GLM-5.3 vs Qwen3.8 Max
Official GLM (Z.ai) and Qwen API prices and LMArena scores, checked 2026-10-29. Add up to 2 more models to compare 4.
GLM-5.3 costs less; Qwen3.8 Max wins more LMArena tasks.
GLM-5.3 is 1.4x cheaper on input and output. Qwen3.8 Max scores 25 points higher for roleplay; GLM-5.3 scores 1 point higher for agent tasks. Across 6 shared LMArena tasks, Qwen3.8 Max leads 5 to 1. A medium month (20M input + 5M output tokens) costs $50 on GLM-5.3 and $70 on Qwen3.8 Max.
- Pick GLM-5.3 if you want the lower bill ($50 vs $70 for a medium month).
- Pick Qwen3.8 Max if you care most about roleplay (+25), coding (+19) and creative writing (+16).
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 | Qwen3.8 Max |
|---|---|---|
| Price per 1M tokens | ||
| Input | $1.40 | $2 |
| Cached input | $0.26 | None |
| Output | $4.40 | $6 |
| Blend 3:1 | $2.15 | $3 |
| Sample month, medium | $50 | $70 |
| Context | ||
| Context window | Not published | 1M tokens |
| Quality (LMArena, out of 100) | ||
| Coding | 31/100 #20 of 50 | 50/100 #10 of 50 |
| Chat | 25/100 #14 of 51 | 28/100 #11 of 51 |
| Creative writing | 15/100 #13 of 51 | 31/100 #9 of 51 |
| Roleplay and characters | 3/100 #16 of 51 | 28/100 #7 of 51 |
| Reasoning and math | 42/100 #12 of 51 | 49/100 #9 of 51 |
| Vision | Not ranked | 100/100 #1 of 33 |
| Long documents | Not ranked | Not ranked |
| Cheap bulk and agents | 47/100 #22 of 34 | 46/100 #23 of 34 |
| Details | ||
| Provider | GLM (Z.ai) | Qwen |
| API model id | glm-5.3 | qwen3.8-max |
| Notes | None | International (Singapore). Alibaba lists the cache-hit price only in the Model Studio console. |
| Sources | ||
| Last checked | 2026-10-29 | 2026-10-29 |
| Official pricing | GLM (Z.ai) pricing | Qwen 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), Qwen3.8 Max #10 of 50 (50/100)
- Chat (Text Arena): GLM-5.3 #14 of 51 (25/100), Qwen3.8 Max #11 of 51 (28/100)
- Creative writing (Text Arena creative writing): GLM-5.3 #13 of 51 (15/100), Qwen3.8 Max #9 of 51 (31/100)
- Roleplay and characters (Text Arena multi-turn): GLM-5.3 #16 of 51 (3/100), Qwen3.8 Max #7 of 51 (28/100)
- Reasoning and math (Text Arena math): GLM-5.3 #12 of 51 (42/100), Qwen3.8 Max #9 of 51 (49/100)
- Vision (Vision Arena): GLM-5.3 not ranked, Qwen3.8 Max #1 of 33 (100/100)
- Long documents (Document Arena): GLM-5.3 not ranked, Qwen3.8 Max not ranked
- Cheap bulk and agents (Agent Arena): GLM-5.3 #22 of 34 (47/100), Qwen3.8 Max #23 of 34 (46/100)
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. Qwen3.8 Max lists $2 input, $6 output per 1M tokens on Qwen pricing. Prices checked 2026-10-29.
- Qwen3.8 Max: International (Singapore). Alibaba lists the cache-hit price only in the Model Studio console.
Sample monthly bill at list price, no caching: Light (2M input + 0.5M output tokens): $5 vs $7. Medium (20M input + 5M output tokens): $50 vs $70. Heavy (200M input + 50M output tokens): $500 vs $700.
FAQ
Is GLM-5.3 cheaper than Qwen3.8 Max?
GLM-5.3 costs $1.40 input and $4.40 output per 1M tokens; Qwen3.8 Max costs $2 and $6. For a medium month (20M input + 5M output tokens) GLM-5.3 is cheaper: $50 vs $70.
Which is better for coding, GLM-5.3 or Qwen3.8 Max?
On LMArena's Code Arena GLM-5.3 scores 31/100 (#20 of 50) and Qwen3.8 Max 50/100 (#10 of 50), so Qwen3.8 Max is ahead by 19 points.
Which has the bigger context window?
GLM-5.3: n/a. Qwen3.8 Max: 1M tokens.
How much do GLM-5.3 and Qwen3.8 Max cost per month?
Light (2M input + 0.5M output tokens): $5 vs $7. Medium (20M input + 5M output tokens): $50 vs $70. Heavy (200M input + 50M output tokens): $500 vs $700. 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.