ZMIME
Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

GLM-5.3-Flash vs DeepSeek V4.1 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. 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

  2. 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

  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 sameGLM-5.3-Flash 1,000,000 · DeepSeek V4.1 Flash 1,000,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsGLM-5.3-FlashGLM-5.3-Flash: Text, Images, PDFs, Video · DeepSeek V4.1 Flash: Text, Images
  • Self-hostingAll open weightsEvery model here can be downloaded and run on your own hardware
How the score is built
MeasureWeightGLM-5.3-FlashDeepSeek V4.1 Flash
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%8184
Price25%7977
Inputs & features15%9070
Context window10%6060
Overall100%80/10078/100
02 — Side by side

Every spec in one table

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

GLM-5.3-Flash vs DeepSeek V4.1 Flash specifications side by side
SpecificationGLM-5.3-FlashZ.ai (Zhipu)DeepSeek V4.1 FlashDeepSeek
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)151.9155.0 (best)
ECI rank#42 of 148#29 of 148 (best)
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions90.2%—
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics55.8%—
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics93.9%—
Price per million tokens
Input$0.15$0.15
Output$0.50 (best)$0.60
Cached input$0.03$0.003 (best)
Blended (3:1)$0.237 (best)$0.263
Long-context rateSame rateSame rate
Price sourceOfficial Z.AI APIOfficial DeepSeek API
Limits
Context window1,000,000 tokens1,000,000 tokens
Max output131,072 tokens384,000 tokens (best)
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesYes
PDFsYesNo
AudioNoNo
VideoYesNo
ReasoningYeslow · high · maxYeslow · high · max
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputYesYes
Availability
WeightsOpenOpenMIT
API model IDglm-5.3-flashdeepseek-flash
API providers65 (best)50
ReleasedAug 26, 2026Sep 10, 2026
Knowledge cutoff—May 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.

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

Which should you choose?

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

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

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

GLM-5.3-Flash accepts text, images, PDFs and video; DeepSeek V4.1 Flash accepts text and images. 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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