMax-M3 · 44 of 105 | 41.9%GLM-5.3 · 9 of 105 |
| Artificial Analysis · Terminal-Bench 2.1% of tasks, higher is better | 65.2%MiniMax-M3 · 37 of 115 | 84.3%GLM-5.3-Flash · 14 of 115 |
| Artificial Analysis · τ-bench banking% of tasks, higher is better | 15.3%MiniMax-M3 · 55 of 113 | 50.3%GLM-5.3 · 3 of 113 |
| Vending-Bench 2 · Money after a yearUS dollars, higher is better | $2,158MiniMax-M3 · 39 of 56 | $8,314GLM-5.2 · 7 of 56 |
| Professional work | ||
| APEX-Agents · Tasks passed% of tasks, higher is better | 37.7%MiniMax-M3 · 30 of 37 | 56.6%GLM-5.3 · 13 of 37 |
| Reasoning and knowledge | ||
| Artificial Analysis · Artificial Analysis Intelligence Indexindex score, higher is better | 29.2MiniMax-M3 · 50 of 198 | 44.8GLM-5.3 · 14 of 198 |
| Artificial Analysis · Humanity's Last Exam% of questions, higher is better | 39.0%MiniMax-M3 · 41 of 197 | 42.3%GLM-5.3 · 30 of 197 |
| Artificial Analysis · GPQA Diamond% of questions, higher is better | 92.9%MiniMax-M3 · 14 of 187 | 91.7%GLM-5.3 · 24 of 187 |
| Sticking to the facts | ||
| Vectara Hallucination Leaderboard · Hallucination rate · Vectara% of summaries, lower is better | 9.1%MiniMax-M2.5 · 34 of 79 | 9.3%GLM-4.7-Flash · 35 of 79 |
| Arena (formerly LMArena) · Overall · Text factualityArena rating, higher is better | 1,434MiniMax-M3 · 69 of 113 | 1,467GLM-5.3 · 24 of 113 |
| Writing | ||
| Arena (formerly LMArena) · Overall · TextArena rating, higher is better | 1,440MiniMax-M3 · 63 of 166 | 1,478GLM-5.3 · 21 of 166 |
| UGI Leaderboard · Writing score · UGIscore out of 100, higher is better | 41.7MiniMax-M2.5 · 80 of 138 | 67.0GLM-5.2 · 18 of 138 |
Quick answers
Is MiniMax or Z.ai better?
Z.ai is ahead: its best models beat MiniMax's in all 5 kinds of work both are measured on.
What is MiniMax's best model?
MiniMax-M3: 29.2 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index.
What is Z.ai's best model?
GLM-5.3: #16 on the Spring Prompt overall leaderboard and 44.8 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index.
Which is better for agents and tool use, MiniMax or Z.ai?
Z.ai: its best model there, GLM-5.3, ranks 11 of 164 models on sale, against 74 for MiniMax's MiniMax-M3.
Which is better for reasoning and knowledge, MiniMax or Z.ai?
Z.ai: its best model there, GLM-5.3, ranks 25 of 198 models on sale, against 38 for MiniMax's MiniMax-M3.
Which is better for writing, MiniMax or Z.ai?
Z.ai: its best model there, GLM-5.3, ranks 23 of 188 models on sale, against 66 for MiniMax's MiniMax-M3.
Which is cheaper, MiniMax or Z.ai?
Z.ai's cheapest model with results, GLM-4.7-Flash, costs $0.15 per million tokens (three input to one output), against $0.52 for MiniMax-M3 from MiniMax.
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Which model is best for your product?
Benchmarks aren't your data. We test the models from MiniMax, Z.ai and the rest on your own tasks, with the cost of every answer.