Model comparison
GLM-5 vs MAI-Thinking-1
Head-to-head evidence from 8 shared benchmark results across 4 categories. Overall scores shown here use the public BenchAlign v5 ranking lane.
Public leaderboard positions: GLM-5 #28 (Supported); MAI-Thinking-1 unranked (Not scored). Intervals and evidence labels describe ranking uncertainty, not a guarantee for a specific workload.
Evidence parity. GLM-5 and MAI-Thinking-1 share 8 comparable benchmark results. 5 of 8 categories are comparable. 41 results are unique to GLM-5; 5 to MAI-Thinking-1.
Updated July 23, 2026- Shared results
- 8
- GLM-5 only
- 41
- MAI-Thinking-1 only
- 5
- Comparable categories
- 5 / 8
Treat this as a split decision. GLM-5 makes more sense if agentic is the priority or you would rather avoid the extra latency and token burn of a reasoning model; MAI-Thinking-1 is the better fit if mathematics is the priority or you need the larger 256K context window.
Confidence note. This is a partial-evidence comparison with 8 shared benchmark results across 4 evidence categories; 5 of 8 categories currently have scoreable aggregates for both models. Treat the verdict as directional until coverage is more balanced.
Why this result
GLM-5 and MAI-Thinking-1 finish on the same BenchAlign overall score, so this is less about a single winner and more about where the edge shows up. The BenchAlign headline says tie; the benchmark table is where the real choice happens.
MAI-Thinking-1 is the reasoning model in the pair, while GLM-5 is not. That usually helps on harder chain-of-thought-heavy tests, but it can also mean more latency and more token spend in real use. MAI-Thinking-1 gives you the larger context window at 256K, compared with 200K for GLM-5.
Category breakdown
Exact category averages are shown below. Not measured means BenchLM does not have enough sourced public coverage for that model and category.
| Category | GLM-5 | Δ | MAI-Thinking-1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Math | GLM-556.3 | Margin→ 33.4 | MAI-Thinking-189.7 |
| Agentic | GLM-556.2 | Margin← 10.2 | MAI-Thinking-146.0 |
| Inst. Following | GLM-592.6 | Margin← 7.6 | MAI-Thinking-185.0 |
| Knowledge | GLM-566.4 | Margin→ 6.1 | MAI-Thinking-172.5 |
| Coding | GLM-566.3 | Margin← 0.8 | MAI-Thinking-165.5 |
| Reasoning | GLM-560.8 | MarginNo overlap | MAI-Thinking-1Not measured |
| Multilingual | GLM-583.1 | MarginNo overlap | MAI-Thinking-1Not measured |
Decisive benchmark drivers
The largest measured benchmark gaps in this matchup, with exact reported values.
More
- Source ↗
Terminal-Bench 2.0
AgenticA 56.2%B 46%Winner: GLM-5Δ 10.2Terminal-Bench 2.0: GLM-5 scored 56.2%; MAI-Thinking-1 scored 46%. GLM-5 wins this benchmark. - Source ↗
SWE-bench Verified
CodingA 77.8%B 73.5%Winner: GLM-5Δ 4.3SWE-bench Verified: GLM-5 scored 77.8%; MAI-Thinking-1 scored 73.5%. GLM-5 wins this benchmark. - Source ↗
SWE-bench Pro
CodingA 55.1%B 52.8%Winner: GLM-5Δ 2.3SWE-bench Pro: GLM-5 scored 55.1%; MAI-Thinking-1 scored 52.8%. GLM-5 wins this benchmark. - Source ↗
GPQA
KnowledgeA 86%B 84.2%Winner: GLM-5Δ 1.8GPQA: GLM-5 scored 86%; MAI-Thinking-1 scored 84.2%. GLM-5 wins this benchmark. - Source ↗
HMMT Feb 2026
MathA 86.4%B 84.9%Winner: GLM-5Δ 1.5HMMT Feb 2026: GLM-5 scored 86.4%; MAI-Thinking-1 scored 84.9%. GLM-5 wins this benchmark.
Operational comparison
Runtime and commercial metrics are compared only when both models have a complete sourced value.
| Metric | GLM-5 | MAI-Thinking-1 | Comparison |
|---|---|---|---|
| Input / output priceUSD per 1M tokens | GLM-5$1 input / $3.2 output | MAI-Thinking-1Not available | A complete price comparison is not available. |
| Generation speedtokens per second | GLM-574 tok/s | MAI-Thinking-1Not available | A complete speed comparison is not available. |
| First-answer latencyseconds to first token | GLM-51.64 s | MAI-Thinking-1Not available | A complete latency comparison is not available. |
| Context windowmaximum listed tokens | GLM-5200K | MAI-Thinking-1256K | MAI-Thinking-1 lists the larger context window. |
Benchmark Deep Dive
AgenticGLM-5 wins13 benchmarks
| Benchmark | GLM-5 | MAI-Thinking-1 | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Terminal-Bench 2.0Source | 56.2% | 46% | GLM-5 leads |
| Claw-EvalSource | 57.7% | — | Not comparable |
| QwenClawBenchSource | 54.1% | — | Not comparable |
| τ³-bench resultsSource | 65.6% | — | Not comparable |
| DeepPlanningSource | 14.6% | — | Not comparable |
| ToolathlonSource | 38% | — | Not comparable |
| MCP AtlasSource | 31.1% | — | Not comparable |
| MCP-TasksSource | 60.8% | — | Not comparable |
| WideResearchSource | 69.8% | — | Not comparable |
| τ²-bench resultsSource | 98.2% | — | Not comparable |
| CyberGymSource | 43.2% | — | Not comparable |
| APEX-Agents-AASource | 14.5% | — | Not comparable |
| Gert LabsSource | 50.99% | — | Not comparable |
CodingGLM-5 wins8 benchmarks
| Benchmark | GLM-5 | MAI-Thinking-1 | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| SWE-bench VerifiedSource | 77.8% | 73.5% | GLM-5 leads |
| SWE-bench Verified*Source | 72.8% | — | Not comparable |
| SWE-bench ProSource | 55.1% | 52.8% | GLM-5 leads |
| SWE MultilingualSource | 73.3% | — | Not comparable |
| SWE-RebenchSource | 62.8% | — | Not comparable |
| React Native EvalsSource | 74.8% | — | Not comparable |
| AA-SciCodeSource | 46.2% | — | Not comparable |
| Terminal-Bench 2.0Source | — | 46.0% | Not comparable |
Reasoning5 benchmarks
KnowledgeMAI-Thinking-1 wins13 benchmarks
| Benchmark | GLM-5 | MAI-Thinking-1 | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPQASource | 86% | 84.2% | GLM-5 leads |
| GPQA-DSource | 86.0% | 84.2% | GLM-5 leads |
| SuperGPQASource | 66.8% | — | Not comparable |
| MMLU-ProSource | 85.7% | 85% | GLM-5 leads |
| MMLU-Pro (Arcee)Source | 85.8% | — | Not comparable |
| HLESource | 50.4% | — | Not comparable |
| Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexSource | 39.5% | — | Not comparable |
| AA-GPQA DiamondSource | 82.0% | — | Not comparable |
| AA-HLESource | 27.2% | — | Not comparable |
| AA-Omniscience IndexSource | 2.0% | — | Not comparable |
| AA-Omniscience AccuracySource | 26.9% | — | Not comparable |
| AA-Omniscience Hallucination RateSource | 34.0% | — | Not comparable |
| SimpleQASource | — | 31% | Not comparable |
MathMAI-Thinking-1 wins9 benchmarks
| Benchmark | GLM-5 | MAI-Thinking-1 | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| AIME26Source | 95.8% | 94.5% | GLM-5 leads |
| AIME25 (Arcee)Source | 93.3% | — | Not comparable |
| HMMT Feb 2025Source | 97.5% | — | Not comparable |
| HMMT Nov 2025Source | 96.9% | — | Not comparable |
| HMMT Feb 2026Source | 86.4% | 84.9% | GLM-5 leads |
| MMAnswerBenchSource | 82.5% | — | Not comparable |
| FrontierMath v2 (Tiers 1-3)Source | 16.434% | — | Not comparable |
| FrontierMath v2 (Tier 4)Source | 2.100% | — | Not comparable |
| AIME 2025Source | — | 97% | Not comparable |
Multilingual2 benchmarks
Multimodal1 benchmarks
| Benchmark | GLM-5 | MAI-Thinking-1 | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design Arena WebsiteSource | 1278 | — | Not comparable |
Frequently Asked Questions (6)
Which is better, GLM-5 or MAI-Thinking-1?
GLM-5 and MAI-Thinking-1 are tied on the BenchAlign overall score, so the right pick depends on which category matters most for your use case.
Which is better for knowledge tasks, GLM-5 or MAI-Thinking-1?
MAI-Thinking-1 has the edge for knowledge tasks in this comparison, averaging 72.5 versus 66.4. Inside this category, GPQA is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.
Which is better for coding, GLM-5 or MAI-Thinking-1?
GLM-5 has the edge for coding in this comparison, averaging 66.3 versus 65.5. Inside this category, SWE-bench Verified is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.
Which is better for math, GLM-5 or MAI-Thinking-1?
MAI-Thinking-1 has the edge for math in this comparison, averaging 89.7 versus 56.3. Inside this category, HMMT Feb 2026 is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.
Which is better for agentic tasks, GLM-5 or MAI-Thinking-1?
GLM-5 has the edge for agentic tasks in this comparison, averaging 56.2 versus 46. Inside this category, Terminal-Bench 2.0 is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.
Which is better for instruction following, GLM-5 or MAI-Thinking-1?
GLM-5 has the edge for instruction following in this comparison, averaging 92.6 versus 85. MAI-Thinking-1 stays close enough that the answer can still flip depending on your workload.
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