Claude Opus 5 vs GLM-5.3
Claude Opus 5 and GLM-5.3 are closely matched at 55.4 and 53.6 on the LLM Stats Score. GLM-5.3 is 4.7x cheaper per token.
Anthropic · Zhipu AI · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
Claude Opus 5 and GLM-5.3 are closely matched on the overall LLM Stats Score at 55.4 and 53.6.
In the 4 individual benchmarks reported for both models, Claude Opus 5 wins 3; this is a narrower head-to-head signal than the composite indexes.
On price, GLM-5.3 is roughly 4.7x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
Based on current LLM Stats indexes, shared benchmarks, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.
Choose Claude Opus 5
- you value its reported benchmark strengths — it wins 3 of 4 exact shared results
Choose GLM-5.3
- cost matters — it's about 4.7x cheaper per token
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Aug 2026
- you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Capability indexes
Additional strengths measured across groups of related public benchmarks
Individual benchmarks
13 reported for Claude Opus 5 · 17 for GLM-5.3
Claude Opus 5 outperforms in 3 benchmarks (DeepSWE 1.1, Humanity's Last Exam, Terminal-Bench 4.0), while GLM-5.3 is better at 1 benchmark (AutomationBench).
Claude Opus 5 shows notably better performance in the majority of benchmarks.
Human preference
Blind head-to-head votes and playground preference scores
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, Claude Opus 5 ($5.00/1M tokens) is 3.6x more expensive than GLM-5.3 ($1.40/1M tokens).
For output processing, Claude Opus 5 ($25.00/1M tokens) is 5.7x more expensive than GLM-5.3 ($4.40/1M tokens).
In conclusion, Claude Opus 5 is more expensive than GLM-5.3.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
Both models have the same input context window of 1,000,000 tokens. GLM-5.3 can generate longer responses up to 131,072 tokens, while Claude Opus 5 is limited to 128,000 tokens.
Input capabilities
Documented input modalities across available providers
Claude Opus 5 supports multimodal inputs, whereas GLM-5.3 does not.
Claude Opus 5 can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.
Claude Opus 5
GLM-5.3
License
Usage and distribution terms
Claude Opus 5 is licensed under a proprietary license, while GLM-5.3 uses GLM-5.3 License.
License differences may affect how you can use these models in commercial or open-source projects.
Proprietary
Closed source
GLM-5.3 License
Open weights
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
Claude Opus 5 was released on 2026-07-24, while GLM-5.3 was released on 2026-08-14.
GLM-5.3 is 1 month newer than Claude Opus 5.
Jul 24, 2026
1 months ago
Aug 14, 2026
3 weeks ago
3w newerKnowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.
Unable to compare the recency of their training data.
Provider Availability
Claude Opus 5 is available from Anthropic. GLM-5.3 is available from FriendliAI, Novita, ZAI.
Claude Opus 5
GLM-5.3
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against Claude Opus 5 and GLM-5.3 side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about Claude Opus 5 vs GLM-5.3.