MiniMax M3.1 Flash vs GLM 5.3
MiniMax M3.1 Flash took 23 min 37 s and $0.095 at list price, GLM 5.3 took 22 min 22 s and $0.34 at list price. MiniMax M3.1 Flash took 1.1× as long, and GLM 5.3 cost 3.6× as much.
MiniMax M3.1 Flash
MiniMax · $0.60/M out · 550 HN pts
GLM 5.3
Z.ai · $1.40/M out · 3,306 HN pts
Pelican
Generate an SVG of a pelican riding a bicycle
Watch
Draw a mechanical wristwatch that shows the current local time, with a sweeping seconds hand and a date window. Make it look expensive.
Landing
Build the landing page for Lumen Cycles, a Copenhagen workshop that builds custom cargo bikes to order. Make it look like a real brand you would trust with 4,000 euros.
Breakout
Make a Breakout game I can play right now with the keyboard or the mouse. Give it several levels, a score and some juice.
Blank first frame. Press Run.
Logo
Design a logo for Night Heron, an independent bookshop that only opens after dark.
About
Write the opening of the About us page for Patchbay, a three-person studio in Rotterdam that repairs vintage synthesizers. About 150 words.
Patchbay is a three-person studio in Rotterdam dedicated to bringing vintage synthesizers back to life. We repair analog and digital instruments that shaped the sound of music, from classic drum machines and polyphonic synths to quirky, characterful machines that rarely leave a musician’s side. Our work combines technical knowledge with respect for each instrument’s history, because a synth is more than a circuit board: it carries the decisions, compromises, and personality of its original design.
We diagnose faults, restore unreliable voices, and carefully service aging components without erasing the character that made an instrument worth keeping. Whether a machine has been silent for years or simply needs a thoughtful tune-up, we treat every repair as a careful act of restoration.
Based in Rotterdam, Patchbay works with musicians, studios, collectors, and anyone who believes electronic instruments deserve another chapter. We restore them to sound as they should, preserving the details that make each one unique.
Patchbay is a three-person workshop in Rotterdam where vintage synthesizers come back to life. Whatever lands on our bench — a battered Minimoog, a Juno with dead keys, an ARP silent since the eighties — gets the same treatment: careful diagnosis, honest advice, and repairs done right.
We started Patchbay because we believe a good synthesizer shouldn't die of old age. These machines are more than circuits and sliders — they're the sound of records you grew up with, and the reason some of us got into music in the first place. Every one we fix goes back out into the world ready to make more.
Between us we handle everything from recapping and calibration to keybed work and the hunt for parts nobody has made in decades. It's slow, meticulous work, and we like it that way. If something in your collection hums, crackles, or refuses to turn on, bring it in — we'll see what we can do.
Specs and numbers
| MiniMax M3.1 Flash | GLM 5.3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | MiniMax | Z.ai |
| Made in | China | China |
| Released | 19 Oct 2026 | 18 Aug 2026 |
| Price in, per M tokens | $0.15 | $0.07 |
| Price out, per M tokens | $0.60 | $1.40 |
| Context | 1,048,576 tokens | 1,048,576 tokens |
| Weights | open | open |
| Hacker News points | 550 | 3,306 |
| Time for the six prompts | 23 min 37 s | 22 min 22 s |
| List price of the six prompts | $0.095 | $0.34 |
MiniMax M3.1 Flash was cheaper: $0.24 less at list price, and less on 5 of the 6 prompts. GLM 5.3 was faster: 75 s less in total, and faster on 2 of the 6 prompts.
In the recording, MiniMax M3.1 Flash's Breakout game plays; GLM 5.3's stopped painting. GLM 5.3's Breakout game showed a blank first frame when the still was taken.
Rebuild this screen experiment: MiniMax M3.1 Flash's rebuild matched the screenshot at 78%; GLM 5.3 was not in it. Tea Garden experiment: MiniMax M3.1 Flash's game passed 5 of 5 checks, GLM 5.3's 1 of 5.