ZMIME
Comparison · 2 models · Updated Nov 2, 2026

Gemini 4 Argon vs GLM-5.3

Gemini 4 Argon comes out ahead, 74 to 63 on our weighted score, though GLM-5.3 is 46% cheaper per token.

  1. Our pick

    Google

    Gemini 4 Argon

    Released Oct 13, 2026New

    74/100
    • ECI166.1
    • Price$2.00 / $10.00
    • Context1.05M
  2. Z.ai (Zhipu)

    GLM-5.3

    Released Aug 14, 2026

    63/100
    • ECI156.2
    • Price$1.40 / $4.40
    • Context1M
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    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

Gemini 4 Argon is our pick

Gemini 4 Argon is the better all-round choice, scoring 74/100 against GLM-5.3 (63). It leads on capability and inputs & features. GLM-5.3 wins on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityGemini 4 ArgonCapabilities Index (ECI): Gemini 4 Argon 166.1 · GLM-5.3 156.2
  • Lowest priceGLM-5.3GLM-5.3 $2.15 · Gemini 4 Argon $4.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextGemini 4 ArgonGemini 4 Argon 1,048,576 · GLM-5.3 1,000,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsGemini 4 ArgonGemini 4 Argon: Text, Images, PDFs, Audio, Video · GLM-5.3: Text
  • Self-hostingGLM-5.3Publishes downloadable weights
How the score is built
MeasureWeightGemini 4 ArgonGLM-5.3
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%9684
Price25%2033
Inputs & features15%10045
Context window10%6160
Overall100%74/10063/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

Gemini 4 Argon vs GLM-5.3 specifications side by side
SpecificationGemini 4 ArgonGoogleGLM-5.3Z.ai (Zhipu)
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)166.1 (best)156.2
ECI rank#7 of 165 (best)#33 of 165
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions96.4% (best)90.9%
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics86.0% (best)68.8%
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics100% (best)91.1%
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions76.0% (best)41.0%
Price per million tokens
Input$2.00$1.40 (best)
Output$10.00$4.40 (best)
Cached input$0.10 (best)$0.26
Blended (3:1)$4.00$2.15 (best)
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Google APIOfficial Z.AI API
Limits
Context window1,048,576 tokens (best)1,000,000 tokens
Max output65,536 tokens131,072 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesNo
PDFsYesNo
AudioYesNo
VideoYesNo
ReasoningYeslow · medium · highYeslow · high · max
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputYesYes
Availability
WeightsProprietaryOpen
API model IDgemini-4-argonglm-5.3
API providers2483 (best)
ReleasedOct 13, 2026Aug 14, 2026
Knowledge cutoffMar 2026—
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.

  • Gemini 4 Argon$40.00
  • GLM-5.3$22.80
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: Gemini 4 Argon or GLM-5.3?

Gemini 4 Argon is the better all-round choice, scoring 74/100 against GLM-5.3 (63). It leads on capability and inputs & features. GLM-5.3 wins on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, Gemini 4 Argon or GLM-5.3?

GLM-5.3 is cheaper at $1.40 input / $4.40 output per million tokens (official Z.AI API price). Gemini 4 Argon costs $2.00 input / $10.00 output per million tokens (official Google API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $2.15 per million tokens for GLM-5.3 versus $4.00 for Gemini 4 Argon (1.9× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

Gemini 4 Argon scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): Gemini 4 Argon 166.1 (#7 of 165) and GLM-5.3 156.2 (#33 of 165). Their confidence ranges do not overlap (163.1–170.3 vs 154.3–158.5), so the gap is a real one. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — Gemini 4 Argon 96.4%, GLM-5.3 90.9%; FrontierMath Tiers 1–3 — Gemini 4 Argon 86.0%, GLM-5.3 68.8%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — Gemini 4 Argon 100%, GLM-5.3 91.1%; SimpleQA Verified — Gemini 4 Argon 76.0%, GLM-5.3 41.0%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Gemini 4 Argon and GLM-5.3 yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, Gemini 4 Argon 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?

Gemini 4 Argon has the largest context window at 1,048,576 tokens, against 1,000,000 for GLM-5.3. Maximum output per response: Gemini 4 Argon up to 65,536, GLM-5.3 up to 131,072 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

Gemini 4 Argon accepts text, images, PDFs, audio and video; GLM-5.3 accepts text. Gemini 4 Argon handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

GLM-5.3 publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Gemini 4 Argon is proprietary.

Which is newer?

Gemini 4 Argon is the newest, released Oct 13, 2026. GLM-5.3 came out Aug 14, 2026. Knowledge cutoff: Gemini 4 Argon Mar 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.