GLM-5 vs Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite vs Qwen3.5 397B-A17B
Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite comes out ahead, 73 to 56 and 37 on our weighted score, and it is the cheaper option too.
Z.ai (Zhipu)GLM-5
37/100- ECI145.8
- Price$1.00 / $3.20
- Context205K
- Our pick
GoogleGemini 3.1 Flash Lite
73/100- ECI—
- Price$0.25 / $1.50
- Context1.05M
Alibaba (Qwen)Qwen3.5 397B-A17B
56/100- ECI146.7
- Price$0.60 / $3.60
- Context262K
Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite is our pick
Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite is the better all-round choice, scoring 73/100 against Qwen3.5 397B-A17B (56) and GLM-5 (37). It leads on price, inputs & features and context window. 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 priceGemini 3.1 Flash LiteGemini 3.1 Flash Lite $0.563 · Qwen3.5 397B-A17B $1.35 · GLM-5 $1.55 per 1M tokens (3:1 blend)
- Longest contextGemini 3.1 Flash LiteGemini 3.1 Flash Lite 1,048,576 · Qwen3.5 397B-A17B 262,144 · GLM-5 204,800 tokens
- Widest inputsGemini 3.1 Flash LiteGLM-5: Text · Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite: Text, Images, PDFs, Audio, Video · Qwen3.5 397B-A17B: Text, Images, Audio, Video
- Self-hostingGLM-5 and Qwen3.5 397B-A17BPublishes downloadable weights
| Measure | Weight | GLM-5 | Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite | Qwen3.5 397B-A17B |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 50% | 41 | 62 | 44 |
| Inputs & features | 30% | 35 | 100 | 90 |
| Context window | 20% | 32 | 61 | 37 |
| Overall | 100% | 37/100 | 73/100 | 56/100 |
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-5Z.ai (Zhipu) | Gemini 3.1 Flash LiteGoogle | Qwen3.5 397B-A17BAlibaba (Qwen) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capability | |||
| Capabilities Index (ECI) | 145.8 | — | 146.7 (best) |
| ECI rank | #74 of 148 | — | #67 of 148 (best) |
| GPQA DiamondGraduate-level science questions | 87.8% (best) | — | 86.4% |
| FrontierMath Tiers 1–3Research-level mathematics | — | — | 31.2% |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024–2025Competition mathematics | 80.0% | — | 88.9% (best) |
| SWE-bench VerifiedFixing real GitHub issues | 72.1% | — | — |
| Price per million tokens | |||
| Input | $1.00 | $0.25 (best) | $0.60 |
| Output | $3.20 | $1.50 (best) | $3.60 |
| Cached input | $0.20 | $0.025 (best) | — |
| Blended (3:1) | $1.55 | $0.563 (best) | $1.35 |
| Long-context rate | Same rate | Same rate | Same rate |
| Price source | Official Z.AI API | Official Google API | Official Alibaba API |
| Limits | |||
| Context window | 204,800 tokens | 1,048,576 tokens (best) | 262,144 tokens |
| Max output | 131,072 tokens (best) | 65,536 tokens | 65,536 tokens |
| Inputs and features | |||
| Text | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Images | No | Yes | Yes |
| PDFs | No | Yes | No |
| Audio | No | Yes | Yes |
| Video | No | Yes | Yes |
| Reasoning | Yes | Yesminimal · low · medium · high | Yes |
| Tool calling | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Structured output | No | Yes | Yes |
| Availability | |||
| Weights | Open | Proprietary | Open |
| API model ID | glm-5 | gemini-3.1-flash-lite | qwen3.5-397b-a17b |
| API providers | 27 (best) | 23 | 23 |
| Released | Feb 12, 2026 | May 7, 2026 | Feb 15, 2026 |
| Knowledge cutoff | — | Jan 2025 | — |
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$16.40
- Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite$5.50
- Qwen3.5 397B-A17B$13.20
Which should you choose?
Which is better: GLM-5, Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite or Qwen3.5 397B-A17B?
Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite is the better all-round choice, scoring 73/100 against Qwen3.5 397B-A17B (56) and GLM-5 (37). It leads on price, inputs & features and context window. 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-5, Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite or Qwen3.5 397B-A17B?
Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite is cheaper at $0.25 input / $1.50 output per million tokens (official Google API price). Qwen3.5 397B-A17B costs $0.60 input / $3.60 output per million tokens (official Alibaba API price); GLM-5 costs $1.00 input / $3.20 output per million tokens (official Z.AI API price). At a typical mix of three input tokens to one output token, that is $0.563 per million tokens for Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite versus $1.35 for Qwen3.5 397B-A17B (2.4× as much) and $1.55 for GLM-5 (2.8× as much).
Which scores higher on benchmarks?
There is no independent benchmark that covers all three models yet. GLM-5 has an ECI of 145.8, Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite has not been scored yet and Qwen3.5 397B-A17B has an ECI of 146.7.
Which is better for coding?
There are no published SWE-bench Verified results for Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite and Qwen3.5 397B-A17B 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?
Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite has the largest context window at 1,048,576 tokens, against 262,144 for Qwen3.5 397B-A17B and 204,800 for GLM-5. Maximum output per response: GLM-5 up to 131,072, Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite up to 65,536, Qwen3.5 397B-A17B up to 65,536 tokens.
Which can read images, PDFs, audio or video?
GLM-5 accepts text; Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite accepts text, images, PDFs, audio and video; Qwen3.5 397B-A17B accepts text, images, audio and video. Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite handles the widest range of inputs.
Are any of these open source?
GLM-5 and Qwen3.5 397B-A17B publishes its weights and can be self-hosted; Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite is proprietary.
Which is newer?
Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite is the newest, released May 7, 2026. Qwen3.5 397B-A17B came out Feb 15, 2026; GLM-5 came out Feb 12, 2026. Knowledge cutoff: Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Jan 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.
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