Chinese startup Z.ai made its GLM-5.3 model callable through its programming interface at the same rates as the previous version, $1.40 per million words in and $4.40 per million out. Independent testing by Artificial Analysis scored it level with Moonshot's Kimi K3 as the strongest openly available model. The model is more talkative than its predecessor, so cost per completed task rose even though per-token prices did not, and the promised open weights have no release date.
What changed
GLM-5.3 was available only through coding subscriptions, not the API.
What it unlocks
Calling GLM-5.3 from custom applications and agents at the same token price as the previous version.
- $1.40/$4.40 per M tokens
- cached input $0.26 per M
- Intelligence Index 60, up 7 points
- $0.68 vs $0.44 per index task
What you need to act on it
- a Z.ai API account
- existing coding-plan subscribers limited to the OpenAI-compatible chat protocol
- venturebeat.com2026-08-18