ZMIME
Comparison · 2 models · Updated Oct 4, 2026

GLM-5.3-Flash vs GPT-6 Astra

GLM-5.3-Flash comes out ahead, 80 to 68 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.

  1. Our pick

    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. OpenAI

    GPT-6 Astra

    Released Sep 4, 2026

    68/100
    • ECI166.5
    • Price$10.00 / $50.00
    • Context1.05M
    Full specs Remove GPT-6 Astra

  3. Add a model

    Make it a three-way comparison.

01 — Verdict

GLM-5.3-Flash is our pick

GLM-5.3-Flash is the better all-round choice, scoring 80/100 against GPT-6 Astra (68). It leads on price and inputs & features. GPT-6 Astra wins on capability. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

  • CapabilityGPT-6 AstraCapabilities Index (ECI): GPT-6 Astra 166.5 · GLM-5.3-Flash 151.9
  • Lowest priceGLM-5.3-FlashGLM-5.3-Flash $0.237 · GPT-6 Astra $20.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
  • Longest contextGPT-6 AstraGPT-6 Astra 1,050,000 · GLM-5.3-Flash 1,000,000 tokens
  • Widest inputsGLM-5.3-FlashGLM-5.3-Flash: Text, Images, PDFs, Video · GPT-6 Astra: Text, Images, PDFs
  • Self-hostingGLM-5.3-FlashPublishes downloadable weights
How the score is built
MeasureWeightGLM-5.3-FlashGPT-6 Astra
CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI)50%8199
Price25%790
Inputs & features15%9080
Context window10%6061
Overall100%80/10068/100
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 GPT-6 Astra specifications side by side
SpecificationGLM-5.3-FlashZ.ai (Zhipu)GPT-6 AstraOpenAI
Capability
Capabilities Index (ECI)151.9166.5 (best)
ECI rank#42 of 148#2 of 148 (best)
GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions90.2%95.8% (best)
FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics55.8%93.7% (best)
OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics93.9%100% (best)
SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions—75.6%
Price per million tokens
Input$0.15 (best)$10.00
Output$0.50 (best)$50.00
Cached input$0.03 (best)$1.00
Blended (3:1)$0.237 (best)$20.00
Long-context rateSame rateOver 272K: $20.00 / $75.00
Price sourceOfficial Z.AI APIOfficial OpenAI API
Limits
Context window1,000,000 tokens1,050,000 tokens (best)
Max output131,072 tokens (best)128,000 tokens
Inputs and features
TextYesYes
ImagesYesYes
PDFsYesYes
AudioNoNo
VideoYesNo
ReasoningYeslow · high · maxYeslow · medium · high · xhigh · max
Tool callingYesYes
Structured outputYesYes
Availability
WeightsOpenProprietary
API model IDglm-5.3-flashgpt-6-astra
API providers65 (best)26
ReleasedAug 26, 2026Sep 4, 2026
Knowledge cutoff—Apr 30, 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.

  • GLM-5.3-Flash$2.50
  • GPT-6 Astra$200.00
04 — Questions

Which should you choose?

Which is better: GLM-5.3-Flash or GPT-6 Astra?

GLM-5.3-Flash is the better all-round choice, scoring 80/100 against GPT-6 Astra (68). It leads on price and inputs & features. GPT-6 Astra wins on capability. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.

Which is cheaper, GLM-5.3-Flash or GPT-6 Astra?

GLM-5.3-Flash is cheaper at $0.15 input / $0.50 output per million tokens (official Z.AI API price). GPT-6 Astra costs $10.00 input / $50.00 output per million tokens (official OpenAI 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 $20.00 for GPT-6 Astra (84× as much).

Which scores higher on benchmarks?

GPT-6 Astra scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): GPT-6 Astra 166.5 (#2 of 148) and GLM-5.3-Flash 151.9 (#42 of 148). Their confidence ranges do not overlap (163.1–171.1 vs 149.4–154.3), so the gap is a real one. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — GPT-6 Astra 95.8%, GLM-5.3-Flash 90.2%; FrontierMath Tiers 1–3 — GPT-6 Astra 93.7%, GLM-5.3-Flash 55.8%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — GPT-6 Astra 100%, GLM-5.3-Flash 93.9%.

Which is better for coding?

There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for GLM-5.3-Flash and GPT-6 Astra yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, GPT-6 Astra 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?

GPT-6 Astra has the largest context window at 1,050,000 tokens, against 1,000,000 for GLM-5.3-Flash. Maximum output per response: GLM-5.3-Flash up to 131,072, GPT-6 Astra up to 128,000 tokens.

Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?

GLM-5.3-Flash accepts text, images, PDFs and video; GPT-6 Astra accepts text, images and PDFs. GLM-5.3-Flash handles the widest range of inputs.

Are any of these open source?

GLM-5.3-Flash publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; GPT-6 Astra is proprietary.

Which is newer?

GPT-6 Astra is the newest, released Sep 4, 2026. GLM-5.3-Flash came out Aug 26, 2026. Knowledge cutoff: GPT-6 Astra Apr 30, 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 Oct 4, 2026.

05 — Keep comparing

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