Gemini 3.6 Flash vs GLM-5.3
Side-by-side comparison of API pricing, specs, benchmarks, and capabilities
Gemini 3.6 Flash is 30.2% cheaper on blended cost ($1.50 vs $2.15/Mtok)
| Specification |
Gemini 3.6 FlashIntro price
by Google
|
by Z.AI
|
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Status | Current flagship | Current flagship |
| Released | Jul 21, 2026 | Aug 14, 2026 |
| Pricing per million tokens | ||
| Input | $0.750/Mtok | $1.40/Mtok |
| Output | $3.75/Mtok | $4.40/Mtok |
| Blended avg | $1.50/Mtok | $2.15/Mtok |
| Cached input | $0.075/Mtok | $0.260/Mtok |
| Price basis | Google's Gemini API pricing page prints a dated, two-phase schedule for this model: $0.75 per 1M input tokens through December 31, 2026, rising to $1.50 on January 1, 2027, and $3.75 per 1M output tokens through December 31, 2026, rising to $7.50. Context caching follows the same dates ($0.075, then $0.15). We publish the rate you would pay today and re-verify it before the changeover date. Checked 2026-08-13 against ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/pricing; the same page listed a flat $1.50/$7.50 on 2026-08-09, so this is a genuine 50% price cut rather than a correction to an earlier mistake. | — |
| Specifications | ||
| Context window | 1M tokens | 1M tokens |
| Parameters | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Speed (TPS) | — | — |
| Modalities | ||
| Input |
textimageaudiovideo
|
text
|
| Benchmarks source: Artificial Analysis | ||
| Independent composite scores measured for both models — each on its own scale | ||
| AA Intelligence Index | 51.6 | 59.5 |
| AA Agentic Index | 40.5 | 59.1 |
| AA-Omniscience Index (−100–100) | 22.1 | 14.3 |
| GDPval-AA v2 | 1422.3 ELO | 1769 ELO |
| LMSYS Chatbot Arena | 1484 ELO | — |
| Providers | ||
| Available from |
Google — $0.750/$3.75/Mtok
|
Z.AI — $1.40/$4.40/Mtok
|
Cost at scale
1M tokens · 50/50 input/output| Volume | Gemini 3.6 Flash | GLM-5.3 | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1M tokens | $1.5 | $2.15 | $0.65 (30.2%) |
| 10M tokens | $15 | $21.5 | $6.5 (30.2%) |
| 100M tokens | $150 | $215 | $65 (30.2%) |
| 1000M tokens | $1500 | $2150 | $650 (30.2%) |
When to pick which
distilled from the pricing and spec data above
Pick Gemini 3.6 Flash if…
- cost dominates: $1.50/Mtok blended vs $2.15 — 30.2% less on the same 50/50 token mix
- your workload re-reads context (agents, RAG, long chats): cached input costs $0.075/Mtok — 90% off its list input price
Pick GLM-5.3 if…
- this pairing gives GLM-5.3 no edge on price, context, cache discount, or measured performance — pick it only for qualitative fit (ecosystem, compliance, model behavior on your prompts)
Price movement
recorded changes since we began tracking each model · last checked Aug 18, 2026| Model | Changes | Latest move | Old → new $/M |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gemini 3.6 Flash | 1 | price cut on Aug 13, 2026 | $1.5/$7.5 → $0.75/$3.75/Mtok |
| GLM-5.3 | 0 | — no move | Stable since we began tracking — no change recorded |
Only Gemini 3.6 Flash has changed price since we began tracking; GLM-5.3 has held steady.
See all recent price moves →
MODELPRICEWATCH.COM · 2026-08-18
Try Gemini 3.6 Flash on Google
The cheaper option here — Gemini 3.6 Flash costs $1.50/Mtok blended on Google.
Summary
Gemini 3.6 Flash by Google costs $0.750/Mtok input and $3.75/Mtok output, with a 1M-token context window. It supports text, image, audio, video input.
GLM-5.3 by Z.AI costs $1.40/Mtok input and $4.40/Mtok output, with a 1M-token context window. It supports text input.
On a blended cost basis, Gemini 3.6 Flash is 30.2% cheaper than GLM-5.3.
Note: Pricing is per million tokens. Actual costs vary with usage patterns, prompt caching, and batch discounts. Always verify against official provider pricing pages.
More comparisons
pairs sharing a model with this page
GPT-5.5 vs Gemini 3.6 Flash
87% price gap
Gemini 3.6 Flash vs Claude Sonnet 4.6
75% price gap
Gemini 3.6 Flash vs Qwen3.7-Max
60% price gap
Gemini 3.6 Flash vs Gemini 3.5 Flash
56% price gap
Gemini 3.7 Flash vs Gemini 3.6 Flash
Gemini 3 Flash Preview vs GLM-5.3
48% price gap
Gemini 3.6 Flash vs GLM-5.2
30% price gap
Gemini 3.7 Flash vs GLM-5.3
30% price gap