Qwen3 Max vs GLM 5
| Signal | Qwen3 Max | Delta | GLM 5 |
|---|---|---|---|
Capabilities | 50 | -17 | |
Benchmarks | 69 | -12 | |
Pricing | 96 | -1 | |
Context window size | 86 | +2 | |
Recency | 77 | -23 | |
Output Capacity | 75 | -10 | |
| Overall Result | 1 wins | of 6 | 5 wins |
Score History
67.4
current score
GLM 5
right now
78
current score
Qwen3 Max
Alibaba
GLM 5
Zhipu AI
GLM 5 saves you $50.50/month
That's $606.00/year compared to Qwen3 Max at your current usage level of 100K calls/month.
| Metric | Qwen3 Max | GLM 5 | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall Score | 67 | 78 | GLM 5 |
| Rank | #128 | #73 | GLM 5 |
| Quality Rank | #128 | #73 | GLM 5 |
| Adoption Rank | #128 | #73 | GLM 5 |
| Parameters | -- | -- | -- |
| Context Window | 262K | 205K | Qwen3 Max |
| Pricing | $0.78/$3.90/M | $0.95/$2.55/M | -- |
| Signal Scores | |||
| Capabilities | 50 | 67 | GLM 5 |
| Benchmarks | 69 | 81 | GLM 5 |
| Pricing | 96 | 98 | GLM 5 |
| Context window size | 86 | 84 | Qwen3 Max |
| Recency | 77 | 100 | GLM 5 |
| Output Capacity | 75 | 85 | GLM 5 |
Our score (0-100) is driven by benchmark performance (90%) from Arena Elo ratings, MMLU, GPQA, HumanEval, SWE-bench, and 15+ standardized evaluations. Capabilities and context window serve as tiebreakers (10%). Learn more about our methodology.
Scores 67/100 (rank #128), placing it in the top 56% of all 290 models tracked.
Scores 78/100 (rank #73), placing it in the top 75% of all 290 models tracked.
GLM 5 has a 11-point advantage, which typically translates to noticeably better performance on complex reasoning, code generation, and multi-step tasks.
Choose Qwen3 Max when you need:
- Budget-friendly applications with moderate quality requirements
Choose GLM 5 when you need:
- High-volume production workloads where API costs must be minimized
- Step-by-step reasoning and chain-of-thought problem solving
- Self-hosted deployments where you need full control over the model
GLM 5 offers 25% better value per quality point. At 1M tokens/day, you'd spend $52.50/month with GLM 5 vs $70.20/month with Qwen3 Max - a $17.70 monthly difference.
Both models have comparable response speeds. For most applications, the latency difference is negligible.
When latency matters most: Interactive chatbots, IDE code completion, real-time translation, and user-facing applications where response time directly impacts experience. For batch processing, background summarization, or offline analysis, latency is less critical.
Code generation & review
Based on overall model capabilities and architecture for coding tasks like generating functions, debugging, and refactoring
Customer support chatbot
Suitable for user-facing chat with competitive response times. GLM 5 also offers lower per-token costs for high-volume support
Long document analysis
Larger context window (262K tokens) can process longer documents, contracts, and research papers in a single pass
Batch data extraction
Lower output pricing ($2.55/M) reduces costs when processing thousands of records daily
Creative writing & content
Higher overall composite score (78/100) correlates with better nuance, coherence, and style in long-form content
GLM 5 clearly outperforms Qwen3 Max with a significant 10.599999999999994-point lead. For most general use cases, GLM 5 is the stronger choice. However, Qwen3 Max may still excel in niche scenarios.
By Use Case
Best for Quality
Qwen3 Max
Marginally better benchmark scores; both are excellent
Best for Cost
GLM 5
25% lower pricing; better value at scale
Best for Reliability
Qwen3 Max
Higher uptime and faster response speeds
Best for Prototyping
Qwen3 Max
Stronger community support and better developer experience
Best for Production
Qwen3 Max
Wider enterprise adoption and proven at scale
by Alibaba
- Choose for Quality - Marginally better benchmark scores; both are excellent
- Choose for Reliability - Higher uptime and faster response speeds
- Choose for Prototyping - Stronger community support and better developer experience
- Choose for Production - Wider enterprise adoption and proven at scale
| Capability | Qwen3 Max | GLM 5 |
|---|---|---|
| Vision (Image Input) | ||
| Function Calling | ||
| Streaming | ||
| JSON Mode | ||
| Reasoningdiffers | ||
| Web Search | ||
| Image Output |
Qwen3 Max
Alibaba
GLM 5
Zhipu AI
GLM 5 saves you $1.31/month
That's 22% cheaper than Qwen3 Max at 1,000 tokens/request and 100 requests/day.
Assumes 60% input / 40% output token ratio per request. Actual costs may vary based on your usage pattern.
| Parameter | Qwen3 Max | GLM 5 |
|---|---|---|
| Context Window | 262K | 205K |
| Max Output Tokens | 32,768 | 131,072 |
| Open Source | No | Yes |
| Created | Sep 23, 2025 | Feb 11, 2026 |