GLM-5.3-Flash vs MiniMax-M3.1-Flash compared

MiniMax-M3.1-Flash leads the intelligence index 29.1 to 27.8. Price per token, response speed and when to pick each.

Metric	GLM-5.3-Flash	MiniMax-M3.1-Flash
Intelligence Index	27.8	29.1
Input price (per 1M tokens)	$0.15	$0.15
Output price (per 1M tokens)	$0.50	$0.60
Output speed (tokens/s)	56	147
Time to first token	1.6s	1.0s
Release date	2026-08-26	2026-10-19

Metric

GLM-5.3-Flash

MiniMax-M3.1-Flash

Intelligence Index

27.8

29.1

Input price (per 1M tokens)

$0.15

Output price (per 1M tokens)

$0.50

$0.60

Output speed (tokens/s)

147

Time to first token

1.6s

1.0s

Release date

2026-08-26

2026-10-19

There is very little daylight between GLM-5.3-Flash (Z AI) and MiniMax-M3.1-Flash (MiniMax) on the overall index. MiniMax-M3.1-Flash streams output at about 147 tokens per second, 2.6 times the rate of GLM-5.3-Flash. All numbers are the catalogue's recorded values; nobody ran either model by hand for this page.

MiniMax-M3.1-Flash is the faster writer

GLM-5.3-Flash generates about 56 tokens per second and MiniMax-M3.1-Flash about 147 tokens per second. On long outputs, that is a real advantage for MiniMax-M3.1-Flash. Time to first token is 1.6 seconds for GLM-5.3-Flash and 1.0 seconds for MiniMax-M3.1-Flash. GLM-5.3-Flash waits 1.6 times as long before its first token.

Put together, an 800-token answer would take about 16 seconds from GLM-5.3-Flash and 6.5 seconds from MiniMax-M3.1-Flash, counting the first-token wait.

Running costs

The list prices are $0.15 in and $0.50 out for GLM-5.3-Flash, and $0.15 in and $0.60 out for MiniMax-M3.1-Flash, per million tokens. For output tokens, MiniMax-M3.1-Flash is 1.2 times the price of GLM-5.3-Flash.

Take 1 million input tokens and 200,000 output tokens: that comes to $0.25 on GLM-5.3-Flash and $0.27 on MiniMax-M3.1-Flash. For writing 2,000 drafts of 2,000 output tokens from 300-token prompts, GLM-5.3-Flash would come in 16% lower: $2.09 for GLM-5.3-Flash against $2.49 for MiniMax-M3.1-Flash. Blended at three input tokens per output token, the effective rates are $0.238 for GLM-5.3-Flash and $0.262 for MiniMax-M3.1-Flash.

Overall capability: 1.3 points apart

GLM-5.3-Flash records 27.8 on the intelligence index and MiniMax-M3.1-Flash records 29.1. It is a small margin for an index that averages many evaluations. In relative terms, MiniMax-M3.1-Flash scores 5% higher.

Among 109 active scored models, GLM-5.3-Flash sits 63rd and MiniMax-M3.1-Flash 59th.

Neither model has a separate coding or math index recorded yet, so those narrower comparisons will have to wait for more data.

Release timing

GLM-5.3-Flash came first, on August 26, 2026; MiniMax-M3.1-Flash followed on October 19, 2026.

Value for money

Per point of intelligence index, GLM-5.3-Flash costs $0.0085 of blended price per million tokens and MiniMax-M3.1-Flash $0.0090. On that measure they are priced in proportion to their scores.

FAQ

Is MiniMax-M3.1-Flash better than GLM-5.3-Flash?

Neither wins everywhere: MiniMax-M3.1-Flash scores higher on the intelligence index, 29.1 to 27.8; GLM-5.3-Flash is 10% cheaper on blended price; and MiniMax-M3.1-Flash streams output 2.6 times as fast.

Is MiniMax-M3.1-Flash cheaper than GLM-5.3-Flash?

GLM-5.3-Flash is cheaper on a blended basis. GLM-5.3-Flash lists $0.15 per million input tokens and $0.50 per million output tokens; MiniMax-M3.1-Flash lists $0.15 and $0.60. For 1 million input and 200,000 output tokens that is $0.25 against $0.27.

Which is faster, GLM-5.3-Flash or MiniMax-M3.1-Flash?

MiniMax-M3.1-Flash generates output faster, at 147 tokens per second against 56 tokens per second. MiniMax-M3.1-Flash reaches its first token sooner (1.0 seconds against 1.6 seconds).

Which is newer, GLM-5.3-Flash or MiniMax-M3.1-Flash?

MiniMax-M3.1-Flash is newer. It was released on October 19, 2026, about 2 months after GLM-5.3-Flash (August 26, 2026).

Was this comparison tested by hand?

The figures are the recorded benchmark, price and speed data in Franklin AI's model catalogue. This page is written from that data automatically; neither model was tested by hand for it.

Final whistle

Bottom line: MiniMax-M3.1-Flash is the stronger all-round pick on this data, while GLM-5.3-Flash makes sense in narrower cases. Pick GLM-5.3-Flash if cost matters ($0.50 against $0.60 per million output tokens). Pick MiniMax-M3.1-Flash if long outputs need to finish quickly and you need the higher overall score (29.1 against 27.8).

Where the numbers come from

The scores, speed and prices in this comparison come from independent third-party model evaluations that Franklin AI syncs each day, and the article was written from a snapshot of them. For the latest results, open the GLM-5.3-Flash and MiniMax-M3.1-Flash pages. The AI Benchmark methodology explains how that data is collected and shown.