Gemini 3.6 Flash vs GLM-5.3 vs Muse Spark Open
Gemini 3.6 Flash comes out ahead, 72 to 68 and 63 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
- Our pick
GoogleGemini 3.6 Flash
72/100- ECI154.7
- Price$0.75 / $3.75
- Context1.05M
Z.ai (Zhipu)GLM-5.3
63/100- ECI156.2
- Price$1.40 / $4.40
- Context1M
MetaMuse Spark Open
68/100- ECI155.1
- Price$1.25 / $4.25
- Context1.05M
Gemini 3.6 Flash is our pick
Gemini 3.6 Flash is the better all-round choice, scoring 72/100 against Muse Spark Open (68) and GLM-5.3 (63). It leads on price and inputs & features. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
- CapabilityGLM-5.3Capabilities Index (ECI): GLM-5.3 156.2 · Muse Spark Open 155.1 · Gemini 3.6 Flash 154.7
- Lowest priceGemini 3.6 FlashGemini 3.6 Flash $1.50 · Muse Spark Open $2.00 · GLM-5.3 $2.15 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextGemini 3.6 Flash and Muse Spark OpenGemini 3.6 Flash 1,048,576 · Muse Spark Open 1,048,576 · GLM-5.3 1,000,000 tokens
- Widest inputsGemini 3.6 FlashGemini 3.6 Flash: Text, Images, PDFs, Audio, Video · GLM-5.3: Text · Muse Spark Open: Text, Images, Audio, Video
- Self-hostingGLM-5.3 and Muse Spark OpenPublishes downloadable weights (Muse Model License)
| Measure | Weight | Gemini 3.6 Flash | GLM-5.3 | Muse Spark Open |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI) | 50% | 82 | 84 | 83 |
| Price | 25% | 40 | 33 | 34 |
| Inputs & features | 15% | 100 | 45 | 80 |
| Context window | 10% | 61 | 60 | 61 |
| Overall | 100% | 72/100 | 63/100 | 68/100 |
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | Gemini 3.6 FlashGoogle | GLM-5.3Z.ai (Zhipu) | Muse Spark OpenMeta |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 154.7 | 156.2 (best) | 155.1 |
| ECI rank | #42 of 165 | #33 of 165 (best) | #39 of 165 |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | 94.1% (best) | 90.9% | 88.6% |
| FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics | 59.0% | 68.8% | 69.8% (best) |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | 94.2% | 91.1% | 98.1% (best) |
| SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions | 66.2% (best) | 41.0% | 56.6% |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $0.75 (best) | $1.40 | $1.25 |
| Output | $3.75 (best) | $4.40 | $4.25 |
| Cached input | $0.075 (best) | $0.26 | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $1.50 (best) | $2.15 | $2.00 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Google API | Official Z.AI API | Median of 16 providers |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 1,048,576 tokens (best) | 1,000,000 tokens | 1,048,576 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 65,536 tokens | 131,072 tokens (best) | 131,072 tokens (best) |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | Yes | No | Yes |
| PDFs | Yes | No | No |
| Audio | Yes | No | Yes |
| Video | Yes | No | Yes |
| Reasoning | Yesminimal · low · medium · high | Yeslow · high · max | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | Yes | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Open | OpenMuse Model License |
| API model ID | gemini-3.6-flash | glm-5.3 | — |
| API providers | 31 | 83 (best) | 16 |
| Released | Jul 21, 2026 | Aug 14, 2026 | Oct 15, 2026 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Mar 2026 | — | Jan 4, 2026 |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- Gemini 3.6 Flash$15.00
- GLM-5.3$22.80
- Muse Spark Open$21.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: Gemini 3.6 Flash, GLM-5.3 or Muse Spark Open?
Gemini 3.6 Flash is the better all-round choice, scoring 72/100 against Muse Spark Open (68) and GLM-5.3 (63). It leads on price and inputs & features. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
Which is cheaper, Gemini 3.6 Flash, GLM-5.3 or Muse Spark Open?
Gemini 3.6 Flash is cheaper at $0.75 input / $3.75 output per million tokens (official Google API price). Muse Spark Open costs $1.25 input / $4.25 output per million tokens (median across 16 API providers); GLM-5.3 costs $1.40 input / $4.40 output per million tokens (official Z.AI API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $1.50 per million tokens for Gemini 3.6 Flash versus $2.00 for Muse Spark Open (1.3× as much) and $2.15 for GLM-5.3 (1.4× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
GLM-5.3 scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): GLM-5.3 156.2 (#33 of 165), Muse Spark Open 155.1 (#39 of 165) and Gemini 3.6 Flash 154.7 (#42 of 165). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (154.3–158.5 vs 153.1–157.3), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — Gemini 3.6 Flash 94.1%, GLM-5.3 90.9%, Muse Spark Open 88.6%; FrontierMath Tiers 1–3 — Muse Spark Open 69.8%, GLM-5.3 68.8%, Gemini 3.6 Flash 59.0%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — Muse Spark Open 98.1%, Gemini 3.6 Flash 94.2%, GLM-5.3 91.1%; SimpleQA Verified — Gemini 3.6 Flash 66.2%, Muse Spark Open 56.6%, GLM-5.3 41.0%.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Gemini 3.6 Flash, GLM-5.3 and Muse Spark Open yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, GLM-5.3 leads, which tends to carry over to coding, but test on your own codebase. All three support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
Gemini 3.6 Flash and Muse Spark Open have the largest context windows (1,048,576 and 1,048,576 tokens), against 1,000,000 for GLM-5.3. Maximum output per response: Gemini 3.6 Flash up to 65,536, GLM-5.3 up to 131,072, Muse Spark Open up to 131,072 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
Gemini 3.6 Flash accepts text, images, PDFs, audio and video; GLM-5.3 accepts text; Muse Spark Open accepts text, images, audio and video. Gemini 3.6 Flash handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
GLM-5.3 and Muse Spark Open publishes its weights (Muse Model License) and can be self-hosted; Gemini 3.6 Flash is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Muse Spark Open is the newest, released Oct 15, 2026. GLM-5.3 came out Aug 14, 2026; Gemini 3.6 Flash came out Jul 21, 2026. Knowledge cutoff: Gemini 3.6 Flash Mar 2026, Muse Spark Open Jan 4, 2026.
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 Nov 2, 2026.
