GLM-5.3 vs Muse Spark Open vs Qwen3.8 Max 0902
Too close to call on our weighted score (Muse Spark Open 68, Qwen3.8 Max 0902 67, GLM-5.3 63). The right pick depends on what you value most.
Z.ai (Zhipu)GLM-5.3
63/100- ECI156.2
- Price$1.40 / $4.40
- Context1M
MetaMuse Spark Open
68/100- ECI155.1
- Price$1.25 / $4.25
- Context1.05M
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen3.8 Max 0902
67/100- ECI156.2
- Price$2.00 / $6.00
- Context1M
Too close to call
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 1 points (Muse Spark Open 68/100, Qwen3.8 Max 0902 67/100, GLM-5.3 63/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Qwen3.8 Max 0902 for raw capability, Muse Spark Open on price and Muse Spark Open for long inputs. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
- CapabilityQwen3.8 Max 0902Capabilities Index (ECI): Qwen3.8 Max 0902 156.2 · GLM-5.3 156.2 · Muse Spark Open 155.1
- Lowest priceMuse Spark OpenMuse Spark Open $2.00 · GLM-5.3 $2.15 · Qwen3.8 Max 0902 $3.00 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextMuse Spark OpenMuse Spark Open 1,048,576 · GLM-5.3 1,000,000 · Qwen3.8 Max 0902 1,000,000 tokens
- Widest inputsMuse Spark Open and Qwen3.8 Max 0902GLM-5.3: Text · Muse Spark Open: Text, Images, Audio, Video · Qwen3.8 Max 0902: Text, Images, PDFs, Video
- Self-hostingGLM-5.3 and Muse Spark OpenPublishes downloadable weights (Muse Model License)
| Measure | Weight | GLM-5.3 | Muse Spark Open | Qwen3.8 Max 0902 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CapabilityCapabilities Index (ECI) | 50% | 84 | 83 | 84 |
| Price | 25% | 33 | 34 | 26 |
| Inputs & features | 15% | 45 | 80 | 80 |
| Context window | 10% | 60 | 61 | 60 |
| Overall | 100% | 63/100 | 68/100 | 67/100 |
Every spec in one table
Highlighted cells lead their row. Dashes mean the data is not published.
| Specification | GLM-5.3Z.ai (Zhipu) | Muse Spark OpenMeta | Qwen3.8 Max 0902Alibaba (Qwen) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 156.2 | 155.1 | 156.2 (best) |
| ECI rank | #33 of 165 | #39 of 165 | #32 of 165 (best) |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | 90.9% | 88.6% | 92.3% (best) |
| FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics | 68.8% | 69.8% (best) | 65.6% |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | 91.1% | 98.1% | 100% (best) |
| SimpleQA VerifiedShort factual questions | 41.0% | 56.6% (best) | 47.3% |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $1.40 | $1.25 (best) | $2.00 |
| Output | $4.40 | $4.25 (best) | $6.00 |
| Cached input | $0.26 | — | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $2.15 | $2.00 (best) | $3.00 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Z.AI API | Median of 16 providers | Median of 9 providers |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 1,000,000 tokens | 1,048,576 tokens (best) | 1,000,000 tokens |
| Max output | 131,072 tokens | 131,072 tokens | 131,072 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | Yes | Yes |
| PDFs | No | No | Yes |
| Audio | No | Yes | No |
| Video | No | Yes | Yes |
| Reasoning | Yeslow · high · max | Yes | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | Yes | No | No |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Open | OpenMuse Model License | Proprietary |
| API model ID | glm-5.3 | — | — |
| API providers | 83 (best) | 16 | 9 |
| Released | Aug 14, 2026 | Oct 15, 2026 | Sep 2, 2026 |
| Knowledge cutoff | — | Jan 4, 2026 | — |
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
- Muse Spark Open$21.00
- Qwen3.8 Max 0902$32.00
Which should you choose?
Which is better: GLM-5.3, Muse Spark Open or Qwen3.8 Max 0902?
It is close. Our weighted score puts them within 1 points (Muse Spark Open 68/100, Qwen3.8 Max 0902 67/100, GLM-5.3 63/100), so choose by what matters most for your work: Qwen3.8 Max 0902 for raw capability, Muse Spark Open on price and Muse Spark Open for long inputs. The score weighs capability 50%, price 25%, inputs & features 15%, context window 10%.
Which is cheaper, GLM-5.3, Muse Spark Open or Qwen3.8 Max 0902?
Muse Spark Open is cheaper at $1.25 input / $4.25 output per million tokens (median across 16 API providers). GLM-5.3 costs $1.40 input / $4.40 output per million tokens (official Z.AI API price); Qwen3.8 Max 0902 costs $2.00 input / $6.00 output per million tokens (median across 9 API providers). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $2.00 per million tokens for Muse Spark Open versus $2.15 for GLM-5.3 (1.1× as much) and $3.00 for Qwen3.8 Max 0902 (1.5× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
Qwen3.8 Max 0902 scores higher on the Capabilities Index (ECI): Qwen3.8 Max 0902 156.2 (#32 of 165), GLM-5.3 156.2 (#33 of 165) and Muse Spark Open 155.1 (#39 of 165). The confidence ranges of the top two overlap (153.7–159.2 vs 154.3–158.5), so treat the gap as small. On individual benchmarks: GPQA Diamond — Qwen3.8 Max 0902 92.3%, GLM-5.3 90.9%, Muse Spark Open 88.6%; FrontierMath Tiers 1–3 — Muse Spark Open 69.8%, GLM-5.3 68.8%, Qwen3.8 Max 0902 65.6%; OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025 — Qwen3.8 Max 0902 100%, Muse Spark Open 98.1%, GLM-5.3 91.1%; SimpleQA Verified — Muse Spark Open 56.6%, Qwen3.8 Max 0902 47.3%, GLM-5.3 41.0%.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for GLM-5.3, Muse Spark Open and Qwen3.8 Max 0902 yet, so there is no like-for-like coding score. On overall capability, Qwen3.8 Max 0902 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?
Muse Spark Open has the largest context window at 1,048,576 tokens, against 1,000,000 for GLM-5.3 and 1,000,000 for Qwen3.8 Max 0902. Maximum output per response: GLM-5.3 up to 131,072, Muse Spark Open up to 131,072, Qwen3.8 Max 0902 up to 131,072 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
GLM-5.3 accepts text; Muse Spark Open accepts text, images, audio and video; Qwen3.8 Max 0902 accepts text, images, PDFs and video. Muse Spark Open handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
GLM-5.3 and Muse Spark Open publishes its weights (Muse Model License) and can be self-hosted; Qwen3.8 Max 0902 is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Muse Spark Open is the newest, released Oct 15, 2026. Qwen3.8 Max 0902 came out Sep 2, 2026; GLM-5.3 came out Aug 14, 2026. Knowledge cutoff: Muse Spark Open Jan 4, 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.
