GLM-5.3 vs Laguna S 2.1: Specs & Benchmark Comparison
GLM-5.3 is developed by Zhipu AI, while Laguna S 2.1 comes from Poolside. Laguna S 2.1 was released in July 2026, and GLM-5.3 followed a month later in August 2026. GLM-5.3 is the larger model at roughly 753 billion parameters, against 118 billion for Laguna S 2.1.
We have 3 benchmark results for GLM-5.3 and 6 benchmark results for Laguna S 2.1, but they overlap on a single test: Terminal-Bench 2.1, where GLM-5.3 scores 88.0% against 70.2%.
Laguna S 2.1 is the cheaper API at $0.10 per million input tokens and $0.20 per million output tokens, roughly 14 times cheaper than GLM-5.3 at $1.40 and $4.40. Both accept a context window of about 1M tokens. On tooling, only GLM-5.3 supports function calling and only GLM-5.3 offers structured output.
| Characteristic | GLM-5.3 | Laguna S 2.1 |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Zhipu AI | Poolside |
| Release Date | August 14, 2026 | July 21, 2026 |
| Parameters | 753B | 118B |
| Multimodal | No | No |
| Context (input) | 1.0M | 1.0M |
| Context (output) | 131K | — |
| Input Price / 1M | $1.40 | $0.10 |
| Output Price / 1M | $4.40 | $0.20 |
| Average Score | 83.3% | 57.4% |
| Benchmarks | ||
| Terminal-Bench 2.1 | 88.0% | 70.2% |
Visual Benchmark Comparison
Verdict
Both models show equal results — the choice depends on your specific use case.
Both models show comparable average scores: GLM-5.3 — 0.8, Laguna S 2.1 — 0.6.
Laguna S 2.1 is 19.3x cheaper: input $0.10/1M vs $1.40/1M tokens.
Same context size: 1M tokens.
GLM-5.3 is newer: released 8/14/2026 vs 7/21/2026.
More About These Models
Related Comparisons
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is better for coding — GLM-5.3 or Laguna S 2.1?
Which model is cheaper — GLM-5.3 or Laguna S 2.1?
Which has a larger context window — GLM-5.3 or Laguna S 2.1?
The GLM-5.3 and Laguna S 2.1 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 or Laguna S 2.1 page. See also the complete list of AI model comparisons.