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Model comparison

GLM 5.3 vs Grok 4.5

Z.ai against SpaceXAI, compared on context, price, and attributed benchmark results.

Recorded profile verification October 2, 2026Individual provider fields may changeEvidence confidence: Medium — see receipts below

Z.ai

GLM 5.3

Frontier · Open weights

vs

SpaceXAI

Grok 4.5

Balanced

AI model capability comparison
SpecificationGLM 5.3Grok 4.5
ProviderZ.aiSpaceXAI
TierFrontierBalanced
Context windowWinner: 1M500K
Max output131KNot verifiedUnverified
Input / 1M tokensWinner: $1.40$2
Output / 1M tokensWinner: $4.40$6
WeightsOpenClosed
Parameters753B total (MoE; active count not verified)Not verifiedUnverified
Reasoning levelslow, high, maxlow, medium, high
Modalitiestexttext, image
LicenseGLM-5.3 License (custom)Not verifiedUnverified
API model idglm-5.3grok-4.5
ReleasedAugust 14, 2026July 8, 2026
Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index [max] · source date GLM 5.3: 2026-10-0145Not verifiedUnverified
Terminal-Bench 2.1 · source date GLM 5.3: 2026-08-14, Grok 4.5: 2026-07-16 (comparability not verified)88.283.3
DeepSWE 1.1 · source date GLM 5.3: 2026-08-14, Grok 4.5: 2026-07 (comparability not verified)66.954
Humanity's Last Exam · source date GLM 5.3: 2026-08-1462.5Not verifiedUnverified

Dates beside benchmark scores refer to the linked source’s publication or capture date unless that source explicitly states when it measured the result. A shared URL alone does not establish comparable runs; unverified setups are marked. Prices are USD per million tokens at standard rates, excluding batch and caching discounts. Values we could not confirm from the provider are shown as “Not verified” rather than estimated.

Benchmark receipts

Where each score comes from, and how far it can be compared across models.

Pricing tiers

GLM 5.3: Z.ai token API $1.40/$4.40 per MTok; cached input $0.26. Cache storage is listed as limited-time free, with no verified end date. Coding Plan points are separate: off-peak/weekend calls consume half the standard points. API docs advertise 1M context and specify a 131,072 output ceiling.

Grok 4.5: Standard $2/$6 per MTok below 200K prompt tokens; at 200K or more the full request bills $4/$12. Cached input $0.30 short or $0.60 long. US regional inference adds 10%. No separate text-output cap is verified.

FrontierOpen weightsRecord checked October 2, 2026

GLM 5.3

Z.ai's text-only GLM flagship, with a 753B-total MoE checkpoint and always-enabled reasoning. Published benchmark figures identify particular harnesses and settings.

Best for

  • Coding Plan subscribers
  • Long-horizon coding
  • Chinese + English

Watch out

Custom licence: model-as-a-service operators whose licensee/affiliate aggregate revenue exceeds $10B in any consecutive 12 months require Z.AI security review before commercial use; the definition excludes embedded end-user features/harnesses and mere relays. Keep attribution/permission notices. Reasoning defaults to max; disabling it fails. Accounts that ever subscribed to Coding Plan, including expired subscriptions, currently have Model API access only through the Chat Completions-compatible protocol. Active parameter count and exact initial weight-publication day remain unverified.

BalancedRecord checked October 1, 2026

Grok 4.5

Grok 4.5 is SpaceXAI's hosted reasoning model with a 500K-token context and configurable low, medium and high effort.

Best for

  • Real-time data queries
  • Technical tasks
  • Cost-sensitive reasoning

Watch out

An earlier API model, still listed in pricing; current docs recommend Grok 4.7. Context is 500K. xhigh requests map to high and reasoning cannot be disabled; presencePenalty, frequencyPenalty and stop are unsupported. Match the exact model, effort and dated benchmark configuration.

When the cheaper one wins

GLM 5.3 is cheaper on output at $4.40 per million tokens against $6 for Grok 4.5 — about 1.4×. Use the cheaper tier for classification, extraction, summarisation, and any task where the expensive model’s extra score does not change the accepted output. The expensive one only pays if your hardest task actually fails on the cheap tier. On DeepSWE 1.1, GLM 5.3 is 69% Pass@1 at $3.99/task versus Grok 4.5 at 53.8% / $2.42/task. This compares standard short-context token rates, not total cost per accepted task. Include input, cache, context tiers, schedules, retries and review in your pilot.

Run the model picker

Evidence confidence: Medium

How strong and complete the evidence behind this comparison is — not a prediction of which model is better.

  • Pricing verified on both sides — Input and output rates are verified for both models.
  • 3/5 core specs verified on both sides — Not published for at least one side: max output, parameter count.
  • No directly aligned benchmark setup — No benchmark has matching cited sources, source dates, units, effort and recorded run details on both models.
  • Verified within the last 90 days — Older of the two catalog checks was 25 days ago.
  • Both models carry source citations — Each side has at least two catalog sources on record.

Source receipts

Each catalog figure was checked against the provider or an independent second source on the date shown.

Related comparisons

Diving deeper on one model? GLM 5.3 · Grok 4.5

Common questions

GLM 5.3 vs Grok 4.5

Answered from the verified figures on this page rather than general guidance.

Is GLM 5.3 or Grok 4.5 cheaper for input?
GLM 5.3 is cheaper at $1.40 per million input tokens, against $2 for Grok 4.5 — roughly 1.4× the price. Estimate both input and output token volume for your workload. These are base rates; GLM 5.3: Z.ai token API $1.40/$4.40 per MTok; cached input $0.26. Cache storage is listed as limited-time free, with no verified end date. Coding Plan points are separate: off-peak/weekend calls consume half the standard points. API docs advertise 1M context and specify a 131,072 output ceiling. Grok 4.5: Standard $2/$6 per MTok below 200K prompt tokens; at 200K or more the full request bills $4/$12. Cached input $0.30 short or $0.60 long. US regional inference adds 10%. No separate text-output cap is verified.
Is GLM 5.3 or Grok 4.5 cheaper for output?
GLM 5.3 is cheaper at $4.40 per million output tokens, against $6 for Grok 4.5 — roughly 1.4× the price. Estimate both input and output token volume for your workload. These are base rates; GLM 5.3: Z.ai token API $1.40/$4.40 per MTok; cached input $0.26. Cache storage is listed as limited-time free, with no verified end date. Coding Plan points are separate: off-peak/weekend calls consume half the standard points. API docs advertise 1M context and specify a 131,072 output ceiling. Grok 4.5: Standard $2/$6 per MTok below 200K prompt tokens; at 200K or more the full request bills $4/$12. Cached input $0.30 short or $0.60 long. US regional inference adds 10%. No separate text-output cap is verified.
Which has the larger context window, GLM 5.3 or Grok 4.5?
GLM 5.3 accepts 1M tokens against 500K for Grok 4.5. This only matters if you routinely send very long documents or large codebases.
Do GLM 5.3 and Grok 4.5 support the same reasoning levels?
GLM 5.3 exposes low, high, max, while Grok 4.5 exposes low, medium, high.
Should I use GLM 5.3 or Grok 4.5?
We classify GLM 5.3 in the frontier tier and Grok 4.5 in the balanced tier. Test whether either meets your accuracy, tool-use and latency requirements before choosing on price.
Can I self-host GLM 5.3 or Grok 4.5?
GLM 5.3 publishes open weights, but self-hosting and third-party provider access depend on the licence, hardware, serving support, and availability. Grok 4.5 is a closed model whose supported access paths are controlled by its provider.

Next step

Choosing between them

The verified figures that separate this pair, computed from the catalog rather than restated boilerplate.

  • Input price: GLM 5.3 costs $1.40 per 1M tokens versus $2 for Grok 4.5 — a 1.4x difference at the headline tier.
  • Context: GLM 5.3 takes 1M against 500K for Grok 4.5 — only decisive if your prompts approach the smaller window.
  • Deployment: GLM 5.3 publishes weights you can self-host; the other is API-only.
  • Positioning: GLM 5.3 sits in the frontier tier, Grok 4.5 in the balanced tier. Compare accuracy, reliability, latency, and cost on representative tasks before choosing.
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