GLM-5.3 vs DeepSeek V4 Pro
Official GLM (Z.ai) and DeepSeek API prices and LMArena scores, checked 2026-10-29. Add up to 2 more models to compare 4.
DeepSeek V4 Pro costs less; GLM-5.3 wins more LMArena tasks.
DeepSeek V4 Pro is 1.1x cheaper on input and output. GLM-5.3 scores 42 points higher for reasoning and math. Across 5 shared LMArena tasks, GLM-5.3 leads 5 to 0. A medium month (20M input + 5M output tokens) costs $50 on GLM-5.3 and $46.20 on DeepSeek V4 Pro.
- Pick GLM-5.3 if you care most about reasoning and math (+42), coding (+31) and chat (+25).
- Pick DeepSeek V4 Pro if you want the lower bill ($46.20 vs $50 for a medium month) or you reuse long prompts (cached input $0.044 vs $0.26).
Medium: 20M input + 5M output tokens a month at list price (short-context rate, no caching or batch discounts).
Marked side is better: lower for prices, higher for context and scores. Bars are scaled to the larger of the two.
| Spec | GLM-5.3 | DeepSeek V4 Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Price per 1M tokens | ||
| Input | $1.40 | $1.32 |
| Cached input | $0.26 | $0.044 |
| Output | $4.40 | $3.96 |
| Blend 3:1 | $2.15 | $1.98 |
| Sample month, medium | $50 | $46.20 |
| Context | ||
| Context window | Not published | 1M tokens |
| Quality (LMArena, out of 100) | ||
| Coding | 31/100 #20 of 50 | 0/100 #38 of 50 |
| Chat | 25/100 #14 of 51 | 0/100 #26 of 51 |
| Creative writing | 15/100 #13 of 51 | 1/100 #19 of 51 |
| Roleplay and characters | 3/100 #16 of 51 | 0/100 #20 of 51 |
| Reasoning and math | 42/100 #12 of 51 | 0/100 #38 of 51 |
| Vision | Not ranked | Not ranked |
| Long documents | Not ranked | Not ranked |
| Cheap bulk and agents | 47/100 #22 of 34 | Not ranked |
| Details | ||
| Provider | GLM (Z.ai) | DeepSeek |
| API model id | glm-5.3 | deepseek-v4-pro |
| Notes | None | Peak rate. Off-peak is half price. |
| Sources | ||
| Last checked | 2026-10-29 | 2026-10-29 |
| Official pricing | GLM (Z.ai) pricing | DeepSeek pricing |
Plans from data checked hourly against each vendor's official pricing page. Vendors state limits in different units, so we quote them as published. Team and enterprise plans are per seat.
API prices in USD per 1M tokens from each provider's official pricing page. Blend 3:1 = (3 x input + output) / 4. Sample month = stated input and output tokens at the list price, no caching. Quality: relative score out of 100 on each LMArena leaderboard (100 = top model we price on that board, n/a = not ranked there), data licensed CC BY 4.0. See how we pick.
Where each one ranks on LMArena
Relative score out of 100 on each leaderboard (100 = the top model we price there), with the rank among the models from our API price table that appear on that board.
- Coding (Code Arena): GLM-5.3 #20 of 50 (31/100), DeepSeek V4 Pro #38 of 50 (0/100)
- Chat (Text Arena): GLM-5.3 #14 of 51 (25/100), DeepSeek V4 Pro #26 of 51 (0/100)
- Creative writing (Text Arena creative writing): GLM-5.3 #13 of 51 (15/100), DeepSeek V4 Pro #19 of 51 (1/100)
- Roleplay and characters (Text Arena multi-turn): GLM-5.3 #16 of 51 (3/100), DeepSeek V4 Pro #20 of 51 (0/100)
- Reasoning and math (Text Arena math): GLM-5.3 #12 of 51 (42/100), DeepSeek V4 Pro #38 of 51 (0/100)
- Vision (Vision Arena): GLM-5.3 not ranked, DeepSeek V4 Pro not ranked
- Long documents (Document Arena): GLM-5.3 not ranked, DeepSeek V4 Pro not ranked
- Cheap bulk and agents (Agent Arena): GLM-5.3 #22 of 34 (47/100), DeepSeek V4 Pro not ranked
Pricing details from the official pages
GLM-5.3 lists $1.40 input, $4.40 output, $0.26 cached input per 1M tokens on GLM (Z.ai) pricing. DeepSeek V4 Pro lists $1.32 input, $3.96 output, $0.044 cached input per 1M tokens on DeepSeek pricing. Prices checked 2026-10-29.
- DeepSeek V4 Pro: Peak rate. Off-peak is half price.
Sample monthly bill at list price, no caching: Light (2M input + 0.5M output tokens): $5 vs $4.62. Medium (20M input + 5M output tokens): $50 vs $46.20. Heavy (200M input + 50M output tokens): $500 vs $462.
FAQ
Is GLM-5.3 cheaper than DeepSeek V4 Pro?
GLM-5.3 costs $1.40 input and $4.40 output per 1M tokens; DeepSeek V4 Pro costs $1.32 and $3.96. For a medium month (20M input + 5M output tokens) DeepSeek V4 Pro is cheaper: $46.20 vs $50.
Which is better for coding, GLM-5.3 or DeepSeek V4 Pro?
On LMArena's Code Arena GLM-5.3 scores 31/100 (#20 of 50) and DeepSeek V4 Pro 0/100 (#38 of 50), so GLM-5.3 is ahead by 31 points.
Which has the bigger context window?
GLM-5.3: n/a. DeepSeek V4 Pro: 1M tokens.
How much do GLM-5.3 and DeepSeek V4 Pro cost per month?
Light (2M input + 0.5M output tokens): $5 vs $4.62. Medium (20M input + 5M output tokens): $50 vs $46.20. Heavy (200M input + 50M output tokens): $500 vs $462. Pick your own token counts in the plan vs API calculator.
Where do these numbers come from?
Prices come from each provider's official pricing page, checked daily. Quality is the relative score on the LMArena leaderboard dataset, licensed CC BY 4.0. Where a model is not ranked we show n/a.
Sources
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