GLM-5.3 Flash pricing in 2026
What one task costs on GLM-5.3 Flash
Per-million-token prices are hard to feel, so here are typical token counts for common jobs priced with GLM-5.3 Flash. Figures are USD at the rates above and exclude prompt caching and batch discounts.
| Task | Tokens (in / out) | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Code review of a 500-line pull request | 60,000 / 4,000 | $0.011 |
| Debug one failing test | 40,000 / 6,000 | $0.0090 |
| Generate a landing page in one shot | 3,000 / 30,000 | $0.015 |
| Draft a 1,200-word article | 2,000 / 2,500 | $0.0015 |
| Answer a question from a 20-page document | 25,000 / 800 | $0.0042 |
| Multi-step agent run (10 tool calls) | 250,000 / 25,000 | $0.050 |
| All of the above, once | $0.091 |
GLM-5.3 Flash by Z.ai costs $0.15 per 1M input tokens and $0.50 per 1M output tokens — about 2.4M tokens per $1. Prices last verified 2026-09-19.
The verdict
Z.ai's cheap tier, and an unusually strong one: an index of 42 at $0.15 / $0.50 per 1M tokens, with cached input at $0.03. It is a native multimodal model built for efficient coding and long-horizon agent tasks, and it scores higher than Gemini 3.8 Flash while costing a fifth as much. If your workload is high-volume and you do not need the very top of the index, this is one of the best-value endpoints on the site.
A concrete example: sending 100,000 input tokens and getting back 20,000 output tokens with GLM-5.3 Flash costs about $0.03 at current prices.
Who is GLM-5.3 Flash for?
GLM-5.3 Flash is Z.ai's efficiency tier and the best-value model in the GLM line. It scores 42 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index — above Gemini 3.8 Flash and level with much pricier mid-tier models — at $0.15 per 1M input and $0.50 per 1M output, with cache hits at $0.03. Its hybrid sparse-and-linear attention design is there to hold long-context accuracy while keeping serving costs down.
The main risk is not the model but the platform: Z.ai has limited compute relative to OpenAI, Google or Anthropic, so expect variable throughput and occasional capacity constraints — the same complaint practitioners have about the flagship GLM-5.3. For batch work, coding agents and high-volume pipelines where you can tolerate that, it is one of the strongest intelligence-per-dollar picks we track.
Strengths & weaknesses
- Strength: High index at a fraction of a cent per thousand tokens
- Best for: Budget, Bulk, Open-weight, Value
- Weakness: Z.ai's overall serving capacity is limited, so throughput and availability can lag the bigger providers'.
GLM-5.3 Flash key facts
| Provider | GLM pricing |
|---|---|
| Input price | $0.15 / 1M tokens |
| Output price | $0.50 / 1M tokens |
| Tokens / $1 | 2.4M |
| Intelligence / $1 | 1,018,182 |
| Context window | 1.0M tokens |
| Tier | balanced |
| Speed | Fast (107+ tokens/sec) |
| Intelligence index | 42 / 100 |
| Released | 2026-08-26 |
| Last verified | 2026-09-19 |
What GLM-5.3 Flash delivers for your budget
For a coding workload, here is roughly what each monthly budget buys:
| Budget | Tokens / month | Months of workload |
|---|---|---|
| $20 | 86.7M | 133.3x |
| $50 | 216.7M | 333.3x |
| $100 | 433.3M | 666.7x |
Other GLM models
How GLM-5.3 Flash compares to its closest rivals
Rather than repeating the full catalog on every page, here are the three current models nearest to GLM-5.3 Flash on the intelligence index — and why you might still pick one instead:
- GPT-5.6 Terra (ChatGPT) — $2 input / $12 output per 1M tokens. Why you might pick it: Best ChatGPT value for most tasks.
- Gemini 3.8 Flash (Gemini) — $0.75 input / $3.75 output per 1M tokens. Why you might pick it: Near-Pro quality at Flash price and speed.
- DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (DeepSeek) — $0.15 input / $0.60 output per 1M tokens. Why you might pick it: Best intelligence-per-dollar on the site.
GLM-5.3 Flash — frequently asked questions
How much does GLM-5.3 Flash cost?
GLM-5.3 Flash by Z.ai costs $0.15 per 1M input tokens and $0.50 per 1M output tokens.
How many tokens per dollar does GLM-5.3 Flash give you?
On a typical 1:3 input-to-output mix, GLM-5.3 Flash delivers around 2.4M tokens per dollar — an intelligence-per-dollar score of 1018182.
What is GLM-5.3 Flash's context window?
GLM-5.3 Flash supports a context window of 1.0M tokens.
Is GLM-5.3 Flash worth it in 2026?
GLM-5.3 Flash is GLM's balanced tier model. Use the AI Intelligence Calculator to see how its value compares to every other model at your budget.