Model comparison

GLM-5.3 vs GPT-4.1 nano

GLM-5.3 is the stronger model overall, scoring 54.8 to 27.9 on the Noometry Index. GPT-4.1 nano costs 12× less per token, which makes it the better buy when GLM-5.3's lead doesn't matter for your workload.

Last verified . 24 shared benchmarks.

GLM-5.3 Z.ai (Zhipu)

54.8

Rank #26 Confirmed

GPT-4.1 nano OpenAI

27.9

Rank #327 Confirmed

Summary

  • They share 24 benchmarks with published results for both. GLM-5.3 scores higher in 9 categories and GPT-4.1 nano in 0 categories; 9 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
  • The widest gap is in reasoning, where GLM-5.3 leads 46.1 to 8.5.
  • The biggest single-benchmark swing is OTIS Mock AIME 2024-2025: 91.1% for GLM-5.3 and 28.9% for GPT-4.1 nano.
  • GPT-4.1 nano is cheaper at $0.10 / $0.40 per million input/output tokens, against $1.40 / $4.40 for GLM-5.3.
  • GPT-4.1 nano accepts more context: 1.05M tokens versus 1M.
  • GLM-5.3 has downloadable open weights; the other is API-only.

Side by side

GLM-5.3 and GPT-4.1 nano specifications
GLM-5.3GPT-4.1 nano
ProviderZ.ai (Zhipu)OpenAI
Noometry Index54.827.9
Released2026-08-142025-04-14
WeightsOpenProprietary
Context window1M1.05M
Max output131K33K
Input $ / M tokens$1.40$0.10
Output $ / M tokens$4.40$0.40
Results tracked4238

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Category by category

Coding GLM-5.3 leads

GLM-5.3: 59.5 (#14), GPT-4.1 nano: 24.1 (#330)

Coding benchmarks
BenchmarkGLM-5.3GPT-4.1 nano
SciCode59%25.9%
WeirdML75.4%19%
LMArena Coding14961306
DeepSWE69%—
FrontierCode40.1%—
Aider Polyglot—8.9%
CursorBench42.6%—
LMArena WebDev1622—
FrontierSWE30.2%—
ALE-Bench1,317—

Agentic & Tool Use GLM-5.3 leads

GLM-5.3: 36.4 (#38), GPT-4.1 nano: 26.5 (#104)

Agentic & Tool Use benchmarks
BenchmarkGLM-5.3GPT-4.1 nano
APEX-Agents56.6%—
Berkeley Function Calling Leaderboard—33%
Vending-Bench 28,164—

Reasoning GLM-5.3 leads

GLM-5.3: 46.1 (#46), GPT-4.1 nano: 8.5 (#349)

Reasoning benchmarks
BenchmarkGLM-5.3GPT-4.1 nano
CritPt19.1%0%
LMArena Hard Prompts14891286
DTBench87.7%52.5%
LMCA55.5%5.5%
Epoch Capabilities Index155.61129.62
ARC-AGI-2—0%
Kagi LLM Benchmark—33.3%
NYT Connections (extended)74.2%—
ARC-AGI-1—0%
Chess Puzzles21%—
Mystery Game Puzzles33%—
Bench to the Future 30.15—

Math GLM-5.3 leads

GLM-5.3: 62.3 (#33), GPT-4.1 nano: 26.9 (#252)

Math benchmarks
BenchmarkGLM-5.3GPT-4.1 nano
OTIS Mock AIME 2024-202591.1%28.9%
LMArena Math14891274
FrontierMath (Tiers 1-3)68.8%—
FrontierMath Tier 429.3%—
ProofBench49%—
Omni-MATH—36.7%
MATH Level 5—70%
FrontierMath (Feb 2025 set)—1%

Knowledge GLM-5.3 leads

GLM-5.3: 58.3 (#37), GPT-4.1 nano: 21.8 (#273)

Knowledge benchmarks
BenchmarkGLM-5.3GPT-4.1 nano
GPQA Diamond90.9%48.9%
SimpleQA Verified41%6%
LMArena Expert15161272
MMLU-Pro—55%
GPQA (HELM)—50.7%

Multimodal Not comparable

GLM-5.3: —, GPT-4.1 nano: 29.2 (#113)

Multimodal benchmarks
BenchmarkGLM-5.3GPT-4.1 nano
LMArena Vision—1063

Multilingual GLM-5.3 leads

GLM-5.3: 55.7 (#28), GPT-4.1 nano: 41.6 (#205)

Multilingual benchmarks
BenchmarkGLM-5.3GPT-4.1 nano
LMArena Non-English14571260
LMArena Chinese15281270
LMArena German14991288
LMArena Japanese14531198
LMArena Russian14631261
LMArena French1499—
LMArena Korean1472—
LMArena Spanish1460—

Instruction Following GLM-5.3 leads

GLM-5.3: 77.5 (#23), GPT-4.1 nano: 67.8 (#193)

Instruction Following benchmarks
BenchmarkGLM-5.3GPT-4.1 nano
LMArena Instruction Following14771267
IFEval—84.3%

Long Context GLM-5.3 leads

GLM-5.3: 45.4 (#41), GPT-4.1 nano: 23.7 (#296)

Long Context benchmarks
BenchmarkGLM-5.3GPT-4.1 nano
LMArena Longer Query14821283
Fiction.LiveBench—25%

Writing & Preference GLM-5.3 leads

GLM-5.3: 75.7 (#6), GPT-4.1 nano: 40.5 (#243)

Writing & Preference benchmarks
BenchmarkGLM-5.3GPT-4.1 nano
LMArena Text14711285
LMArena Creative Writing14571260
EQ-Bench Creative Writing2075946
LMArena Multi-Turn14721277
WildBench—81.2%

Frequently asked questions

Is GLM-5.3 better than GPT-4.1 nano?

GLM-5.3 is the stronger model overall, scoring 54.8 to 27.9 on the Noometry Index. GPT-4.1 nano costs 12× less per token, which makes it the better buy when GLM-5.3's lead doesn't matter for your workload.

Which is cheaper, GLM-5.3 or GPT-4.1 nano?

GPT-4.1 nano is cheaper. It lists at $0.10 per million input tokens and $0.40 per million output tokens; GLM-5.3 lists at $1.40 and $4.40.

Is GLM-5.3 or GPT-4.1 nano better for coding?

GLM-5.3 scores higher on coding benchmarks: 59.5 versus 24.1 in the Noometry coding category.

Which has the bigger context window?

GPT-4.1 nano does, with 1.05M tokens against 1M.

How many benchmarks do GLM-5.3 and GPT-4.1 nano share?

24 benchmarks have published results for both models. GLM-5.3 has 42 scored results on Noometry and GPT-4.1 nano has 38.

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