GLM-4.5-Flash vs Codestral vs Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B
Too close to call on our weighted score (GLM-4.5-Flash 65, Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B 65, Codestral 48). The right pick depends on what you value most.
Z.ai (Zhipu)GLM-4.5-Flash
65/100- ECI—
- PriceFree / Free
- Context131K
Mistral AICodestral
48/100- ECI—
- Price$0.30 / $0.90
- Context256K
NVIDIALlama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B
65/100- ECI—
- PriceFree / Free
- Context128K
Too close to call
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within a point (GLM-4.5-Flash 65/100, Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B 65/100, Codestral 48/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: GLM-4.5-Flash on price and Codestral for long inputs. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
- CapabilityNot enough dataNo independent benchmark covers every model here yet
- Lowest priceGLM-4.5-Flash and Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253BGLM-4.5-Flash Free · Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B Free · Codestral $0.45 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextCodestralCodestral 256,000 · GLM-4.5-Flash 131,072 · Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B 128,000 tokens
- Widest inputsSame inputsGLM-4.5-Flash: Text · Codestral: Text · Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B: Text
- Self-hostingCodestral and Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253BPublishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | GLM-4.5-Flash | Codestral | Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 100 | 66 | 100 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 35 | 25 | 35 |
| Context window | 20% | 24 | 36 | 24 |
| Overall | 100% | 65/100 | 48/100 | 65/100 |
Left out because at least one model lacks the data: capability. The remaining weights were rescaled.
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | GLM-4.5-FlashZ.ai (Zhipu) | CodestralMistral AI | Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253BNVIDIA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | — | — | — |
| ECI rank | — | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | Free (best) | $0.30 | Free (best) |
| Output | Free (best) | $0.90 | Free (best) |
| Cached input | — | $0.03 | — |
| Blended (3:1) | Free (best) | $0.45 | Free (best) |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Z.AI API | Official Mistral API | Official Nvidia API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 131,072 tokens | 256,000 tokens (best) | 128,000 tokens |
| Max output | 98,304 tokens (best) | 4,096 tokens | 8,192 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | No | No |
| PDFs | No | No | No |
| Audio | No | No | No |
| Video | No | No | No |
| Reasoning | Yes | No | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Proprietary | Open | Open |
| API model ID | glm-4.5-flash | codestral-latest | nvidia/llama-3.1-nemotron-ultra-253b-v1 |
| API providers | 4 (best) | 3 | 1 |
| Released | Jul 28, 2025 | May 29, 2024 | Apr 7, 2025 |
| Knowledge cutoff | Apr 2025 | Oct 2024 | — |
What would a month cost?
Enter your expected volume in millions of tokens. List prices only; caching and batch discounts would lower these.
- GLM-4.5-FlashFree
- Codestral$4.80
- Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253BFree
Which should you choose?
Which is better: GLM-4.5-Flash, Codestral or Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B?
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within a point (GLM-4.5-Flash 65/100, Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B 65/100, Codestral 48/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: GLM-4.5-Flash on price and Codestral for long inputs. The score weighs price 50%, inputs & features 30%, context window 20%. None of the shared benchmarks cover every model here yet, so capability is left out of this verdict.
Which is cheaper, GLM-4.5-Flash, Codestral or Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B?
GLM-4.5-Flash is cheaper at Free input / Free output per million tokens (official Z.AI API price). Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B costs Free input / Free output per million tokens (official Nvidia API price); Codestral costs $0.30 input / $0.90 output per million tokens (official Mistral API price). GLM-4.5-Flash is listed as free.
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. GLM-4.5-Flash has not been scored yet, Codestral has not been scored yet and Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B has not been scored yet.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for GLM-4.5-Flash, Codestral and Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. Test both on a sample of your own tasks. All three support tool calling for agent workflows.
Which has the bigger context window?
Codestral has the largest context window at 256,000 tokens, against 131,072 for GLM-4.5-Flash and 128,000 for Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B. Maximum output per response: GLM-4.5-Flash up to 98,304, Codestral up to 4,096, Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B up to 8,192 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
GLM-4.5-Flash accepts text; Codestral accepts text; Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B accepts text. They handle the same number of input types.
Are any of these open source?
Codestral and Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; GLM-4.5-Flash is proprietary.
Which is newer?
GLM-4.5-Flash is the newest, released Jul 28, 2025. Llama 3.1 Nemotron Ultra 253B came out Apr 7, 2025; Codestral came out May 29, 2024. Knowledge cutoff: GLM-4.5-Flash Apr 2025, Codestral Oct 2024.
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.
