DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 vs Z.ai: GLM 5.3 (batch)

DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 comes out ahead on the data we track: 3 advantages and none for Z.ai: GLM 5.3 (batch).

Key numbers

SpecDeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731Z.ai: GLM 5.3 (batch)
ProviderDeepSeekZ Ai
Input price (per 1M tokens)$0.04$0.45
Output price (per 1M tokens)$0.13$2.00
Blended price (3:1 input/output)$0.07$0.84
Cheaper than … of all models we track85%44%
Context window1.0M tokens (~1,573 pages)1.0M tokens (~1,573 pages)
Larger context than … of all models80%80%
Max output per response131K tokens (~98,300 words)131K tokens (~98,300 words)
Input typestexttext
Output typestexttext
Free variantYesNo
Listed since2026-07-312026-08-18
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What it costs for real workloads

Monthly cost at list price for five common workloads. Token counts per unit are stated so you can scale them to your own traffic. A workload that does not fit a model's context window is marked rather than priced.

Workload (per month)DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731Z.ai: GLM 5.3 (batch)Difference
Customer-support chatbot
50,000 conversations — each a 6-turn conversation (1,500 in / 400 out tokens)
$6.00$73.75DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 saves $67.75
RAG search over documents
20,000 questions — each a question answered from ~8 retrieved passages (6,000 in / 500 out tokens)
$6.67$74.00DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 saves $67.33
Coding / tool-using agent
2,000 tasks — each a multi-step task with tool calls and file context (60,000 in / 6,000 out tokens)
$6.93$78.00DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 saves $71.07
Batch summarisation
10,000 documents — each a 6,000-word report summarised to a page (8,000 in / 600 out tokens)
$4.36$48.00DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 saves $43.64
Long-document analysis
500 documents — each a 150-page contract or codebase read in one pass (100,000 in / 2,000 out tokens)
$2.36$24.50DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 saves $22.14

Capabilities side by side

CapabilityDeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731Z.ai: GLM 5.3 (batch)What it lets you do
Tool / function calling✓ Yes✓ Yescall your APIs and run agent loops
Structured output (JSON schema)✓ Yes✓ Yesreturn JSON that validates against your schema
Reasoning / thinking mode✓ Yes✓ Yesspend extra tokens thinking before answering hard problems
Image input——read screenshots, charts and scanned pages
Audio input——take speech or audio directly
File / PDF input——accept documents without your own parsing step
Image output——generate images, not just text
Built-in web search——answer from live web results
Seed (reproducible sampling)✓ Yes✓ Yesrepeat a generation for tests and evals
Log-probabilities✓ Yes—read token confidence for classification and scoring

From each model's published parameters and input/output types. “—” means not advertised, not proven absent.

Price history

DateModelInput / 1MOutput / 1M
2026-10-24DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731$0.04$0.13
2026-10-20DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731$0.44$1.32
2026-10-19DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731$0.15$0.15
2026-10-18DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731$0.10$0.30
2026-10-17DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731$0.07$0.14
2026-10-16DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731$0.0049$0.64
2026-10-13DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731$0.02$0.64
2026-10-12DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731$0.0079$0.64

Which should you choose?

Choose DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 if…

  • cost matters at scale — it is 92% cheaper on a typical 3:1 input/output mix ($6.00 vs $73.75 a month for 50,000 support chats)
  • you need log-probabilities — to read token confidence for classification and scoring; Z.ai: GLM 5.3 (batch) does not advertise it
  • you want to prototype at zero cost — a free variant is listed

Choose Z.ai: GLM 5.3 (batch) if…

No advantage on the data we track — pick it for provider preference or output quality on your own prompts.

Frequently asked questions

Is DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 better than Z.ai: GLM 5.3 (batch)?

DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 comes out ahead on the data we track: 3 advantages and none for Z.ai: GLM 5.3 (batch).

Which is cheaper, DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 or Z.ai: GLM 5.3 (batch)?

DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 is cheaper: $0.07 vs $0.84 per 1M tokens at a typical 3:1 input/output mix, 92% less. For 50,000 support conversations a month that is $6.00 against $73.75.

How much do DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 and Z.ai: GLM 5.3 (batch) cost per million tokens?

DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 costs $0.04 per 1M input tokens and $0.13 per 1M output tokens; Z.ai: GLM 5.3 (batch) costs $0.45 input and $2.00 output. Output tokens are billed separately, so long answers shift the gap.

Which has the bigger context window, DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 or Z.ai: GLM 5.3 (batch)?

Both take 1.0M tokens per request — roughly 1,573 pages of text.

Do DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 and Z.ai: GLM 5.3 (batch) support function calling and JSON output?

Tool calling — DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731: yes, Z.ai: GLM 5.3 (batch): yes. JSON-schema structured output — DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731: yes, Z.ai: GLM 5.3 (batch): yes.

Can DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 or Z.ai: GLM 5.3 (batch) read images?

Neither accepts image input — both are text-in models.

Is DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 or Z.ai: GLM 5.3 (batch) free to use?

DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 has a free variant (deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash-0731:free). Free variants usually carry tighter rate limits.

What is the maximum output length of DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 and Z.ai: GLM 5.3 (batch)?

DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 can write up to 131K tokens (about 98,300 words) per response; Z.ai: GLM 5.3 (batch) up to 131K (about 98,300 words).

When were DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 and Z.ai: GLM 5.3 (batch) released?

DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 was listed on 2026-07-31; Z.ai: GLM 5.3 (batch) on 2026-08-18.

Has the price of DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 or Z.ai: GLM 5.3 (batch) changed?

DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731: input price cut 90% ($0.44 → $0.04/1M), output price cut 90% ($1.32 → $0.13/1M) on 2026-10-24 (40 price changes since 2026-08-06). Z.ai: GLM 5.3 (batch): input price cut 37% ($0.72 → $0.45/1M), output price cut 17% ($2.40 → $2.00/1M) on 2026-09-24 (2 price changes since 2026-09-09).

About the two models

Compare DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 with other models

Compare Z.ai: GLM 5.3 (batch) with other models

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