Pat Simmons runs GLM 5.2 through a broad set of one-shot builds, including an SVG, neural-network explainer, landing page, data visualization, desktop simulation and arcade game. Blind rankings vary by task: GLM performs strongly on the desktop simulation and remains competitive on several builds, but finishes well behind the leaders on others.
A second round compares GLM 5.2 with Opus 4.8 on decision decks, outreach writing, spreadsheet-backed models, quarterly-review slides and survey analysis. Opus wins some planning and writing tasks, while GLM produces a stronger quarterly-review deck and a clearer survey synthesis. GLM also fails one pricing-model task completely, showing why aggregate claims should not hide individual breakdowns.
The final coding comparison covers an e-commerce site, drawing clone, Minecraft-style world, physics sandbox, portfolio and solar system. GLM wins most of Simmons's blind preferences and completes several interactive tasks that Opus leaves partially broken, although Opus still produces the preferred portfolio design.
Across the tested runs, GLM 5.2 is commonly several times cheaper than Opus 4.8. Simmons concludes that the open model is credible as a daily driver for many workloads, but emphasizes that one-shot tests, prompt design and task selection affect the result. Promotional material for his bootcamp, newsletter and benchmark site is omitted from the catalogue record.
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