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Head-to-head comparison

MiniMax M3.1 Flash vs GLM 5.3

MiniMax M3.1 Flash (MiniMax) and GLM 5.3 (Z.ai) compared on the ModelCap Index, API price, context window, provider availability, weight access and every public benchmark board they share. Figures are the same ones shown on the live rankings; nothing here is a hidden score.

Snapshot as of 23 October 2026

As of 23 October 2026, GLM 5.3 holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#18 vs #22); and MiniMax M3.1 Flash is 2.3× cheaper per output token ($0.60/1M vs $1.40/1M).

Which should you choose?

Choose MiniMax M3.1 Flash if…

  • API cost matters — $0.60/1M output tokens against $1.40/1M, about 2.3× cheaper.
  • AA Humanity's Last Exam is your yardstick — 48.0% against 42.3%.
  • you want the more recently listed model — MiniMax M3.1 Flash was listed 19 October 2026, GLM 5.3 18 August 2026.

Choose GLM 5.3 if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #18 against #22 (79.0 vs 77.4 points).
  • your workload is prompt-heavy — input tokens cost $0.079/1M against $0.15/1M.
  • you want provider choice — 37 listed API providers against 5.
  • AA Intelligence Index is your yardstick — 44.8 against 42.7.

MiniMax M3.1 Flash vs GLM 5.3: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of MiniMax M3.1 Flash and GLM 5.3
FieldMiniMax M3.1 FlashMiniMaxGLM 5.3Z.ai
ModelCap Index position#22#18
Index score77.479.0
EvidenceEstimatedMeasured
Input price / 1M tokens$0.15$0.079
Output price / 1M tokens$0.60$1.40
Context window1M tokens1M tokens
Declared route output cap524K944K
API providers listed537
Weight accessRestricted licenseRestricted license
Input modalitiesText, Image, VideoText
First listed19 October 202618 August 2026
PublisherMiniMaxZ.ai

Evidence: publisher-corpus-prior over 211 held-out anchors (6%); launch card against 5 resolved peers on 6 rows (94%); optimism haircut 0 from cross-lab-probe; shrunk 1.9 toward the measured corpus · 3 public benchmark observations across 3 boards. Prices are the lowest listed API offer per million tokens observed on the OpenRouter catalogue.

Benchmark scores: MiniMax M3.1 Flash vs GLM 5.3

Public benchmark boards where MiniMax M3.1 Flash or GLM 5.3 has a published result
BoardMiniMax M3.1 FlashGLM 5.3Leads
Arena textArena (LMArena)—14811476–1486MaxOnly one result
Arena codingArena (LMArena)—15211513–1529MaxOnly one result
LMArena AgentLMArena—1.4%0.6%–2.2%MaxOnly one result
AA Intelligence IndexArtificial Analysis42.7Reasoning44.8MaxGLM 5.3
AA Terminal-Bench 2.1Artificial Analysis—83.9%MaxOnly one result
AA Humanity's Last ExamArtificial Analysis48.0%Reasoning42.3%MaxMiniMax M3.1 Flash
Terminal-Bench 4.0Terminal-Bench (Laude Institute)—41.8%38.6%–45.1%Claude Code · MaxOnly one result

Scores are the sources' own published figures for each model's best evaluated configuration; ModelCap never re-runs a benchmark.

Want a different pairing? Open the interactive comparison tool to swap either model for any current ranked language model.

MiniMax M3.1 Flash vs GLM 5.3: common questions

Is MiniMax M3.1 Flash better than GLM 5.3?

GLM 5.3 ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 23 October 2026: #18 against #22. That is a capability ranking built from public benchmark evidence with published uncertainty; whether it is "better" for you also depends on price, context and where you can run it. Their published uncertainty intervals overlap, so the rank difference alone does not establish a reliable capability advantage for your workload.

Is MiniMax M3.1 Flash cheaper than GLM 5.3?

MiniMax M3.1 Flash is cheaper on output tokens: $0.60/1M against $1.40/1M. Input tokens are $0.15/1M for MiniMax M3.1 Flash and $0.079/1M for GLM 5.3. Prices are the lowest listed API offer ModelCap observed, in USD per million tokens. For 1,000 requests with 2,000 input and 500 output tokens each (2M input + 0.5M output), the listed-rate estimate is $0.60 for MiniMax M3.1 Flash versus $0.86 for GLM 5.3. MiniMax M3.1 Flash costs 30.1% less in this scenario. This excludes caching, batch discounts, prompt-length tiers, tool charges and retries; verify the selected endpoint before budgeting.

Which has the bigger context window, MiniMax M3.1 Flash or GLM 5.3?

Both publish a 1M-token context window. OpenRouter catalogue or provider-endpoint declaration. Limits can vary by provider and prompt length; a model-wide maximum has not been independently verified.

Which is better for coding, MiniMax M3.1 Flash or GLM 5.3?

The two models do not share a coding benchmark board on ModelCap yet, so no head-to-head coding score is published; the ModelCap Index position is the closest overall signal.

Are MiniMax M3.1 Flash and GLM 5.3 open-weight models?

MiniMax M3.1 Flash: Restricted license. GLM 5.3: Restricted license. Open weights mean the checkpoint can be downloaded and self-hosted under its licence. A missing weight link does not identify every API or chat product that offers a model.

Where can I run MiniMax M3.1 Flash and GLM 5.3?

ModelCap currently lists 5 API providers for MiniMax M3.1 Flash and 37 for GLM 5.3, from the OpenRouter catalogue snapshot the site serves; each model page lists the providers and their prices.

How current is this MiniMax M3.1 Flash vs GLM 5.3 comparison?

Every figure and ModelCap Index position comes from the same published snapshot dated 23 October 2026. Publication and page updates happen separately; use the snapshot date shown on the page.

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