# GLM-5.3 vs Inkling-Small

> GLM-5.3 is the stronger model overall, scoring 54.6 to 46.5 on the Noometry Index. Inkling-Small costs 3.4× less per token, which makes it the better buy when GLM-5.3's lead doesn't matter for your workload.

- Canonical page: https://noometry.com/compare/glm-5-3-vs-inkling-small
- Last updated: 2026-10-10
- Shared benchmarks: 30

## Summary

- They share 30 benchmarks with published results for both. GLM-5.3 scores higher in 8 categories and Inkling-Small in 0 categories; 8 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in math, where GLM-5.3 leads 62.1 to 44.9.
- The biggest single-benchmark swing is ProofBench: 49% for GLM-5.3 and 6% for Inkling-Small.
- Inkling-Small is cheaper at $0.45 / $1.20 per million input/output tokens, against $1.40 / $4.40 for GLM-5.3.
- GLM-5.3 accepts more context: 1M tokens versus 524K.

## Snapshot

| | GLM-5.3 | Inkling-Small |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Z.ai (Zhipu) | Thinking Machines Lab |
| Noometry Index | 54.6 | 46.5 |
| Rank | 25 | 57 |
| Context | 1M | 524K |
| Input $/M | $1.40 | $0.45 |
| Output $/M | $4.40 | $1.20 |
| Weights | Open | Open |

## Coding

- GLM-5.3: 59.0 (#12)
- Inkling-Small: 43.3 (#80)

| Benchmark | GLM-5.3 | Inkling-Small |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena WebDev | 1623 | 1408 |
| SciCode | 59% | 48.7% |
| LMArena Coding | 1499 | 1451 |
| DeepSWE | 69% | — |
| FrontierCode | 40.1% | — |
| FrontierSWE | 30.2% | — |
| WeirdML | 75.4% | — |
| ALE-Bench | 1,317 | — |

## Agentic & Tool Use

- GLM-5.3: 36.3 (#34)
- Inkling-Small: —

| Benchmark | GLM-5.3 | Inkling-Small |
|---|---|---|
| APEX-Agents | 56.6% | — |
| Vending-Bench 2 | 8,164 | — |

## Reasoning

- GLM-5.3: 45.2 (#42)
- Inkling-Small: 39.0 (#53)

| Benchmark | GLM-5.3 | Inkling-Small |
|---|---|---|
| CritPt | 19.1% | 8.3% |
| Chess Puzzles | 21% | 18% |
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1491 | 1424 |
| Mystery Game Puzzles | 33% | 6% |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 155.56 | 150.13 |
| ARC-AGI-2 | — | 40.1% |
| NYT Connections (extended) | 74.2% | — |
| ARC-AGI-1 | — | 84% |
| DTBench | 87.7% | — |
| LMCA | 55.5% | — |
| Bench to the Future 3 | 0.15 | — |

## Math

- GLM-5.3: 62.1 (#27)
- Inkling-Small: 44.9 (#65)

| Benchmark | GLM-5.3 | Inkling-Small |
|---|---|---|
| FrontierMath (Tiers 1-3) | 68.8% | 46.3% |
| FrontierMath Tier 4 | 29.3% | 17.1% |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024-2025 | 91.1% | 90% |
| ProofBench | 49% | 6% |
| LMArena Math | 1493 | 1453 |

## Knowledge

- GLM-5.3: 58.3 (#34)
- Inkling-Small: 48.3 (#71)

| Benchmark | GLM-5.3 | Inkling-Small |
|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond | 90.9% | 88.5% |
| SimpleQA Verified | 41% | 19.1% |
| LMArena Expert | 1512 | 1442 |

## Multimodal

- GLM-5.3: —
- Inkling-Small: 38.4 (#59)

| Benchmark | GLM-5.3 | Inkling-Small |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Vision | — | 1235 |

## Multilingual

- GLM-5.3: 55.9 (#27)
- Inkling-Small: 51.7 (#102)

| Benchmark | GLM-5.3 | Inkling-Small |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1457 | 1400 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1523 | 1458 |
| LMArena French | 1499 | 1438 |
| LMArena German | 1505 | 1412 |
| LMArena Japanese | 1438 | 1399 |
| LMArena Korean | 1478 | 1355 |
| LMArena Russian | 1460 | 1392 |
| LMArena Spanish | 1444 | 1426 |

## Instruction Following

- GLM-5.3: 77.8 (#15)
- Inkling-Small: 73.9 (#112)

| Benchmark | GLM-5.3 | Inkling-Small |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1481 | 1397 |

## Long Context

- GLM-5.3: 45.5 (#32)
- Inkling-Small: 42.7 (#113)

| Benchmark | GLM-5.3 | Inkling-Small |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1485 | 1401 |

## Writing & Preference

- GLM-5.3: 75.9 (#6)
- Inkling-Small: 59.8 (#102)

| Benchmark | GLM-5.3 | Inkling-Small |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1473 | 1413 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1459 | 1330 |
| EQ-Bench Creative Writing | 2075 | 1491 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1473 | 1420 |

## FAQ

### Is GLM-5.3 better than Inkling-Small?

GLM-5.3 is the stronger model overall, scoring 54.6 to 46.5 on the Noometry Index. Inkling-Small costs 3.4× 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 Inkling-Small?

Inkling-Small is cheaper. It lists at $0.45 per million input tokens and $1.20 per million output tokens; GLM-5.3 lists at $1.40 and $4.40.

### Is GLM-5.3 or Inkling-Small better for coding?

GLM-5.3 scores higher on coding benchmarks: 59.0 versus 43.3 in the Noometry coding category.

### Which has the bigger context window?

GLM-5.3 does, with 1M tokens against 524K.

### How many benchmarks do GLM-5.3 and Inkling-Small share?

30 benchmarks have published results for both models. GLM-5.3 has 41 scored results on Noometry and Inkling-Small has 33.