GLM-5.3
Z.ai · Released Aug 2026
GLM-5.3 is Z.ai's latest open-weights coding and cyber-defense model — the same base as GLM-5.2, every gain from post-training. But the headline numbers are still vendor-run, the open weights are held ~2 weeks over emergent security capability, and per-token pricing is unpublished. Reach for defensive security and agentic automation now; wait for the weights and independent audits before standardizing.
Is it right for you?
Good for
- Defensive cybersecurity — CyberGym 84.5%, top published result ahead of Mythos 5 (83.8%) and GPT-5.6 Sol (83.6%)
- Long-horizon coding — DeepSWE v1.1 66.9% (from 46.2%), Terminal-Bench 3.0 28.3 (six-fold over 4.6)
- Agentic automation — AutomationBench v1.0.6 jumps 26.2→48.2 (+84%); SAO reinforcement learning drives the long-horizon gains
- Self-hosters planning open-weight adoption — reuses the GLM-5.2 base, weights staged ~2 weeks
Not good for
- Deep offensive exploitation — ExploitBench 54.4% still trails Mythos 5 (78.0%) and GPT-5.6 Sol (76.5%)
- Immediate self-hosting — weights held ~2 weeks for safety hardening; Z.ai's first cyber-motivated weight delay
- Teams needing published per-token pricing or vision — no GLM-5.3 row on Z.ai's pricing table; no multimodal capability announced
How it performs by task
Defensive security (CyberGym)
84.5% — best published result, ahead of the closed frontier; vendor-reported, not independently audited
Long-horizon software engineering (DeepSWE v1.1)
66.9%, up from 46.2% — a 20-point jump, though the figure is Z.ai-run
Terminal/CLI coding (Terminal-Bench 3.0)
28.3, six-fold over GLM-5.2's 4.6; level with the frontier on Terminal-Bench 2.1 (88.2 vs 88.8)
Deep exploitation (ExploitBench)
54.4% more than doubles GLM-5.2 (24.4%) but still trails the closed frontier by 20+ points
Vision / multimodal
No vision capability announced or benchmarked at launch
Pricing
Input
N/A (rate not yet published)
Output
N/A (rate not yet published)
Context
1M context
Benchmarks
No verdict changes yet
The clock starts day one — changes land here as our verdict evolves.
Sources
- Digital Applied — GLM-5.3 post-training launchAug 2026
- FelloAI — GLM 5.3: Benchmarks, Pricing and the Held-Back WeightsAug 2026
- Z.ai — Pricing Overview (official docs)Aug 2026
- OfficeChai — Z.AI Releases GLM 5.3Aug 2026
- Axios — China's Z.ai holds GLM 5.3 release over hacking risksAug 2026
- Unite.AI — Z.ai Launches GLM-5.3Aug 2026
- The Agent Report — GLM-5.3: Post-Training AloneAug 2026
- Kingy AI — GLM-5.3 specs and the missing pricing rowAug 2026
- byteiota — GLM-5.3: Open-Weight Coding SOTA and Emergent Cyber RiskAug 2026
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