# GLM-5.3 vs Qwen3 Max

> GLM-5.3 is the stronger model overall, scoring 54.8 to 43.7 on the Noometry Index.

- Canonical page: https://noometry.com/compare/glm-5-3-vs-qwen3-max
- Last updated: 2026-10-11
- Shared benchmarks: 29

## Summary

- They share 29 benchmarks with published results for both. GLM-5.3 scores higher in 8 categories and Qwen3 Max in 0 categories; 8 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in math, where GLM-5.3 leads 62.3 to 38.7.
- The biggest single-benchmark swing is FrontierMath (Tiers 1-3): 68.8% for GLM-5.3 and 18.9% for Qwen3 Max.
- GLM-5.3 is cheaper at $1.40 / $4.40 per million input/output tokens, against $1.20 / $6 for Qwen3 Max.
- GLM-5.3 accepts more context: 1M tokens versus 262K.
- GLM-5.3 has downloadable open weights; the other is API-only.

## Snapshot

| | GLM-5.3 | Qwen3 Max |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Z.ai (Zhipu) | Alibaba (Qwen) |
| Noometry Index | 54.8 | 43.7 |
| Rank | 26 | 87 |
| Context | 1M | 262K |
| Input $/M | $1.40 | $1.20 |
| Output $/M | $4.40 | $6 |
| Weights | Open | Proprietary |

## Coding

- GLM-5.3: 59.5 (#14)
- Qwen3 Max: 43.0 (#93)

| Benchmark | GLM-5.3 | Qwen3 Max |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Coding | 1496 | 1456 |
| ALE-Bench | 1,317 | 370.45 |
| DeepSWE | 69% | — |
| FrontierCode | 40.1% | — |
| CursorBench | 42.6% | — |
| LMArena WebDev | 1622 | — |
| FrontierSWE | 30.2% | — |
| SciCode | 59% | — |
| WeirdML | 75.4% | — |

## Agentic & Tool Use

- GLM-5.3: 36.4 (#38)
- Qwen3 Max: —

| Benchmark | GLM-5.3 | Qwen3 Max |
|---|---|---|
| Vending-Bench 2 | 8,164 | 71.56 |
| APEX-Agents | 56.6% | — |

## Reasoning

- GLM-5.3: 46.1 (#46)
- Qwen3 Max: 22.6 (#190)

| Benchmark | GLM-5.3 | Qwen3 Max |
|---|---|---|
| NYT Connections (extended) | 74.2% | 30.1% |
| Chess Puzzles | 21% | 4% |
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1489 | 1448 |
| Mystery Game Puzzles | 33% | 5% |
| DTBench | 87.7% | 82.1% |
| LMCA | 55.5% | 28.3% |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 155.61 | 142.38 |
| Kagi LLM Benchmark | — | 72.5% |
| CritPt | 19.1% | — |
| Bench to the Future 3 | 0.15 | — |

## Math

- GLM-5.3: 62.3 (#33)
- Qwen3 Max: 38.7 (#131)

| Benchmark | GLM-5.3 | Qwen3 Max |
|---|---|---|
| FrontierMath (Tiers 1-3) | 68.8% | 18.9% |
| OTIS Mock AIME 2024-2025 | 91.1% | 73.3% |
| LMArena Math | 1489 | 1446 |
| FrontierMath Tier 4 | 29.3% | — |
| ProofBench | 49% | — |
| MATH Level 5 | — | 97.1% |

## Knowledge

- GLM-5.3: 58.3 (#37)
- Qwen3 Max: 48.1 (#78)

| Benchmark | GLM-5.3 | Qwen3 Max |
|---|---|---|
| GPQA Diamond | 90.9% | 72.6% |
| SimpleQA Verified | 41% | 48.7% |
| LMArena Expert | 1516 | 1455 |

## Multilingual

- GLM-5.3: 55.7 (#28)
- Qwen3 Max: 53.7 (#62)

| Benchmark | GLM-5.3 | Qwen3 Max |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1457 | 1429 |
| LMArena Chinese | 1528 | 1478 |
| LMArena French | 1499 | 1449 |
| LMArena German | 1499 | 1463 |
| LMArena Japanese | 1453 | 1397 |
| LMArena Korean | 1472 | 1399 |
| LMArena Russian | 1463 | 1428 |
| LMArena Spanish | 1460 | 1462 |

## Instruction Following

- GLM-5.3: 77.5 (#23)
- Qwen3 Max: 74.8 (#87)

| Benchmark | GLM-5.3 | Qwen3 Max |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1477 | 1419 |

## Long Context

- GLM-5.3: 45.4 (#41)
- Qwen3 Max: 41.6 (#134)

| Benchmark | GLM-5.3 | Qwen3 Max |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Longer Query | 1482 | 1438 |
| Fiction.LiveBench | — | 66.7% |
| CL-bench | — | 14.5% |

## Writing & Preference

- GLM-5.3: 75.7 (#6)
- Qwen3 Max: 62.4 (#76)

| Benchmark | GLM-5.3 | Qwen3 Max |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1471 | 1439 |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1457 | 1402 |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1472 | 1446 |
| EQ-Bench Creative Writing | 2075 | — |

## FAQ

### Is GLM-5.3 better than Qwen3 Max?

GLM-5.3 is the stronger model overall, scoring 54.8 to 43.7 on the Noometry Index.

### Which is cheaper, GLM-5.3 or Qwen3 Max?

GLM-5.3 is cheaper. It lists at $1.40 per million input tokens and $4.40 per million output tokens; Qwen3 Max lists at $1.20 and $6.

### Is GLM-5.3 or Qwen3 Max better for coding?

GLM-5.3 scores higher on coding benchmarks: 59.5 versus 43.0 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 Qwen3 Max share?

29 benchmarks have published results for both models. GLM-5.3 has 42 scored results on Noometry and Qwen3 Max has 33.