Moondream 3 Preview is $0.1 cheaper per 1M input tokens (25% lower; 1.33x difference).
API cost decision in 10 seconds
🔥GLM 5.3 vs NewMoondream 3 Preview
Pick Moondream 3 Preview for lower cost; pick GLM 5.3 only if the larger context window matters more.
Page updated:
Data confirmed:
Prices normalized to USD per 1M tokens
Sample workload: 1M input + 500K output
Budget verdict
Pick Moondream 3 Preview for lower cost; pick GLM 5.3 only if the larger context window matters more.
On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Moondream 3 Preview is estimated at $1.55 vs $4.4 for GLM 5.3, saving $2.85 (64.8% lower).
Cost-first pickMoondream 3 Preview
Context-first pickGLM 5.3
Sample savings$2.8564.8%
10x traffic gap$28.5
GLM 5.3 has more context, but Moondream 3 Preview saves $2.85 on the standard workload. At 10x that traffic, the same price gap is about $28.5. Use the calculator below to replace the sample workload with your own token volume.
Cost sensitivity
Workload Sensitivity
Moondream 3 Preview stays cheaper across input-heavy, balanced, and output-heavy sample workloads.
| Workload shape | Token mix | Better pick | GLM 5.3 | Moondream 3 Preview |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Input-heavy / RAG | 5M input + 500K output | Moondream 3 Preview | $6 | $2.75 |
| Balanced workload | 1M input + 1M output | Moondream 3 Preview | $8.4 | $2.8 |
| Output-heavy chatbot | 1M input + 5M output | Moondream 3 Preview | $40.4 | $12.8 |
Moondream 3 Preview is $5.5 cheaper per 1M output tokens (68.8% lower; 3.2x difference).
GLM 5.3 has 1.02M more context (32.8x larger).
Moondream 3 Preview is $2.85 cheaper on the standard workload (64.8% lower).
Estimate your workload cost
Your Workload Cost
This estimate uses normalized public API pricing per 1M tokens. It is a planning aid, not a billing quote. Verify provider pricing, limits, and terms before production use.
Quick Decision
Moondream 3 Preview has the lower input price; Moondream 3 Preview has the lower output price; GLM 5.3 offers the larger context window. For the 1M input plus 500K output sample, Moondream 3 Preview is cheaper for the standard workload.
For a 1M input token plus 500K output token workload, the estimated API cost is $4.4 for GLM 5.3 and $1.55 for Moondream 3 Preview.
Choose GLM 5.3 when you care most about larger context window.
Choose Moondream 3 Preview when you care most about lower input-token price, and lower output-token price.
- On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Moondream 3 Preview is estimated at $1.55 vs $4.4 for GLM 5.3, saving $2.85 (64.8% lower).
- Moondream 3 Preview is $2.85 cheaper on the standard workload (64.8% lower).
- Moondream 3 Preview is $0.1 cheaper per 1M input tokens (25% lower; 1.33x difference).
- Moondream 3 Preview is $5.5 cheaper per 1M output tokens (68.8% lower; 3.2x difference).
- GLM 5.3 has 1.02M more context (32.8x larger).
| Feature | 🔥GLM 5.3 (Z.ai) | NewMoondream 3 Preview (Moondream) |
|---|---|---|
| Input Price prompt tokens per 1M | $0.4 | $0.3 |
| Completion Price per 1M tokens | $8 | $2.5 |
| Sample Workload Cost 1M input + 500K output | $4.4 | $1.55 |
| Context Window | 1.05M | 32K |
| Release Date | ||
| Popularity | #9 |
Use-Case Decision Matrix
| Use case | Better pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Budget-constrained production | Moondream 3 Preview | On the standard 1M input plus 500K output workload, Moondream 3 Preview is estimated at $1.55 vs $4.4 for GLM 5.3, saving $2.85 (64.8% lower). |
| High-volume input processing | Moondream 3 Preview | Lower prompt-token price matters most when prompts, retrieved passages, or documents dominate the bill. |
| Long responses and chatbots | Moondream 3 Preview | Lower output-token price matters most when assistants generate many completion tokens. |
| RAG or long-document work | GLM 5.3 | A larger context window leaves more room for retrieved passages, conversation history, or source files. |
Related Alternatives
- GLM 5.2 (free) can replace GLM 5.3 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
- GLM 4.5 Air (free) can replace GLM 5.3 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.
- GLM 4 32B can replace GLM 5.3 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.15.
- GLM 5.3 Flash (batch) can replace GLM 5.3 when lower sample workload cost matters most: $0.16.
- Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent offers 2M context with $2.5 sample workload cost.
- Grok 4.20 offers 2M context with $2.5 sample workload cost.
- Llama 4 Scout offers 1.31M context with $0.47 sample workload cost.
- MiMo-V2.6-Flash offers 1.05M context with $0.28 sample workload cost.
- DeepSeek V4.1 Flash · DeepSeek · #1
- Step 5 Preview · StepFun · #2
- GLM 5.3 Flash · Z.ai · #3
- MiMo-V2.6-Flash · Xiaomi · #4
Cheaper alternatives
Review low-cost models sorted by a standard 1M input plus 500K output workload.
Open cheapest modelsLarger context alternatives
Find models with larger context windows for RAG, long documents, and codebase review.
Open largest context modelsProvider catalogs
Compare models within provider hubs before choosing a final API vendor.
Open provider hubsZ.ai catalog
Review all tracked Z.ai models before deciding whether this matchup is the right shortlist.
Open Z.ai modelsMoondream catalog
Check other Moondream models with comparable pricing, context, or release timing.
Open Moondream modelsGLM-5.3 is a large-scale reasoning model from Z.ai, built for complex software engineering and long-horizon agent tasks. It supports text input and output with a 1M-token context window, and improves...
Moondream 3 Preview is a vision-language model from Moondream with 9B total parameters and 2B active (mixture-of-experts). It handles visual question answering, captioning, OCR, and visual reasoning over images, with...