Model comparison - Similar price, same tier
GLM-5.3-Flash vs Qwen3.8-Flash
GLM-5.3-Flash is from Z.ai and Qwen3.8-Flash is from Alibaba Cloud (Qwen). On list price, both charge $0.15 per 1M input tokens, and Qwen3.8-Flash charges 6% less than GLM-5.3-Flash for output ($0.47 vs $0.50 per 1M tokens). GLM-5.3-Flash and Qwen3.8-Flash both have a 1,000,000-token context window; max output is 128,000 and 131,072 tokens per response. Both were released on August 26, 2026. GLM-5.3-Flash publishes open weights (MIT); Qwen3.8-Flash is closed-weights.
Last verified from each provider's pricing page. All sources
Side-by-side specs
| Spec | GLM-5.3-Flash | Qwen3.8-Flash |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Z.ai | Alibaba Cloud (Qwen) |
| Input / 1M tokens | $0.15 | $0.15 |
| Output / 1M tokens | $0.50 | $0.47 |
| Cache read / 1M | $0.03 | $0.016 |
| Cache write / 1M | - | $0.20 |
| Context window | 1,000,000 | 1,000,000 |
| Max output | 128,000 | 131,072 |
| Release date | ||
| Weights | Open | Closed |
| License | MIT | - |
| API model id | glm-5.3-flash | qwen3.8-flash |
| AI Gateway id | zai/glm-5.3-flash | alibaba/qwen3.8-flash |
| Last verified |
Prices in USD per 1M tokens at each provider's standard first-party rate. A dash means the provider does not bill that item separately or no primary page states it.
What each costs in practice
The same three workloads every model page uses, worked from each model's standard list rates. Swap in your own token counts with the math on each model's page.
| Workload | GLM-5.3-Flash | Qwen3.8-Flash |
|---|---|---|
| One agent session1M input tokens and 100K output tokens, no caching. | $0.20 | $0.197 |
| A chat app10,000 requests a day at 2K input and 500 output tokens each. | $5.50$165.00 per 30-day month | $5.35$160.50 per 30-day month |
| The same session at a 90% cache hit90% of the input is read from the prompt cache. The one-time cache write premium is not included. | $0.092 | $0.0764 |
Show the math
GLM-5.3-Flash
- One agent sessionInput: 1M x $0.15 = $0.15Output: 0.1M x $0.50 = $0.05
- A chat appInput: 20M x $0.15 = $3.00Output: 5M x $0.50 = $2.50
- The same session at a 90% cache hitCached input: 0.9M x $0.03 = $0.027Uncached input: 0.1M x $0.15 = $0.015Output: 0.1M x $0.50 = $0.05
Qwen3.8-Flash
- One agent sessionInput: 1M x $0.15 = $0.15Output: 0.1M x $0.47 = $0.047
- A chat appInput: 20M x $0.15 = $3.00Output: 5M x $0.47 = $2.35
- The same session at a 90% cache hitCached input: 0.9M x $0.016 = $0.0144Uncached input: 0.1M x $0.15 = $0.015Output: 0.1M x $0.47 = $0.047
Benchmarks under the same setting
No board in the benchmark directory lists both GLM-5.3-Flash and Qwen3.8-Flash under the same setting, so there is no like-for-like score to show here.
Set them up in your tools
Step-by-step guides whose official docs list GLM-5.3-Flash or Qwen3.8-Flash by model id.
- Use GLM in AiderLists GLM-5.3-Flash
- Use GLM in Claude CodeLists GLM-5.3-Flash
- Use GLM in ClineLists GLM-5.3-Flash
- Use GLM in ContinueLists GLM-5.3-Flash
- Use GLM in GooseLists GLM-5.3-Flash
- Use GLM in Kilo CodeLists GLM-5.3-Flash
- Use GLM in OpenCodeLists GLM-5.3-Flash
- Use GLM in Roo CodeLists GLM-5.3-Flash
- Use GLM in ZedLists GLM-5.3-Flash
- Use Ollama in Claude CodeLists GLM-5.3-Flash
- Use Qwen in Claude CodeLists Qwen3.8-Flash
- Use Qwen in Codex CLILists Qwen3.8-Flash
- Use Qwen in Kilo CodeLists Qwen3.8-Flash
- Use Qwen in OpenCodeLists Qwen3.8-Flash
Model pages
FAQ
How do GLM-5.3-Flash and Qwen3.8-Flash compare on price?
On list price, both charge $0.15 per 1M input tokens, and Qwen3.8-Flash charges 6% less than GLM-5.3-Flash for output ($0.47 vs $0.50 per 1M tokens). For one agent session of 1M input and 100K output tokens with no caching, that is $0.20 on GLM-5.3-Flash and $0.197 on Qwen3.8-Flash. Prices are each provider's first-party list rates, verified October 17, 2026 and October 17, 2026.
What are the context windows of GLM-5.3-Flash and Qwen3.8-Flash?
GLM-5.3-Flash and Qwen3.8-Flash both have a 1,000,000-token context window; max output is 128,000 and 131,072 tokens per response.
Are GLM-5.3-Flash and Qwen3.8-Flash open weights?
GLM-5.3-Flash's weights are published at huggingface.co under the MIT. Qwen3.8-Flash is closed-weights and is called through Alibaba Cloud (Qwen)'s API as qwen3.8-flash.
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- Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite vs Qwen3.8-FlashSimilar price, same tier
Sources
GLM-5.3-Flash verified from docs.z.ai; Qwen3.8-Flash verified from alibabacloud.com. This page is as current as the older of the two: .
- https://docs.z.ai/guides/overview/pricing
- https://www.alibabacloud.com/help/en/model-studio/model-pricing
- https://docs.z.ai/guides/vlm/glm-5.3-flash
- https://docs.z.ai/guides/overview/overview
- https://docs.z.ai/release-notes/new-released
- https://docs.z.ai/openapi.json
- https://huggingface.co/zai-org/GLM-5.3-Flash
- https://ai-gateway.vercel.sh/v1/models
- https://modelstudio.console.alibabacloud.com/ap-southeast-1/model/market/detail/qwen3.8-flash
- https://www.qwencloud.com/models/qwen3.8-flash
- https://www.alibabacloud.com/help/en/model-studio/text-generation-model
- https://www.alibabacloud.com/help/en/model-studio/context-cache
- https://www.alibabacloud.com/help/en/model-studio/newly-released-models
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