GLM-5.3 Max vs Grok 4.6 Xhigh: which responds faster?

GLM-5.3 Max leads the intelligence index 31.7 to 31.0. GLM-5.3 Max costs 28% less on blended price. Compare price, speed, latency and a clear verdict.

Metric	GLM-5.3 (Max)	Grok 4.6 (Xhigh)
Intelligence Index	31.7	31.0
Input price (per 1M tokens)	$1.40	$2.00
Output price (per 1M tokens)	$4.40	$6.00
Output speed (tokens/s)	74	62
Time to first token	1.7s	47s
Release date	2026-08-18	2026-08-12

Metric

GLM-5.3 (Max)

Grok 4.6 (Xhigh)

Intelligence Index

31.7

31.0

Input price (per 1M tokens)

$1.40

$2.00

Output price (per 1M tokens)

$4.40

$6.00

Output speed (tokens/s)

Time to first token

1.7s

47s

Release date

2026-08-18

2026-08-12

On the headline score, Z AI's GLM-5.3 (Max) and SpaceXAI's Grok 4.6 (Xhigh) are almost level. This page is written automatically from catalogue numbers only: benchmark scores, list prices and measured speed. The widest gap is the wait for the first token: 1.7 seconds for GLM-5.3 Max against 47 seconds for Grok 4.6 Xhigh.

Waiting time

Once a response is under way, GLM-5.3 Max produces roughly 74 tokens per second against 62 tokens per second for Grok 4.6 Xhigh. GLM-5.3 Max is ahead by 19% on throughput. Before any text appears, GLM-5.3 Max takes 1.7 seconds and Grok 4.6 Xhigh 47 seconds. GLM-5.3 Max gets to its first token 28 times as fast. Waits that long are felt on every chat-style request, though they matter less for batch jobs.

Put together, an 800-token answer would take about 13 seconds from GLM-5.3 Max and 60 seconds from Grok 4.6 Xhigh, counting the first-token wait.

When they came out

The release dates are August 12, 2026 for Grok 4.6 Xhigh and August 18, 2026 for GLM-5.3 Max, 6 days apart. That is close enough to count them as the same generation.

What they cost

Per million tokens, GLM-5.3 Max charges $1.40 for input and $4.40 for output, while Grok 4.6 Xhigh charges $2.00 and $6.00. For output tokens, Grok 4.6 Xhigh is 1.4 times the price of GLM-5.3 Max.

For a sample workload of 1 million input tokens and 200,000 output tokens, GLM-5.3 Max would cost $2.28 and Grok 4.6 Xhigh $3.20, a difference of $0.92. A bigger example, writing 2,000 drafts of 2,000 output tokens from 300-token prompts, costs $18.44 on GLM-5.3 Max and $25.20 on Grok 4.6 Xhigh: a gap of $6.76. On a 3:1 blend of input to output tokens, that works out to $2.15 versus $3.00 per million.

How the intelligence index compares

GLM-5.3 Max comes out ahead on the intelligence index, 31.7 to 31.0. A gap that small is inside the range where one aggregate cannot name a winner.

For context, that places GLM-5.3 Max 47th and Grok 4.6 Xhigh 49th out of 109 scored models still on offer.

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

Cost per point of intelligence

Per point of intelligence index, GLM-5.3 Max costs $0.068 of blended price per million tokens and Grok 4.6 Xhigh $0.097. GLM-5.3 Max scores higher and costs less per point, so on price per point there is nothing to trade off.

Frequently asked questions

Is Grok 4.6 Xhigh better than GLM-5.3 Max?

Where the data separates them, GLM-5.3 Max is ahead each time: GLM-5.3 Max scores higher on the intelligence index, 31.7 to 31.0; GLM-5.3 Max is 28% cheaper on blended price; and GLM-5.3 Max streams output 1.2 times as fast.

How much do GLM-5.3 Max and Grok 4.6 Xhigh cost?

GLM-5.3 Max is cheaper on a blended basis. GLM-5.3 Max lists $1.40 per million input tokens and $4.40 per million output tokens; Grok 4.6 Xhigh lists $2.00 and $6.00. For 1 million input and 200,000 output tokens that is $2.28 against $3.20.

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.

Does GLM-5.3 Max respond faster than Grok 4.6 Xhigh?

GLM-5.3 Max generates output faster, at 74 tokens per second against 62 tokens per second. GLM-5.3 Max reaches its first token sooner (1.7 seconds against 47 seconds).

Who makes GLM-5.3 Max and Grok 4.6 Xhigh?

GLM-5.3 Max is made by Z AI and Grok 4.6 Xhigh by SpaceXAI. GLM-5.3 Max was released on August 18, 2026 and Grok 4.6 Xhigh on August 12, 2026.

Final whistle

The verdict: GLM-5.3 Max comes out ahead on every recorded measure where they differ, so it is the easier choice unless something outside this data matters to you. Pick GLM-5.3 Max if users are waiting on the first word and cost matters ($4.40 against $6.00 per million output tokens). Pick Grok 4.6 Xhigh only if your own tests show an advantage the recorded data does not.

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 (Max) and Grok 4.6 (Xhigh) pages. The AI Benchmark methodology explains how that data is collected and shown.