GLM 5.3 Flash vs MiniMax M3
GLM 5.3 Flash took 59 min 10 s and $0.023 at list price, MiniMax M3 took 33 min 3 s and $0.21 at list price. GLM 5.3 Flash took 1.8× as long, and MiniMax M3 cost 9.0× as much.
GLM 5.3 Flash
Z.ai · $0.092/M out · 1,329 HN pts
MiniMax M3
MiniMax · $1.20/M out · 144 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 began in a cluttered apartment in Rotterdam, where three friends spent weekends coaxing old synthesizers back to life. What started as a shared obsession quickly outgrew the living room. In 2016, we opened our first proper workshop in a converted warehouse on the south side of the city, and we have been soldering, calibrating, and listening closely ever since.
We are a small team of three. Niels handles the analog work, coaxing warm tones from aging oscillators and reluctant filters. Marijn focuses on digital systems and the occasional stubborn MIDI quirk. Sanna manages restorations, sourcing rare components and keeping long projects on track. Between us, we have decades of experience with the machines that shaped electronic music.
Every synth that passes through our doors carries decades of sound inside it. Our job is to make sure that story continues.
Specs and numbers
| GLM 5.3 Flash | MiniMax M3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Z.ai | MiniMax |
| Made in | China | China |
| Released | 26 Aug 2026 | 31 May 2026 |
| Price in, per M tokens | $0.029 | $0.30 |
| Price out, per M tokens | $0.092 | $1.20 |
| Context | 1,048,576 tokens | 1,048,576 tokens |
| Weights | open | open |
| Hacker News points | 1,329 | 144 |
| Time for the six prompts | 59 min 10 s | 33 min 3 s |
| List price of the six prompts | $0.023 | $0.21 |
GLM 5.3 Flash was cheaper: $0.19 less at list price, and less on each of the 6 prompts. MiniMax M3 was faster: 26 min 7 s less in total, and faster on 3 of the 6 prompts.
In the recording, both Breakout games play.





