GLM 5.3 Flash vs GLM 5.3
GLM 5.3 Flash took 59 min 10 s and $0.037 at list price, GLM 5.3 took 22 min 22 s and $0.34 at list price. GLM 5.3 Flash took 2.6× as long, and GLM 5.3 cost 9.1× as much.
GLM 5.3 Flash
Z.ai · $0.148/M out · 1,329 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.
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 began the way most repair shops do: with a broken synth, a stubborn owner, and a soldering iron that refused to stay idle. We're three people—Joris, Marit, and Tomas—working out of a small workshop on the back streets of Rotterdam-Noord, surrounded by oscilloscopes, spare parts, and instruments that sometimes arrive in worse condition than their owners admit.
Between us, we've spent decades repairing and restoring vintage synthesizers: Rolands, Moogs, Korgs, Yamahas, and machines whose manuals were never written in the first place. We don't sell anything. We fix things. That focus keeps us honest and keeps the work slow, careful, and done properly.
We believe old instruments deserve to keep making music, not gather dust in attics or fetch prices only collectors can pay. Whether it's a cracked keybed, a dying power supply, or a voice that's gone quiet, we'd like to help bring it back.
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
| GLM 5.3 Flash | GLM 5.3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Z.ai | Z.ai |
| Made in | China | China |
| Released | 26 Aug 2026 | 18 Aug 2026 |
| Price in, per M tokens | $0.016 | $0.07 |
| Price out, per M tokens | $0.148 | $1.40 |
| Context | 1,048,576 tokens | 1,048,576 tokens |
| Weights | open | open |
| Hacker News points | 1,329 | 3,306 |
| Time for the six prompts | 59 min 10 s | 22 min 22 s |
| List price of the six prompts | $0.037 | $0.34 |
GLM 5.3 Flash was cheaper: $0.30 less at list price, and less on 5 of the 6 prompts. GLM 5.3 was faster: 36 min 48 s less in total, and faster on 3 of the 6 prompts.
In the recording, GLM 5.3 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.
Tea Garden experiment: GLM 5.3's game passed 1 of 5 checks; GLM 5.3 Flash was not in it.





