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

Neither wins outright: DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp (batch) is the pick when cost matters at scale, Z.ai: GLM 5.3 Flash when you need seed (reproducible sampling).

Key numbers

SpecDeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp (batch)Z.ai: GLM 5.3 Flash
ProviderDeepSeekZ Ai
Input price (per 1M tokens)$0.11$0.15
Output price (per 1M tokens)$0.33$0.50
Blended price (3:1 input/output)$0.17$0.24
Cheaper than … of all models we track73%67%
Context window1.0M tokens (~1,573 pages)1.0M tokens (~1,573 pages)
Larger context than … of all models81%81%
Max output per response944K tokens (~707,800 words)944K tokens (~707,800 words)
Input typestext, imagetext, image, video
Output typestexttext
Free variantNoNo
Listed since2026-08-212026-08-26

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 Vision Exp (batch)Z.ai: GLM 5.3 FlashDifference
Customer-support chatbot
50,000 conversations — each a 6-turn conversation (1,500 in / 400 out tokens)
$14.85$21.25DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp (batch) saves $6.40
RAG search over documents
20,000 questions — each a question answered from ~8 retrieved passages (6,000 in / 500 out tokens)
$16.50$23.00DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp (batch) saves $6.50
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)
$17.16$24.00DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp (batch) saves $6.84
Batch summarisation
10,000 documents — each a 6,000-word report summarised to a page (8,000 in / 600 out tokens)
$10.78$15.00DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp (batch) saves $4.22
Long-document analysis
500 documents — each a 150-page contract or codebase read in one pass (100,000 in / 2,000 out tokens)
$5.83$8.00DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp (batch) saves $2.17

Capabilities side by side

CapabilityDeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp (batch)Z.ai: GLM 5.3 FlashWhat 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✓ Yes✓ Yesread 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)—✓ Yesrepeat a generation for tests and evals
Log-probabilities✓ Yes✓ Yesread 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
2026-10-07Z.ai: GLM 5.3 Flash$0.15$0.50
2026-10-06Z.ai: GLM 5.3 Flash$0.03$0.50
2026-09-28Z.ai: GLM 5.3 Flash$0.15$0.50
2026-09-26Z.ai: GLM 5.3 Flash$0.04$0.50
2026-09-25Z.ai: GLM 5.3 Flash$0.04$0.60
2026-09-22Z.ai: GLM 5.3 Flash$0.15$0.50
2026-09-17Z.ai: GLM 5.3 Flash$0.09$0.30
2026-09-16Z.ai: GLM 5.3 Flash$0.10$0.33

Which should you choose?

Choose DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp (batch) if…

  • cost matters at scale — it is 31% cheaper on a typical 3:1 input/output mix ($14.85 vs $21.25 a month for 50,000 support chats)

Choose Z.ai: GLM 5.3 Flash if…

  • you need seed (reproducible sampling) — to repeat a generation for tests and evals; DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp (batch) does not advertise it

Frequently asked questions

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

Neither wins outright: DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp (batch) is the pick when cost matters at scale, Z.ai: GLM 5.3 Flash when you need seed (reproducible sampling). In short: DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp (batch) when cost matters at scale; Z.ai: GLM 5.3 Flash when you need seed (reproducible sampling).

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

DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp (batch) is cheaper: $0.17 vs $0.24 per 1M tokens at a typical 3:1 input/output mix, 31% less. For 50,000 support conversations a month that is $14.85 against $21.25.

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

DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp (batch) costs $0.11 per 1M input tokens and $0.33 per 1M output tokens; Z.ai: GLM 5.3 Flash costs $0.15 input and $0.50 output. Output tokens are billed separately, so long answers shift the gap.

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

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

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

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

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

Yes, both accept image input.

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

No free variant is listed for either; both are pay-per-token.

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

DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp (batch) can write up to 944K tokens (about 707,800 words) per response; Z.ai: GLM 5.3 Flash up to 944K (about 707,800 words).

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

DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp (batch) was listed on 2026-08-21; Z.ai: GLM 5.3 Flash on 2026-08-26.

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

DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp (batch): price unchanged since we started tracking it on 2026-09-09. Z.ai: GLM 5.3 Flash: input price raised 81% ($0.03 → $0.15/1M) on 2026-10-07 (10 price changes since 2026-08-27).

About the two models

Z Ai

Z.ai: GLM 5.3 Flash

GLM-5.3-Flash is a native multimodal model from Z.ai. It is suited for efficient coding and long-horizon agent tasks. Its hybrid sparse and linear attention architecture maintains accurate long-context behavior while...

Full Z.ai: GLM 5.3 Flash specs →

Compare DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp (batch) with other models

Compare Z.ai: GLM 5.3 Flash with other models

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