Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite vs GLM 5.3: cost per task
Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite is cheaper on 13 of 14 tasks and about 2.3x cheaper on average (geometric mean). GLM 5.3 has the higher LMArena Text score (1478 vs 1455).
| Task | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite | GLM 5.3 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Answer a chat question | 0.41¢ | 0.86¢ | 2.1x |
| Reply to a customer email | 0.15¢ | 0.13¢ | 1.2x |
| Write a 1,500-word blog post | 0.90¢ | 3.3¢ | 3.7x |
| Write 10 product descriptions | 0.74¢ | 3.4¢ | 4.5x |
| Translate 1,000 words | 1.2¢ | 4.9¢ | 4.2x |
| Proofread one page (500 words) | 0.30¢ | 0.39¢ | 1.3x |
| Summarize a 20-page PDF | 0.69¢ | 0.97¢ | 1.4x |
| Extract data from an invoice | 0.38¢ | 0.50¢ | 1.3x |
| Analyze a 200-row spreadsheet | 2.2¢ | 7.7¢ | 3.5x |
| Answer from 5 retrieved documents (RAG) | 0.65¢ | 0.98¢ | 1.5x |
| Classify 100 support tickets | 1.7¢ | 3.8¢ | 2.2x |
| Review 500 lines of code | 0.67¢ | 7.7¢ | 11.4x |
| Write a SQL query | 0.40¢ | 0.77¢ | 1.9x |
| Run a 50-step coding agent | 24¢ | 39¢ | 1.6x |
Specs and list prices
| Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite | GLM 5.3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Input per 1M | $0.30 | $0.079 |
| Output per 1M | $2.50 | $4.80 |
| Cached input per 1M | $0.03 | $0.078 |
| Context | 1M | 1M |
| Providers | 8 | 46 |
| Reasoning | always | always |
| LMArena Text | 1455 | 1478 |
| Released | Jul 21, 2026 | Aug 18, 2026 |
FAQ
Is Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite or GLM 5.3 cheaper?
Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite is cheaper on 13 of 14 tasks and about 2.3x cheaper on average (geometric mean). GLM 5.3 has the higher LMArena Text score (1478 vs 1455).
How much does Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite cost compared to GLM 5.3 per token?
Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite: $0.30 input and $2.50 output per 1M tokens. GLM 5.3: $0.079 input and $4.80 output. Token prices alone mislead - models use different numbers of tokens for the same task, which is what the task table shows.