What is the best AI model for coding?

The model at the top of this board, ranked by Artificial Analysis's coding index. It updates every week, so check the table for today's leader.

Is a cheaper coding model good enough?

Often, yes: the chart shows the best coding score at every price. A model on the line gives you the most coding ability for what it costs.

Does a bigger context window help with coding?

Yes, for big projects: a model with a larger context window can read more of your code at once.

What does the chart show?

Each dot is a model, placed by its coding score and its price. The line joins the models no cheaper model beats, so anything under it costs more for less.

Is the top model always the best choice?

Not always. A model a little lower on the board can cost far less or read more at once, so match it to your job.

How often is this board updated?

Every week, from OpenRouter's public model list. The date under the table shows when the board was last checked.

Where do these numbers come from?

Every model and price comes from OpenRouter's public model list. The scores are Artificial Analysis's and Design Arena's, carried in that same list.

Can I download the data?

Yes: every board has a CSV of its models, next to its chart.

What does open weights mean?

The maker publishes the model's weights, so anyone can download the model and run it on their own hardware.

What is a context window?

It's the most text a model can work with at once, counted in tokens. Your prompt and the model's reply both count toward it.

Why do some models have no score?

Not every model on OpenRouter has been tested on every measure yet. A board lists only the models with a result on its own measure.

How do I use these models?

Through each maker's own app or API, or through OpenRouter, which gives you most of them with one account.

Best AI model for coding

Find the best AI model for coding among 127 AI models, ranked by Artificial Analysis's coding index, with each model's price and context window.

Updated Oct 1, 2026

Rank	Model
1	Claude Fable 5.1Anthropic	81.6Lead	53.4#3	57.9Lead	$20	1M	Sept 1, 2026
2	Claude Opus 5Anthropic	78.0#2	50.8	56.5#2	$10	1M	Jul 24, 2026
3	GPT-5.6 SolOpenAI	77.4#3	47.0	50.2	$4	1.1M	Jul 9, 2026
4	GPT-6 AstraOpenAI	76.9	52.7	51.0	$20	1.1M	Sept 4, 2026
5	Grok 4.6xAI	76.8	44.3	53.0	$3	500K	Aug 12, 2026
6	GPT-5.6 TerraOpenAI	76.7	42.1	43.2	$4.50	1.1M	Jul 9, 2026
7	Claude Fable 5Anthropic	76.5	49.6	50.7	$20	1M	Jun 9, 2026
8	Gemini 3.8 FlashGoogle	76.3	40.9	40.2	$1.50	1M	Sept 2, 2026
9	Kimi K3Open weightsMoonshot AI	76.2	43.6	50.0	$3.00	1M	Jul 16, 2026
10	Qwen3.8 Max (0902)Qwen	76.2	45.4	56.0#3	$3	1M	Sept 3, 2026
11	Gemini 3.7 FlashGoogle	76.1	39.1	35.2	$1.50	1M	Aug 13, 2026
12	Muse Spark 1.3Meta	75.8	48.1	–	$2	1M	Sept 2, 2026
13	GPT-5.5OpenAI	74.9	38.4	36.4	$11.25	1.1M	Apr 24, 2026
14	GLM 5.3Open weightsZ.ai	74.8	44.8	53.1	$1.01	1M	Aug 18, 2026
15	Claude Opus 4.8Anthropic	74.3	41.8	41.9	$10	1M	May 27, 2026
16	Claude Opus 4.7Anthropic	73.6	40.7	38.6	$10	1M	Apr 16, 2026
17	Grok 4.5xAI	72.4	38.8	41.2	$3	500K	Jul 8, 2026
18	Muse Spark 1.2Meta	72.2	39.6	43.2	$2	1M	Aug 5, 2026
19	Qwen3.8 2.4T A95BOpen weightsQwen	71.9	39.9	50.1	$3	1M	Aug 12, 2026
20	Claude Sonnet 5Anthropic	71.5	38.2	43.6	$4	1M	Jun 30, 2026
21	GLM 5.3 FlashOpen weightsZ.ai	71.5	41.8	50.9	$0.24	1M	Aug 26, 2026
22	GPT-5.6 LunaOpenAI	71.4	37.3	42.1	$0.45	1.1M	Jul 9, 2026
23	Muse Spark 1.1Meta	71.3	33.7	25.8	$2	1M	Jul 16, 2026
24	GPT-5.4OpenAI	71.1	39.0	–	$5.63	1.1M	Mar 5, 2026
25	Gemini 3.5 FlashGoogle	70.1	32.6	26.0	$3.38	1M	May 19, 2026

Source: Artificial Analysis's indexes and OpenRouter's prices, in US dollars per million tokens, checked Oct 1, 2026

Data by

Independent benchmark · Artificial Analysis

Top 10: Coding

Oct 1, 2026

181.6Claude Fable 5.1
278.0Claude Opus 5
377.4GPT-5.6 Sol
476.9GPT-6 Astra
576.8Grok 4.6
676.7GPT-5.6 Terra
776.5Claude Fable 5
876.3Gemini 3.8 Flash
976.2Kimi K3
1076.2Qwen3.8 Max (0902)

Source: Artificial Analysis's indexes and OpenRouter's prices, in US dollars per million tokens, checked Oct 1, 2026

Data by

How to read this chart

The bars show this board's 10 best models, best first, with the top 3 in the brand's blue. The bars start just below the lowest score, so small gaps show: read the numbers on the bars. Hover a bar for its maker, or switch to Price to see what each one costs.

Comparison details

Prices are OpenRouter's list prices in US dollars per million tokens, blended 3 parts input to 1 part output, as Artificial Analysis does. Scores are Artificial Analysis's, checked Oct 1, 2026. Speed, latency and each provider's own price aren't part of the score.

Every leaderboard

Each board has its own page with every model, a chart and a CSV.

LLM leaderboard

Claude Opus 5.5 leads, from Anthropic

Best AI model for agents

Claude Fable 5.1 leads, from Anthropic

AI model pricing

Cheapest now: Mistral Nemo

Best AI model for writing

Best AI model for website design

Muse Spark 1.3 leads, from Meta

Best AI model for game development

Claude Opus 5.5 leads, from Anthropic

Best AI model for UI design

Claude Opus 5.5 leads, from Anthropic

Best AI model for data visualization

Claude Opus 5.5 leads, from Anthropic

Best AI model for SVG graphics

Claude Opus 5.5 leads, from Anthropic

Best AI model for 3D scenes

Claude Opus 5.5 leads, from Anthropic

Best AI model for building mobile apps

Claude Opus 5 leads, from Anthropic

Best AI model for building full-stack apps

Claude Fable 5.1 leads, from Anthropic

Best AI image model

GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst (max) leads, from OpenAI

Best AI image editing model

GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst (max) leads, from OpenAI

Best AI video model

Wan 3.0 leads, from Alibaba

Best image to video AI model

Gemini Omni Flash leads, from Google

Best AI voice model

Eleven v4 leads, from ElevenLabs