Lowest price per token
GLM-5GLM-5.3 Flash costs $0.0052 in and $0.1985 out per million tokens, below both DeepSeek models on both counts.
compare/glm-5-vs-deepseek-v4
Comparison · open-weights rivals
GLM-5 vs DeepSeek V4
GLM-5 and DeepSeek V4 are the two big open-weights model families from China, and both now offer about one million tokens of context. Here is how GLM-5.3 and GLM-5.3 Flash compare with DeepSeek V4 Pro and DeepSeek V4.1 Flash on the numbers that can be checked.
Data-backed verdicts
GLM-5
3
DeepSeek V4
1
Tie: 2 · counted from the six verdicts below
§ 01Specs
Specification matrix
OpenRouter data for the models compared on this page. Lowest prices and largest limits are highlighted.
| Model | GLM-5.3 | GLM-5.3 Flash | DeepSeek V4 Pro | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Developer | Z.ai | Z.ai | DeepSeek | DeepSeek |
| Released | Aug 18, 2026 | Aug 26, 2026 | Apr 24, 2026 | Sep 10, 2026 |
| Context window | 1.05M | 1.05M | 1.05M | 1.05M |
| Max output | 944K | 944K | 384K | 944K |
| Input price | $0.079 | $0.0052 | $0.4461 | $0.3 |
| Output price | $1.40 | $0.1985 | $0.8923 | $1.20 |
| Inputs | Text | Text, Image, Video | Text | Text, Image |
| Open weights | Yes (Hugging Face) | Yes (Hugging Face) | Yes (Hugging Face) | Yes (Hugging Face) |
| Free chat here | In our chat | In our chat | — | — |
Prices are USD per 1 million tokens as listed by OpenRouter; the best value in each row is highlighted. Source: OpenRouter model list and the official Hugging Face model cards.
§ 02Analysis
What the numbers mean
Two open families
Both families publish weights on Hugging Face, which sets them apart from most frontier models. GLM-5.3 Flash, GLM-5.3, DeepSeek V4 Pro and DeepSeek V4.1 Flash all have official repositories, so on openness this is a draw: you can self-host either family.
Context is also a draw. All four models list 1,048,576 tokens of context on OpenRouter, enough for a large codebase or a long stack of documents in one request. Where they differ is price, output limits and what kind of input they accept.
Price: it depends on the shape of your work
On input, GLM wins by a mile. GLM-5.3 Flash costs $0.0052 per million input tokens and GLM-5.3 $0.079, against $0.30 for DeepSeek V4.1 Flash and about $0.45 for DeepSeek V4 Pro. If your workload reads a lot and writes a little — retrieval, document review, long-context coding agents — GLM is far cheaper.
On output, the picture is mixed. GLM-5.3 Flash is still the cheapest at $0.1985 per million output tokens. But between the flagships, DeepSeek V4 Pro is cheaper to write with: about $0.89 per million output tokens against $1.40 for GLM-5.3. Long-form generation with the bigger models therefore favours DeepSeek V4 Pro.
Inputs and output limits
GLM-5.3 Flash accepts text, images and video. DeepSeek V4.1 Flash accepts text and images, while GLM-5.3 and DeepSeek V4 Pro are text-only. If you need video understanding, GLM-5.3 Flash is the only one of the four that lists it.
Maximum output per request is 943,718 tokens for both GLM models and for DeepSeek V4.1 Flash, and 384,000 for DeepSeek V4 Pro. In everyday use you will rarely hit either limit, but very long agent outputs or full-document rewrites have more room on the larger figure.
- Cheapest overall: GLM-5.3 Flash.
- Cheapest flagship output: DeepSeek V4 Pro.
- Only video input: GLM-5.3 Flash.
§ 03Verdicts
Six questions, six answers
Image and video input
GLM-5GLM-5.3 Flash reads text, images and video. DeepSeek V4.1 Flash reads images but not video; V4 Pro is text-only.
Cheapest flagship output
DeepSeek V4DeepSeek V4 Pro charges about $0.89 per million output tokens, against $1.40 for GLM-5.3.
Context window
TieAll four models list 1,048,576 tokens of context on OpenRouter.
Open weights
TieBoth families publish official weights on Hugging Face for every model compared here.
Free chat without sign-up
GLM-5You can use GLM-5.3 and GLM-5.3 Flash free on glm5.org right now; DeepSeek models are not in our chat.
Bottom line
For cheap, long-context reading and anything with images or video, GLM-5.3 Flash is the better buy. For long outputs from a flagship-class model, DeepSeek V4 Pro costs less per output token. Both are open — test both on your real task.
Pick GLM-5 if…
- your work reads far more tokens than it writes
- you need image or video input
- you want the lowest possible price per request
- you want to try it right now, free, in the browser
Pick DeepSeek V4 if…
- you generate long outputs with a flagship-class model
- your prompts are already tuned for DeepSeek
- you are standardising on DeepSeek's open-weights stack
§ 04FAQ
Common questions
Q01Is GLM-5 cheaper than DeepSeek V4?
On input, yes, by a wide margin. On output, GLM-5.3 Flash is cheapest, but DeepSeek V4 Pro is cheaper per output token than GLM-5.3.
Q02Do both have open weights?
Yes. GLM-5.3, GLM-5.3 Flash, DeepSeek V4 Pro and DeepSeek V4.1 Flash all have official Hugging Face repositories.
Q03Which one has the larger context?
Neither. All four models list 1,048,576 tokens of context on OpenRouter.
Q04Which is better at coding?
Both families target coding and agents. Vendor benchmarks are not directly comparable, so run your own code tasks — you can test GLM-5.3 free in our chat.
§ 05More
Other comparisons
Try it now
Ask GLM-5.3 something real.
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