---
title: "GLM-5.3 — LLM-TEST.com"
url: /models/glm-5-3/
canonical_url: https://llm-test.com/models/glm-5-3/
language: en
type: model
summary: "Zhipu's current flagship and the top of the GLM ladder, pairing strong reasoning with permissive open weights. It targets agentic workloads and long-context coding while staying far cheaper than Western frontier models."
last_updated: "2026-11-05"
---

# GLM-5.3

_Zhipu AI · Flagship · open weights_

Zhipu's current flagship and the top of the GLM ladder, pairing strong reasoning with permissive open weights. It targets agentic workloads and long-context coding while staying far cheaper than Western frontier models.

## At a glance

- Released: Sep 18, 2026
- Provider: Zhipu AI
- Context window: 256,000 tokens
- Max output: 64,000 tokens
- Modalities: Text + image → text
- Knowledge cutoff: June 2026
- API model ID: `glm-5.3`
- License: Open weights (MIT)

## Pricing

- Standard: $1.40 input / $4.40 output per 1M tokens
- Example: a 1,500-token prompt + 650-token answer ≈ $0.005 (standard)

## What's new vs GLM-5.2 (June 2026)

- Sharper multi-step reasoning and more reliable tool calling than GLM-5.2
- Stronger long-context retention across the full 256K window
- Higher latency on short prompts than the Flash tiers

## Best use cases

- **Agentic coding** — Drives multi-file refactors and tool-using agents with dependable function calls.
- **Long-document analysis** — Reads and reasons over large codebases or contract bundles in a single pass.
- **Self-hosting** — MIT weights let teams run the flagship entirely on their own hardware.

## Strengths

- Open weights (MIT)
- Strong agentic tool use
- Low cost for a flagship

## Limitations

- Slower than Flash tiers
- Heavy to self-host at full precision

## Where to get access

- Consumer app: Z.ai chat (GLM) — https://chat.z.ai
- API: the Z.ai API console — https://z.ai/manage-apikey/apikey-list
- Also available: open weights on Hugging Face (GLM)
- Docs: https://docs.z.ai

Full comparison and live pricing: https://llm-test.com/ · directory: https://llm-test.com/models/