Compare / xAI vs Z.ai
xAI 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. 15 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 7 both are measured on.
Results as of 8 October 2026 (catalogue release 2026-10-08-4199ce0620fe). Models on sale means listed on OpenRouter today.
xAI or Z.ai? The short answer
xAI is ahead: its best models beat Z.ai's in 4 of the 7 kinds of work both are measured on; Z.ai leads in 3.
- Pick xAI for product listings, marketing planning, agents and tool use and reasoning and knowledge.
- Pick Z.ai for professional work, writing and sticking to the facts.
- On our overall leaderboard, Grok 4.7 is #14 (43 of 100) and GLM-5.3 is #16 (38).
- Prices start at $1.56 per million tokens for xAI (Grok 4.3) 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.
xAIZ.ai
On our overall leaderboard
The 3 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.
- #14Grok 4.743
- #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 | xAI | Z.ai |
|---|---|---|
| Agents and tool use | ||
| Artificial Analysis · Terminal-Bench 4.0% of tasks, higher is better | 25.8%Grok 4.7 · 19 of 105 | 41.9%GLM-5.3 · 9 of 105 |
| Artificial Analysis · Terminal-Bench 2.1% of tasks, higher is better | 88.4%Grok 4.6 · 6 of 115 | 84.3%GLM-5.3-Flash · 14 of 115 |
| Artificial Analysis · τ-bench banking% of tasks, higher is better | 50.7%Grok 4.6 · 1 of 113 | 50.3%GLM-5.3 · 3 of 113 |
| Vending-Bench 2 · Money after a yearUS dollars, higher is better | $9,047Grok 4.6 · 6 of 56 | $8,314GLM-5.2 · 7 of 56 |
| Marketing planning | ||
| ROASBench · Overall scorescore out of 100, higher is better | 36.6Grok 4.7 · 11 of 19 | 24.8GLM-5.3 · 16 of 19 |
| Product listings | ||
| CatalogBench · Reliably publish-ready% of products, higher is better | 57.1%Grok 4.7 · 4 of 20 | 1.8%GLM-5V-Turbo · 19 of 20 |
| CatalogBench · Reliably publish-ready · sales brief% of products, higher is better | 33.9%Grok 4.7 · 5 of 20 | 0.0%GLM-5V-Turbo · 18 of 20 |
| Professional work | ||
| APEX-Agents · Tasks passed% of tasks, higher is better | 65.3%Grok 4.6 · 6 of 37 | 56.6%GLM-5.3 · 13 of 37 |
| GDP.pdf · Professional document tasks% of rubric, higher is better | 17.2%Grok 4.6 · 19 of 31 | 14.0%GLM-5.3-Flash · 24 of 31 |
| Reasoning and knowledge | ||
| Artificial Analysis · Artificial Analysis Intelligence Indexindex score, higher is better | 46.4Grok 4.7 · 11 of 198 | 44.8GLM-5.3 · 14 of 198 |
| Artificial Analysis · Humanity's Last Exam% of questions, higher is better | 44.1%Grok 4.6 · 21 of 197 | 42.3%GLM-5.3 · 30 of 197 |
| Artificial Analysis · GPQA Diamond% of questions, higher is better | 94.9%Grok 4.6 · 3 of 187 | 91.7%GLM-5.3 · 24 of 187 |
| Sticking to the facts | ||
| Arena (formerly LMArena) · Overall · Text factualityArena rating, higher is better | 1,465Grok 4.5 · 28 of 113 | 1,467GLM-5.3 · 24 of 113 |
| SimpleQA Verified (Epoch AI) · Correct answers% of questions, higher is better | 49.3%Grok 4.6 · 26 of 73 | 41.0%GLM-5.3 · 41 of 73 |
| Writing | ||
| Arena (formerly LMArena) · Overall · TextArena rating, higher is better | 1,466Grok 4.5 · 33 of 166 | 1,478GLM-5.3 · 21 of 166 |
| UGI Leaderboard · Writing score · UGIscore out of 100, higher is better | 63.3Grok 4.6 · 29 of 138 | 67.0GLM-5.2 · 18 of 138 |
Their models, one against one
Quick answers
Is xAI or Z.ai better?
xAI is ahead: its best models beat Z.ai's in 4 of the 7 kinds of work both are measured on; Z.ai leads in 3.
What is xAI's best model?
Grok 4.7: #14 on the Spring Prompt overall leaderboard and 46.4 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, xAI or Z.ai?
xAI: its best model there, Grok 4.6, ranks 10 of 164 models on sale, against 11 for Z.ai's GLM-5.3.
Which is better for reasoning and knowledge, xAI or Z.ai?
xAI: its best model there, Grok 4.6, ranks 13 of 198 models on sale, against 25 for Z.ai's GLM-5.3.
Which is better for writing, xAI or Z.ai?
Z.ai: its best model there, GLM-5.3, ranks 23 of 188 models on sale, against 40 for xAI's Grok 4.5.
Which is cheaper, xAI 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 $1.56 for Grok 4.3 from xAI.
Other labs compared
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- Google vs xAIBest model against best model
- Meta vs xAIBest model against best model
- DeepSeek vs xAIBest model against best model
- Alibaba vs xAIBest model against best model
- Mistral AI vs xAIBest model against best model
- OpenAI vs Z.aiBest model against best model
Which model is best for your product?
Benchmarks aren't your data. We test the models from xAI, Z.ai and the rest on your own tasks, with the cost of every answer.