GLM-5.3 vs Mistral Small
Comparing GLM-5.3 and Mistral Small across benchmarks, pricing, and capabilities.
Zhipu AI · Mistral AI · Updated for 2026
Which is better?
GLM-5.3 and Mistral Small trade strengths across price, capabilities, and technical limits. The better choice depends on the workload.
On price, Mistral Small is roughly 7.2x cheaper per token on a blended 3:1 input/output basis, which adds up quickly at production volume.
GLM-5.3 also accepts a larger context window (1,000,000 input tokens), making it the stronger choice for long documents and large codebases.
Based on current benchmark, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.
Choose GLM-5.3
- you process long inputs — it offers a 1,000,000 token context window
- you want the most recent training data — it shipped Aug 2026
Choose Mistral Small
- cost matters — it's about 7.2x cheaper per token
- you need open weights you can self-host or fine-tune
At a glance
The differences that matter most.
Performance Benchmarks
Comparative analysis across standard metrics
GLM-5.3 and Mistral Smalldon't have any common benchmark datasets to compare. They may have been evaluated on different testing suites.
Arena Performance
Playground indexes and blind preference scores
Pricing Analysis
Price comparison per million tokens
For input processing, GLM-5.3 ($1.40/1M tokens) is 7.0x more expensive than Mistral Small ($0.20/1M tokens).
For output processing, GLM-5.3 ($4.40/1M tokens) is 7.3x more expensive than Mistral Small ($0.60/1M tokens).
In conclusion, GLM-5.3 is more expensive than Mistral Small.*
* Using a 3:1 ratio of input to output tokens
Model Size
Parameter count comparison
GLM-5.3 has 731.0B more parameters than Mistral Small, making it 3322.7% larger.
Context Window
Maximum input and output token capacity
GLM-5.3 accepts 1,000,000 input tokens compared to Mistral Small's 32,768 tokens. GLM-5.3 can generate longer responses up to 128,000 tokens, while Mistral Small is limited to 32,768 tokens.
Release Timeline
When each model was launched
GLM-5.3 was released on 2026-08-14, while Mistral Small was released on 2024-09-17.
GLM-5.3 is 23 months newer than Mistral Small.
Aug 14, 2026
1 weeks ago
1.9yr newerSep 17, 2024
1.9 years ago
Knowledge Cutoff
When training data ends
Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.
Unable to compare the recency of their training data.
Provider Availability
GLM-5.3 is available from ZAI. Mistral Small is available from Mistral AI.
GLM-5.3
Mistral Small
Outputs Comparison
Judge for yourself.
Run your own prompts against GLM-5.3 and Mistral Small side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.
FAQ
Common questions about GLM-5.3 vs Mistral Small.