GLM-5.3 vs Inkling Small vs Muse Spark 1.2
Too close to call on our weighted score (Muse Spark 1.2 72, Inkling Small 70, GLM-5.3 64). The right pick depends on what you value most.
Z.ai (Zhipu)GLM-5.3
64/100- ECI155.8
- Price$1.40 / $4.40
- Context1M
Thinking MachinesInkling Small
70/100- ECI150.2
- Price$0.50 / $1.20
- Context1.05M
MetaMuse Spark 1.2
72/100- ECI155.0
- Price$1.25 / $4.25
- Context1.05M
Too close to call
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 2 points (Muse Spark 1.2 72/100, Inkling Small 70/100, GLM-5.3 64/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: GLM-5.3 for raw capability and Inkling Small on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
- CapabilityGLM-5.3Capabilities Index (ECI): GLM-5.3 155.8 · Muse Spark 1.2 155.0 · Inkling Small 150.2
- Lowest priceInkling SmallInkling Small $0.675 · Muse Spark 1.2 $2.00 · GLM-5.3 $2.15 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextInkling Small and Muse Spark 1.2Inkling Small 1,048,576 · Muse Spark 1.2 1,048,576 · GLM-5.3 1,000,000 tokens
- Widest inputsMuse Spark 1.2GLM-5.3: Text · Inkling Small: Text, Images, Audio · Muse Spark 1.2: Text, Images, PDFs, Audio, Video
- Self-hostingGLM-5.3 and Inkling SmallPublishes downloadable weights (Apache-2.0)
| Measure | Weight | GLM-5.3 | Inkling Small | Muse Spark 1.2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI) | 50% | 85 | 78 | 84 |
| Price | 25% | 34 | 58 | 36 |
| Inputs & features | 15% | 45 | 70 | 100 |
| Context window | 10% | 60 | 61 | 61 |
| Overall | 100% | 64/100 | 70/100 | 72/100 |
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | GLM-5.3Z.ai (Zhipu) | Inkling SmallThinking Machines | Muse Spark 1.2Meta |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 155.8 (best) | 150.2 | 155.0 |
| ECI rank | #24 of 148 (best) | #47 of 148 | #30 of 148 |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | 90.9% (best) | 88.5% | — |
| FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics | 68.8% (best) | 46.3% | — |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | 91.1% (best) | 90.0% | — |
| SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions | 41.0% | 19.1% | 60.3% (best) |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $1.40 | $0.50 (best) | $1.25 |
| Output | $4.40 | $1.20 (best) | $4.25 |
| Cached input | $0.26 | — | $0.15 (best) |
| Blended (3:1) | $2.15 | $0.675 (best) | $2.00 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Z.AI API | Median of 11 providers | Official Meta API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 1,000,000 tokens | 1,048,576 tokens (best) | 1,048,576 tokens (best) |
| Max output | 131,072 tokens | 1,048,576 tokens (best) | 131,072 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | Yes | Yes |
| PDFs | No | No | Yes |
| Audio | No | Yes | Yes |
| Video | No | No | Yes |
| Reasoning | Yeslow · high · max | Yes | Yesminimal · low · medium · high · xhigh |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | No | Yes |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Open | OpenApache-2.0 | Proprietary |
| API model ID | glm-5.3 | — | muse-spark-1.2 |
| API providers | 62 (best) | 11 | 15 |
| Released | Aug 14, 2026 | Jul 30, 2026 | Aug 5, 2026 |
| Knowledge cutoff | — | — | — |
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$22.80
- Inkling Small$7.40
- Muse Spark 1.2$21.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: GLM-5.3, Inkling Small or Muse Spark 1.2?
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 2 points (Muse Spark 1.2 72/100, Inkling Small 70/100, GLM-5.3 64/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: GLM-5.3 for raw capability and Inkling Small on price. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
Which is cheaper, GLM-5.3, Inkling Small or Muse Spark 1.2?
Inkling Small is cheaper at $0.50 input / $1.20 output per million tokens (median across 11 API providers). Muse Spark 1.2 costs $1.25 input / $4.25 output per million tokens (official Meta API price); 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 $0.675 per million tokens for Inkling Small versus $2.00 for Muse Spark 1.2 (3× as much) and $2.15 for GLM-5.3 (3.2× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
GLM-5.3 scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): GLM-5.3 155.8 (#24 of 148), Muse Spark 1.2 155.0 (#30 of 148) and Inkling Small 150.2 (#47 of 148). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (153.7–158.3 vs 152.8–157.5), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: SimpleQA Verified — Muse Spark 1.2 60.3%, GLM-5.3 41.0%, Inkling Small 19.1%.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for GLM-5.3, Inkling Small and Muse Spark 1.2 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?
Inkling Small and Muse Spark 1.2 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: GLM-5.3 up to 131,072, Inkling Small up to 1,048,576, Muse Spark 1.2 up to 131,072 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
GLM-5.3 accepts text; Inkling Small accepts text, images and audio; Muse Spark 1.2 accepts text, images, PDFs, audio and video. Muse Spark 1.2 handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
GLM-5.3 and Inkling Small publishes its weights (Apache-2.0) and can be self-hosted; Muse Spark 1.2 is proprietary.
Which is newer?
GLM-5.3 is the newest, released Aug 14, 2026. Muse Spark 1.2 came out Aug 5, 2026; Inkling Small came out Jul 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.
