Modal: Models Intelligence, Performance & Price
This analysis is intended to support you in choosing the best model provided by Modal for your use-case.
Most Intelligent
Updated
GLM-5.3 (max)
Kimi K3 (max)GLM-5.3-Flash
Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (max)Intelligence index
Total 6 models
Fastest
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (max)
Inkling (NVFP4)Qwen3.8 2.4T A95BGLM-5.3 (max)GLM-5.3-FlashOutput speed
Total 6 models
Lowest Price
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (max)GLM-5.3-FlashGLM-5.3 (max)Inkling (NVFP4)Qwen3.8 2.4T A95BBlended price (per 1M tokens)
Total 6 models
Modal offers 6 models, each with different intelligence, performance, and pricing characteristics. Below is a comparison of the key metrics across models.
- For intelligence, the top models on Modal are GLM-5.3 (max) (45), Kimi K3 (max) (44), and GLM-5.3-Flash (42).
- For output speed, the fastest models are DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (max) (191 t/s), Inkling (NVFP4) (176 t/s), and Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B (173 t/s). Speed varies significantly across models, with a 102% difference between the fastest and slowest.
- For latency, DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (max) (11.23s), Inkling (NVFP4) (12.36s), and Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B (12.49s) offer the lowest time to first answer token.
- For pricing, DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (max) ($0.20), GLM-5.3-Flash ($0.30), and GLM-5.3 (max) ($0.90) offer the lowest blended prices per 1M tokens. Prices vary up to 5.8x across models.
- For context window size, Kimi K3 (max) (1M), Inkling (NVFP4) (1M), and GLM-5.3 (max) (1M) support the largest context windows on Modal.
- DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (max) offers both the fastest output and best pricing, making it attractive for throughput-sensitive and cost-conscious applications. GLM-5.3 (max) leads in intelligence for tasks that require the highest quality.
Highlights
Intelligence Evaluations
Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index
Intelligence Evaluations
Agentic knowledge work, (Elo-500)/2000
Agentic real-world work tasks, (Elo-500)/2000
Agentic SaaS workflows
Agentic coding & terminal use
Coding
Reasoning & knowledge
Professional document reasoning, All-pass
Physics reasoning
Knowledge
1 - hallucination rate
Long context reasoning
Legal agentic work, criterion pass rate
Agentic business operations
Agentic scientific research workflows in a terminal
Quantitative analysis on spreadsheets & documents
Agentic tool use
Kubernetes incident root-cause analysis
Visual reasoning
Medical long context reasoning
Intelligence Index vs. Price
Context Window
Context Window
Pricing
Intelligence Index vs. Price
Performance Summary
Output Speed vs. Price
Speed
Measured by Output Speed (tokens per second)
Output Speed
Latency
Measured by Time (seconds) to First Token
Latency: Time To First Answer Token
End-to-End Response Time
Seconds to output 500 tokens, calculated based on time to first token, 'thinking' time for reasoning models, and output speed
End-to-End Response Time vs. Price
Further Analysis | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GLM-5.3 (max) | 1M | Open | 45 | $2.44 | 160 | 0.74 | 16.36 | 12.49 | |||
Kimi K3 (max) | 1.05M | Open | 44 | $3.48 | 92 | 1.15 | 28.42 | 21.81 | |||
GLM-5.3-Flash | 1M | Open | 42 | $1.03 | 95 | 1.01 | 27.46 | 21.15 | |||
Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B | 1M | Open | 40 | $1.96 | 173 | 0.94 | 15.37 | 11.55 | |||
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (max) | 1M | Open | 39 | $1.20 | 191 | 0.78 | 13.85 | 10.46 | |||
Inkling (NVFP4) | 1.05M | Open | 25 | $0.86 | 176 | 0.97 | 15.21 | 11.40 | |||
Key definitions
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Modal
Modal offers 6 models that we track: GLM-5.3 (max), Kimi K3 (max), GLM-5.3-Flash, Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B, DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (max), and Inkling (NVFP4).
The most intelligent model available on Modal is GLM-5.3 (max) with an Intelligence Index score of 45.
The fastest model on Modal by output speed is DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (max) at 191.2 tokens per second.
The model with the lowest time to first answer token on Modal is DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (max) at 11.23s. Lower latency means faster initial response time.
The most affordable model on Modal by blended price is DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (max) at $0.20 per 1M tokens (7:2:1 cache hit/input/output ratio).
Prices on Modal vary up to 11x across models, from $0.20 per 1M tokens for DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (max) to $2.31 per 1M tokens for Kimi K3 (max).
Yes, Modal offers an OpenAI-compatible API, making it easy to switch from OpenAI or use existing OpenAI SDK integrations.
Yes, all 6 models on Modal support JSON mode for structured output.
Yes, all 6 models on Modal support function calling (tool use).
Yes, Modal offers 6 reasoning models: GLM-5.3 (max), Kimi K3 (max), GLM-5.3-Flash, Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B, DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (max), and Inkling (NVFP4). Reasoning models use extended thinking to work through complex problems before providing an answer.
Yes, all 6 models on Modal are open weight models.
Yes, provider performance can vary over time due to infrastructure changes, load balancing, and updates. We continuously benchmark all providers and display historical performance trends in the "Over Time" charts.
When choosing a model on Modal, consider: intelligence (for quality-sensitive tasks), output speed (for throughput-intensive tasks), latency (for interactive applications requiring quick first responses), pricing (for cost-sensitive workloads), and features like context window size, JSON mode, or function calling support.