ZMIME
Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

DeepSeek V4.1 Flash vs GLM-5.3-Flash

Too close to call on our weighted score (GLM-5.3-Flash 80, DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 78). The right pick depends on what you value most.

  1. DeepSeek

    DeepSeek V4.1 Flash

    Released Sep 10, 2026

    78/100
    • ECI155.0
    • Price$0.15 / $0.60
    • Context1M
    Full specs Remove DeepSeek V4.1 Flash

  2. Z.ai (Zhipu)

    GLM-5.3-Flash

    Released Aug 26, 2026

    80/100
    • ECI151.9
    • Price$0.15 / $0.50
    • Context1M
    Full specs Remove GLM-5.3-Flash

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Too close to call

It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 2 points (GLM-5.3-Flash 80/100, DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 78/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: DeepSeek V4.1 Flash for raw capability and GLM-5.3-Flash on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityDeepSeek V4.1 FlashCapabilities Index (ECI): DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 155.0 · GLM-5.3-Flash 151.9
  • Lowest priceGLM-5.3-FlashGLM-5.3-Flash $0.237 · DeepSeek V4.1 Flash $0.263 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextAbout the sameDeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1,000,000 · GLM-5.3-Flash 1,000,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsGLM-5.3-FlashDeepSeek V4.1 Flash: Text, Images · GLM-5.3-Flash: Text, Images, PDFs, Video
  • Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
How the score is built
MeasureWeightDeepSeek V4.1 FlashGLM-5.3-Flash
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%8481
Price25%7779
Inputs & features15%7090
Context window10%6060
Overall100%78/10080/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.

DeepSeek V4.1 Flash vs GLM-5.3-Flash specifications side by side
SpecificationDeepSeek V4.1 FlashDeepSeekGLM-5.3-FlashZ.ai (Zhipu)
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)155.0 (best)151.9
ECI rank#29 of 148 (best)#42 of 148
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions—90.2%
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics—55.8%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics—93.9%
Price per million tokens
Input$0.15$0.15
Output$0.60$0.50 (best)
Cached input$0.003 (best)$0.03
Blended (3:1)$0.263$0.237 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial DeepSeek APIOfficial Z.AI API
Limits
Context window1,000,000 tokens1,000,000 tokens
Max output384,000 tokens (best)131,072 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesYes
PDFsNoYes
AudioNoNo
VideoNoYes
ReasoningYeslow · high · maxYeslow · high · max
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputYesYes
Availability
WeightsOpenMITOpen
API model IDdeepseek-flashglm-5.3-flash
API providers5065 (best)
ReleasedSep 10, 2026Aug 26, 2026
Knowledge cutoffMay 2025—
03 — Cost

What would a month cost?

Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.

  • DeepSeek V4.1 Flash$2.70
  • GLM-5.3-Flash$2.50
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: DeepSeek V4.1 Flash or GLM-5.3-Flash?

It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 2 points (GLM-5.3-Flash 80/100, DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 78/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: DeepSeek V4.1 Flash for raw capability and GLM-5.3-Flash on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, DeepSeek V4.1 Flash or GLM-5.3-Flash?

GLM-5.3-Flash is cheaper at $0.15 input / $0.50 output per million tokens (official Z.AI API price). DeepSeek V4.1 Flash costs $0.15 input / $0.60 output per million tokens (official DeepSeek API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.237 per million tokens for GLM-5.3-Flash versus $0.263 for DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (1.1× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

DeepSeek V4.1 Flash scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 155.0 (#29 of 148) and GLM-5.3-Flash 151.9 (#42 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (148.8–157.6 vs 149.4–154.3), so treat the gap as small.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for DeepSeek V4.1 Flash and GLM-5.3-Flash yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, DeepSeek V4.1 Flash leads, which tends to carry over to coding, but test on your own codebase. Both support tool calling for agent workflows.

Which has the bigger context window?

DeepSeek V4.1 Flash and GLM-5.3-Flash share the same 1,000,000-token context window. Maximum output per response: DeepSeek V4.1 Flash up to 384,000, GLM-5.3-Flash up to 131,072 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

DeepSeek V4.1 Flash accepts text and images; GLM-5.3-Flash accepts text, images, PDFs and video. GLM-5.3-Flash handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

Yes, both publish their weights (MIT), so you can self-host them.

Which is newer?

DeepSeek V4.1 Flash is the newest, released Sep 10, 2026. GLM-5.3-Flash came out Aug 26, 2026. Knowledge cutoff: DeepSeek V4.1 Flash May 2025.

How do you decide the winner?

Each model gets a 0–100 score on capability (50%, independent benchmark results); price (25%, blended price per million tokens (3 input : 1 output), log scale); inputs & features (15%, image, PDF, audio and video input, tool calling, structured output and reasoning); context window (10%, maximum tokens per request, log scale). Dimensions missing for any model are dropped and the remaining weights rescaled, so every model is judged on the same evidence. Specs and prices come from public model listings and the labs’ own API pages; capability scores come from independent benchmark runs. Data updated Oct 4, 2026.

05 — Keep comparing

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