GLM-5.3 Flash vs Inkling: Specs & Benchmark Comparison
GLM-5.3 Flash is developed by Zhipu AI, while Inkling comes from Thinking Machines Lab. Inkling was released in July 2026, and GLM-5.3 Flash followed a month later in August 2026. Inkling is the larger model at roughly 975 billion parameters, against 320 billion for GLM-5.3 Flash.
The two models share 3 published benchmarks. GLM-5.3 Flash leads on 3 of them. The widest gaps are on Terminal-Bench 2.1, where GLM-5.3 Flash scores 84.3% against 63.8%; GDPval-AA, where GLM-5.3 Flash scores 59.1% against 41.3%. Averaged across everything we track, GLM-5.3 Flash sits at 64.1% and Inkling at 61.8%.
GLM-5.3 Flash is the cheaper API at $0.15 per million input tokens and $0.50 per million output tokens, roughly 6 times cheaper than Inkling at $0.95 and $4.05. GLM-5.3 Flash takes the larger context window at 1M tokens, compared with 524K for Inkling. GLM-5.3 Flash accepts text, images, and video as input, while Inkling accepts text, images, and audio. On tooling, only GLM-5.3 Flash supports function calling and only GLM-5.3 Flash offers structured output.
| Characteristic | GLM-5.3 Flash | Inkling |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Zhipu AI | Thinking Machines Lab |
| Release Date | August 26, 2026 | July 21, 2026 |
| Parameters | 320B | 975B |
| Multimodal | Yes | Yes |
| Context (input) | 1.0M | 524K |
| Context (output) | 131K | 524K |
| Input Price / 1M | $0.15 | $0.95 |
| Output Price / 1M | $0.50 | $4.05 |
| Average Score | 64.1% | 61.8% |
| Benchmarks | ||
| Terminal-Bench 2.1 | 84.3% | 63.8% |
| GDPval-AA | 59.1% | 41.3% |
| CharXiv-R | 89.4% | 78.1% |
Visual Benchmark Comparison
Verdict
GLM-5.3 Flash leads in 3 out of 4 comparison categories.
Both models show comparable average scores: GLM-5.3 Flash — 0.6, Inkling — 0.6.
GLM-5.3 Flash is 7.7x cheaper: input $0.15/1M vs $0.95/1M tokens.
GLM-5.3 Flash supports a larger context: 1M vs 524K tokens.
GLM-5.3 Flash is newer: released 8/26/2026 vs 7/21/2026.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Which is better for coding — GLM-5.3 Flash or Inkling?
Which model is cheaper — GLM-5.3 Flash or Inkling?
Which has a larger context window — GLM-5.3 Flash or Inkling?
The GLM-5.3 Flash and Inkling comparison is updated for 2026. Data includes benchmark results, API pricing, context window size and other specifications. For more detailed information, visit the GLM-5.3 Flash or Inkling page. See also the complete list of AI model comparisons.