DeepSeek R1 vs GLM 5.3

GLM 5.3 leads llmrun Score 130.1 to 98.9; neither fits 24 GB.

Run GLM 5.3 in the cloud →

Model A · DeepSeek

DeepSeek R1

98.9llmrun Score

684.5B · 40.1B active · 160K context · MIT · Jan 2025

ChatReasoningFunctions

Model B · Z.ai

GLM 5.3

130.1llmrun Score

753.3B · 41.8B active · 1M context · Other · Aug 2026

ChatFunctions

Which should you choose?

Choose DeepSeek R1 if you want…

Also does reasoning
GLM 5.3 doesn't list it
More permissive license
MIT vs Other

Choose GLM 5.3 if you want…

Higher llmrun Score
130.1 vs 98.9
Stronger at reasoning
130.1 vs 95.2
Stronger at science
130.6 vs 99.0
Ahead on the benchmarks
5 of 5 shared boards
Longer context window
1M vs 160K tokens
Newer release
Aug 2026 vs Jan 2025

On your hardware

Each model at its default quant (Q4_K_M), a smaller one when it must. Estimates, ±20%.

MemoryDeepSeek R1GLM 5.3

8 GB

RTX 4060 · 8 GB tier

DeepSeek R1

Doesn't fit

smallest quant needs 189.7 GB

GLM 5.3

Doesn't fit

smallest quant needs 256 GB

12 GB

RTX 3060 12GB · 12 GB tier

DeepSeek R1

Doesn't fit

smallest quant needs 189.7 GB

GLM 5.3

Doesn't fit

smallest quant needs 256 GB

16 GB

RTX 5060 Ti 16GB · 16 GB tier

DeepSeek R1

Doesn't fit

smallest quant needs 189.7 GB

GLM 5.3

Doesn't fit

smallest quant needs 256 GB

24 GBreference

RTX 4090 · 24 GB tier

DeepSeek R1

Doesn't fit

smallest quant needs 189.7 GB

GLM 5.3

Doesn't fit

smallest quant needs 256 GB

32 GB

RTX 5090 · 32 GB tier

DeepSeek R1

Doesn't fit

smallest quant needs 189.7 GB

GLM 5.3

Doesn't fit

smallest quant needs 256 GB

48 GB

RTX A6000 · 48 GB tier

DeepSeek R1

Doesn't fit

smallest quant needs 189.7 GB

GLM 5.3

Doesn't fit

smallest quant needs 256 GB

Mac 32 GB

Mac Mini M4 · Macs

DeepSeek R1

Doesn't fit

smallest quant needs 189.7 GB

GLM 5.3

Doesn't fit

smallest quant needs 256 GB

Mac 64 GB

Mac Studio M4 Max · Macs

DeepSeek R1

Doesn't fit

smallest quant needs 189.7 GB

GLM 5.3

Doesn't fit

smallest quant needs 256 GB

Mac 128 GB

Mac Studio M4 Max · Macs

DeepSeek R1

Doesn't fit

smallest quant needs 189.7 GB

GLM 5.3

Doesn't fit

smallest quant needs 256 GB

Reference GPU: RTX 4090. Tinted cell = the better pick on that machine (fits, more headroom, or at least 10% faster).

llmrun Score

with its 90% range · bars share one scale

DeepSeek R1 GLM 5.3

Overall

DeepSeek R1

98.996–102

GLM 5.3

130.1128–132

Coding

DeepSeek R1

100.295–106

GLM 5.3

129.9124–136

Agents

DeepSeek R1

no data

GLM 5.3

133.5130–137

Math

DeepSeek R1

no data

GLM 5.3

128.5126–131

Science

DeepSeek R1

99.091–107

GLM 5.3

130.6118–143

Reasoning

DeepSeek R1

95.287–103

GLM 5.3

130.1124–136

DeepSeek R1 · #60 of 106 open models · #56 of 102 that fit ≤512 GB

GLM 5.3 · #6 of 106 open models · #4 of 102 that fit ≤512 GB

Benchmarks

5 shared boards: DeepSeek R1 leads 0, GLM 5.3 leads 5 · Benchmarks imported Nov 2026

BoardDeepSeek R1GLM 5.3

GPQA Diamond

DeepSeek R1

69.2%#36/100 open

IndependentEpoch AI · Jan 2025

GLM 5.3

90.9%#8/100 open

IndependentEpoch AI · Aug 2026

AIME 2024/2025

DeepSeek R1

53.3%#45/88 open

IndependentEpoch AI · Jan 2025

GLM 5.3

91.1%#15/88 open

IndependentEpoch AI · Aug 2026

SciCode

DeepSeek R1

38.3%#44/72 open

Lab-reportedEpoch AI · Jan 2025

GLM 5.3

59.0%#4/72 open

Lab-reportedEpoch AI · Aug 2026

WeirdML

DeepSeek R1

36.5%#33/47 open

IndependentEpoch AI · Jan 2025

GLM 5.3

75.4%#2/47 open

IndependentEpoch AI · Aug 2026

CritPt

DeepSeek R1

1.1%#39/84 open

Lab-reportedEpoch AI · Jan 2025

GLM 5.3

19.1%#7/84 open

Lab-reportedEpoch AI · Aug 2026

36 more boards (other shared and single-model boards)

LMArena Text

DeepSeek R1

1398.1#52/188 open

ArenaLMArena · Oct 2026

GLM 5.3

1480.6#2/188 open

ArenaLMArena · Oct 2026

Only DeepSeek R1 (9)

Only GLM 5.3 (26)

VRAM by quantization

Memory to load the model and 2K context; below it, the total at 32K and 128K context. Lighter side in bold.

QuantDeepSeek R1GLM 5.3

Q2_K

DeepSeek R1

295 GB244.0 GB file

32K 294 GB · 128K 300 GB

GLM 5.3

324 GB~320.2 GB file

32K 323 GB · 128K 332 GB

Q3_K_S

DeepSeek R1

303 GB289.1 GB file

32K 302 GB · 128K 309 GB

GLM 5.3

not listed

Q3_K_M

DeepSeek R1

338 GB319.2 GB file

32K 336 GB · 128K 343 GB

GLM 5.3

371 GB~367.3 GB file

32K 370 GB · 128K 379 GB

Q4_0

DeepSeek R1

346 GB379.0 GB file

32K 345 GB · 128K 352 GB

GLM 5.3

not listed

Q4_K_M

DeepSeek R1

415 GB404.4 GB file

32K 413 GB · 128K 420 GB

GLM 5.3

456 GB~452.0 GB file

32K 455 GB · 128K 464 GB

Q5_K_M

DeepSeek R1

492 GB475.4 GB file

32K 490 GB · 128K 497 GB

GLM 5.3

541 GB~536.8 GB file

32K 540 GB · 128K 549 GB

Q6_K

DeepSeek R1

569 GB550.8 GB file

32K 567 GB · 128K 574 GB

GLM 5.3

626 GB~621.5 GB file

32K 625 GB · 128K 634 GB

Q8_0

DeepSeek R1

688 GB713.3 GB file

32K 687 GB · 128K 694 GB

GLM 5.3

758 GB801.4 GB file

32K 757 GB · 128K 765 GB

13 more quants

IQ2_XXS

DeepSeek R1

192 GB196.2 GB file

32K 191 GB · 128K 198 GB

GLM 5.3

not listed

IQ2_XS

DeepSeek R1

209 GB195.1 GB file

32K 208 GB · 128K 215 GB

GLM 5.3

not listed

IQ2_S

DeepSeek R1

218 GB197.0 GB file

32K 217 GB · 128K 223 GB

GLM 5.3

not listed

IQ2_M

DeepSeek R1

235 GB217.4 GB file

32K 234 GB · 128K 241 GB

GLM 5.3

258 GB238.6 GB file

32K 257 GB · 128K 266 GB

IQ3_XXS

DeepSeek R1

269 GB257.9 GB file

32K 268 GB · 128K 275 GB

GLM 5.3

296 GB281.7 GB file

32K 295 GB · 128K 304 GB

IQ3_M

DeepSeek R1

312 GB292.1 GB file

32K 311 GB · 128K 318 GB

GLM 5.3

not listed

Q3_K_L

DeepSeek R1

355 GB347.4 GB file

32K 353 GB · 128K 360 GB

GLM 5.3

not listed

IQ4_XS

DeepSeek R1

372 GB357.1 GB file

32K 371 GB · 128K 377 GB

GLM 5.3

409 GB365.3 GB file

32K 408 GB · 128K 417 GB

IQ4_NL

DeepSeek R1

389 GB378.1 GB file

32K 388 GB · 128K 395 GB

GLM 5.3

not listed

Q4_1

DeepSeek R1

389 GB419.9 GB file

32K 388 GB · 128K 395 GB

GLM 5.3

not listed

Q4_K_S

DeepSeek R1

389 GB380.0 GB file

32K 388 GB · 128K 395 GB

GLM 5.3

not listed

Q5_K_S

DeepSeek R1

474 GB461.8 GB file

32K 473 GB · 128K 480 GB

GLM 5.3

not listed

BF16

DeepSeek R1

1373 GB1342.3 GB file

32K 1372 GB · 128K 1378 GB

GLM 5.3

1511 GB1508.0 GB file

32K 1510 GB · 128K 1519 GB

How to run each

DeepSeek R1

Ollama · Q4_K_M

$ollama run hf.co/unsloth/DeepSeek-R1-GGUF:Q4_K_M

All ways to run DeepSeek R1 →

GLM 5.3

Ollama · Q4_K_M

$ollama run hf.co/unsloth/GLM-5.3-GGUF

All ways to run GLM 5.3 →

Specifications

Specifications of DeepSeek R1 and GLM 5.3
Spec	DeepSeek R1	GLM 5.3
Publisher	DeepSeek	Z.ai
Parameters	684.5B	753.3B
Active parameters	40B per token	42B per token
Architecture	DeepseekV3ForCausalLM	GlmMoeDsaForCausalLM
Context	160K tokens	1M tokens
Modalities	Chat, Reasoning, Function-calling	Chat, Function-calling
License	MIT	Other
Released	Jan 2025	Aug 2026

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better, DeepSeek R1 or GLM 5.3?

GLM 5.3 leads llmrun Score 130.1 to 98.9; neither fits 24 GB. Choose DeepSeek R1 for also does reasoning and more permissive license; choose GLM 5.3 for higher llmrun Score and stronger at reasoning.

Which needs less VRAM, DeepSeek R1 or GLM 5.3?

At Q4_K_M, DeepSeek R1 requires 414.6 GB while GLM 5.3 needs 456.2 GB, making DeepSeek R1 the easier model to run on your local setup.

Can I run DeepSeek R1 or GLM 5.3 on a 16 GB GPU?

DeepSeek R1 does not fit (smallest quant needs 189.7 GB); GLM 5.3 does not fit (smallest quant needs 256 GB).

Which has a longer context window, DeepSeek R1 or GLM 5.3?

DeepSeek R1 supports 163,840 tokens and GLM 5.3 supports 1,048,576 tokens.