# GLM-5.3 vs Nemotron 3.5 Lightning

> GLM-5.3 is the stronger model overall, scoring 54.8 to 40.0 on the Noometry Index. Nemotron 3.5 Lightning costs 25× 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-nemotron-3-5-lightning
- Last updated: 2026-10-10
- Shared benchmarks: 18

## Summary

- They share 18 benchmarks with published results for both. GLM-5.3 scores higher in 8 categories and Nemotron 3.5 Lightning in 0 categories; 8 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in writing & preference, where GLM-5.3 leads 75.7 to 48.5.
- Nemotron 3.5 Lightning is cheaper at $0.05 / $0.20 per million input/output tokens, against $1.40 / $4.40 for GLM-5.3.
- GLM-5.3 accepts more context: 1M tokens versus 262K.

## Snapshot

| | GLM-5.3 | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Z.ai (Zhipu) | NVIDIA |
| Noometry Index | 54.8 | 40.0 |
| Rank | 26 | 155 |
| Context | 1M | 262K |
| Input $/M | $1.40 | $0.05 |
| Output $/M | $4.40 | $0.20 |
| Weights | Open | Open |

## Coding

- GLM-5.3: 59.5 (#14)
- Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 40.4 (#141)

| Benchmark | GLM-5.3 | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1496 | 1375 |
| DeepSWE | 69% | — |
| FrontierCode | 40.1% | — |
| CursorBench | 42.6% | — |
| LMArena WebDev | 1622 | — |
| FrontierSWE | 30.2% | — |
| SciCode | 59% | — |
| WeirdML | 75.4% | — |
| ALE-Bench | 1,317 | — |

## Agentic & Tool Use

- GLM-5.3: 36.4 (#38)
- Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: —

| Benchmark | GLM-5.3 | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| APEX-Agents | 56.6% | — |
| Vending-Bench 2 | 8,164 | — |

## Reasoning

- GLM-5.3: 46.1 (#46)
- Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 26.8 (#127)

| Benchmark | GLM-5.3 | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1489 | 1337 |
| NYT Connections (extended) | 74.2% | — |
| CritPt | 19.1% | — |
| Chess Puzzles | 21% | — |
| Mystery Game Puzzles | 33% | — |
| DTBench | 87.7% | — |
| LMCA | 55.5% | — |
| Bench to the Future 3 | 0.15 | — |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 155.61 | — |

## Math

- GLM-5.3: 62.3 (#33)
- Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 37.5 (#155)

| Benchmark | GLM-5.3 | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | 1489 | 1359 |
| FrontierMath (Tiers 1-3) | 68.8% | — |
| FrontierMath Tier 4 | 29.3% | — |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024-2025 | 91.1% | — |
| ProofBench | 49% | — |

## Knowledge

- GLM-5.3: 58.3 (#37)
- Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 37.5 (#154)

| Benchmark | GLM-5.3 | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Expert | 1516 | 1356 |
| GPQA Diamond | 90.9% | — |
| SimpleQA Verified | 41% | — |

## Multilingual

- GLM-5.3: 55.7 (#28)
- Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 44.0 (#180)

| Benchmark | GLM-5.3 | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1457 | 1295 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1528 | 1359 |
| LMArena French | 1499 | 1366 |
| LMArena German | 1499 | 1282 |
| LMArena Japanese | 1453 | 1206 |
| LMArena Korean | 1472 | 1238 |
| LMArena Russian | 1463 | 1253 |
| LMArena Spanish | 1460 | 1345 |

## Instruction Following

- GLM-5.3: 77.5 (#23)
- Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 69.6 (#170)

| Benchmark | GLM-5.3 | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1477 | 1318 |

## Long Context

- GLM-5.3: 45.4 (#41)
- Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 39.9 (#165)

| Benchmark | GLM-5.3 | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1482 | 1314 |

## Writing & Preference

- GLM-5.3: 75.7 (#6)
- Nemotron 3.5 Lightning: 48.5 (#201)

| Benchmark | GLM-5.3 | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1471 | 1327 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1457 | 1254 |
| EQ-Bench Creative Writing | 2075 | 1280 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1472 | 1328 |

## FAQ

### Is GLM-5.3 better than Nemotron 3.5 Lightning?

GLM-5.3 is the stronger model overall, scoring 54.8 to 40.0 on the Noometry Index. Nemotron 3.5 Lightning costs 25× 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 Nemotron 3.5 Lightning?

Nemotron 3.5 Lightning is cheaper. It lists at $0.05 per million input tokens and $0.20 per million output tokens; GLM-5.3 lists at $1.40 and $4.40.

### Is GLM-5.3 or Nemotron 3.5 Lightning better for coding?

GLM-5.3 scores higher on coding benchmarks: 59.5 versus 40.4 in the Noometry coding category.

### Which has the bigger context window?

GLM-5.3 does, with 1M tokens against 262K.

### How many benchmarks do GLM-5.3 and Nemotron 3.5 Lightning share?

18 benchmarks have published results for both models. GLM-5.3 has 42 scored results on Noometry and Nemotron 3.5 Lightning has 18.