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Z.ai · REASONING EFFORT GUIDE

GLM 5.3
How much thinking?

Compare Low vs High vs Max where tested. Find the effort setting that fits your task, and see how much extra reasoning changes the result.

SAME MODEL. DIFFERENT THINKING.

Find GLM 5.3’s useful effort.

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Hex DataBench v1.1

Published blended DataBench score, on a 0–100 scale. Judge-based analytical task performance; not a general intelligence or guaranteed success rate.

Analytics in the Hex agent harness · Leaderboard updated: 2026-09-22 · Reviewed September 23, 2026Check the source ↗
YOUR NEAR-BEST PICKMax

Lowest measured cost within 1.0 points of the best tested analytics score.

16.3 / 100 · $0.6385 / source task
Exact best1.0 pts10 pts

Set 0 for the highest score. Increase the gap to explore cheaper or lighter options.

THE EFFORT CURVE

Does more thinking help?

● Near-best pickOrange = score decreased

02550751008.7Low14.7High16.3Max
02550751008.7Low14.7High16.3Max

Scores out of 100 · Full 0–100 scale · tap a point to select mode B. Cyan band: within 1.0 points of the best tested score.

WHAT YOU SPEND

Cost of more effort

Measured average USD per benchmark task.

Low$0.199
High$0.3564
MaxNear-best pick$0.6385

Within this benchmark and harness. Your task mix, tools, caching and endpoint can change the result.

Score difference · B minus A+7.7 pts

Large gap · B scored higher

Measured cost · B / A3.21×

Same benchmark workload

Median duration · B / A5.48×

Measured in the source harness

Gap labels are editorial: under 1 point is small, 1–under 5 noticeable, 5+ large. They do not establish statistical significance. A tied score does not prove equivalent behavior.

EVERY TESTED MODE

The numbers behind the choice

3 modes · missing levels are not interpolated

Low

Tested mode
8.7 / 100

0.0 pts vs Low

$0.199 / source task

95 s median duration

High

Tested mode
14.7 / 100

+6.0 pts vs Low

$0.3564 / source task

215 s median duration

Max

Near-best pick
16.3 / 100

+7.7 pts vs Low

$0.6385 / source task

518 s median duration

Full benchmark table & exact configuration IDs

Swipe inside the table for all measures. Figures from different study selections are not directly comparable.

GLM 5.3 · Hex DataBench v1.1 · Analytics in the Hex agent harness
EffortAnalytics scoreCost / taskMedian secondsOutput tokensExact source ID
Low8.7$0.19994.7GLM 5.3 · Low
High14.7$0.3564215.1GLM 5.3 · High
Max16.3$0.6385518.5GLM 5.3 · Max
SCALE THE OBSERVED COST

Effort cost difference calculator

What would A versus B cost if you repeated this benchmark’s average workload?

A · Low$199.01
B · Max$638.53
Difference$439.52more with B

A source-workload scenario using average measured USD costs. Source prices, caching and tools are already reflected in those observed costs. Your agent’s costs may differ.

YOUR WORKLOAD

Reasoning-token cost calculator

Estimate the extra bill from thinking tokens. The starting token counts are editable examples, not measurements of GLM 5.3. Rates start from our September 23 model snapshot.

A · Low$13.68estimated monthly cost
B · Max$24.24estimated monthly cost

Mode B costs $10.56 more per month with these assumptions.

Standard text-token arithmetic. Excludes retries, tools, caching, long-context premiums, hosting and taxes. Includes thinking in output billing; do not also include it in “visible output.” Check endpoint limits separately. Changing mode does not automatically predict tokens or quality.

READ ACROSS THE EVIDENCE

GLM 5.3 effort benchmarks at a glance

Each card is its own comparable sweep. Scores from different benchmarks or question sets measure different work and are not averaged together.

Leaderboard updated · 2026-09-22

Analytics · DataBench v1.1

Published blended DataBench score, on a 0–100 scale. Judge-based analytical task performance; not a general intelligence or guaranteed success rate.

Low
8.7 · $0.199 / task
High
14.7 · $0.3564 / task
Max · pick
16.3 · $0.6385 / task

Near-best pick: Max at 1-point tolerance. Score spread: 7.7 points.

Explore this sweep ↗

Original source ↗

Reasoning effort, explained

Which GLM 5.3 thinking level is most efficient?

Max is the lowest-cost option within 1 point of the best analytics score in Hex DataBench v1.1. The tested score range is 7.7 points. This uses a 1-point practical tolerance in the first listed study. Change the evidence, task measure and tolerance above to get a recommendation for another benchmark. It is a shortlist for testing your own workload.

Which GLM 5.3 effort settings are compared?

Low, High, Max appear in the collected studies. Each chart only includes modes tested together in that study. These published labels do not establish that every endpoint or application exposes every setting.

Does more effort improve GLM 5.3?

In the first listed Hex DataBench v1.1 sweep, the tested score range is 7.7 points and no adjacent effort increase lowers the score. This does not guarantee a gain on every task or in another harness.

How much more does high effort cost for GLM 5.3?

Use the A/B selector and measured-cost calculator when the source reports dollar costs. For your own agent, enter average input, visible output and thinking tokens in the token calculator. Higher effort is adaptive, so the label itself cannot tell you the bill. Missing costs stay missing.

Keep comparing

AI Agent Store · Model intelligence · Snapshot 2026-09-23Sources, limitations & corrections ↗