Compare 20+ AI models on cost, performance, privacy and real-world use — free and independent.
Or use our match engine for a personalised recommendation.
Start with the job
Pick a task and we match the right AI to it — not the other way round.
The AI Match Engine
Tell us the task, your cost priority and your privacy needs. We return the best-matched model with the trade-offs spelled out.
The hidden cost of AI
Token pricing spans a 750x range. Agents burn 5–20x more tokens than a single completion. Model it before you commit.
| Model | Monthly | Annual |
|---|---|---|
| Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite | $0 | $4 |
| Llama 4 | $0 | $4 |
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | $1 | $9 |
| DeepSeek V3 | $1 | $10 |
| MiniMax M3 | $1 | $11 |
| Qwen3 | $1 | $12 |
| GLM-5.1 | $1 | $14 |
| Kimi K2.6 | $2 | $22 |
| Gemini 3 Flash | $2 | $24 |
| Mistral Large 3 | $5 | $61 |
| GPT-4o | $8 | $90 |
| GPT-5.4 | $10 | $119 |
| Claude Sonnet 4.6 | $10 | $126 |
Estimates only. Input/output split applied per slider. Prices verified June 2026 — update monthly. Subscription-only tools (Copilot, Perplexity) excluded from per-token estimates.
Editorial picks
The leading model for each job, by weighted score. Click through to the full task breakdown.
The clever part
Most comparison sites only cover the model. The decision goes deeper.
Full data
All 21 models, scored across 8 weighted factors. Scores are visible in the page source for transparency.
Overall score reflects business value across 8 factors. The best model for your task may be different — use the match engine above.
| Model | Type | Score | Task | Truth | Context | Input $/M | Output $/M | Privacy | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1Llama 4 US self-host | open-weight | 89 | 84 | 74 | 1M | $0.18 | $0.29 | 94 | Visit |
2Claude Sonnet 4.6 US | balanced | 87 | 89 | 96 | 200k | $3.00 | $15.00 | 94 | Visit |
3Claude Haiku 4.5 US | budget | 86 | 70 | 90 | 200k | $0.25 | $1.00 | 92 | Visit |
4Gemini 3 Flash US | balanced | 86 | 78 | 80 | 1M | $0.50 | $3.00 | 72 | Visit |
5GPT-5.4 US | balanced | 85 | 92 | 82 | 128k | $2.50 | $15.00 | 82 | Visit |
6Gemini 3.1 Pro US | frontier | 85 | 89 | 84 | 1M | $2.00 | $12.00 | 74 | Visit |
7Claude Fable 5 US | frontier | 84 | 97 | 93 | 1M | $10.00 | $50.00 | 95 | Visit |
8GPT-4o US | balanced | 84 | 84 | 80 | 128k | $2.50 | $10.00 | 80 | Visit |
9Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite US | budget | 84 | 66 | 74 | 1M | $0.10 | $0.40 | 70 | Visit |
10Qwen3 China-API self-host | open-weight | 84 | 84 | 72 | 1M | $0.38 | $1.20 | 55 | Visit |
11Mistral Large 3 EU-safe self-host | balanced | 83 | 83 | 80 | 128k | $2.00 | $6.00 | 92 | Visit |
12Microsoft Copilot US | specialist | 82 | 82 | 83 | 128k | Sub | Sub | 93 | Visit |
13Claude Opus 4.8 US | frontier | 81 | 91 | 92 | 200k | $5.00 | $25.00 | 95 | Visit |
14Kimi K2.6 China-API self-host | open-weight | 81 | 90 | 70 | 256k | $0.60 | $2.50 | 52 | Visit |
15GLM-5.1 China-API self-host | open-weight | 81 | 86 | 71 | 200k | $0.40 | $1.50 | 55 | Visit |
16DeepSeek V3 China-API self-host | open-weight | 80 | 85 | 68 | 128k | $0.27 | $1.10 | 52 | Visit |
17MiniMax M3 China-API self-host | open-weight | 80 | 85 | 70 | 200k | $0.30 | $1.20 | 52 | Visit |
18Perplexity Pro US | specialist | 79 | 76 | 90 | — | Sub | Sub | 80 | Visit |
19Grok 4.1 US | frontier | 78 | 88 | 79 | 128k | $3.00 | $15.00 | 66 | Visit |
20o3 US | specialist | 75 | 95 | 62 | 200k | $10.00 | $40.00 | 82 | Visit |
21GPT-5.5 US | frontier | 75 | 95 | 78 | 128k | $15.00 | $30.00 | 82 | Visit |
Every score is editorial and sourced from published benchmarks and provider documentation. See the scoring methodology and the machine-readable dataset. Prices verified June 2026.
Best AI Match is part of The Best Match Group — independent comparison across the full stack.
Yes. We take no payment for placement or ranking. Scores are editorial, based on published benchmarks, provider documentation and independent test reports. Affiliate links are not active — every link goes to the official provider page.
Eight weighted factors: Task Performance (25%), Cost Efficiency (20%), Context Window (15%), Speed (10%), Safety and Reliability (10%), Data Privacy (10%), Integration (5%) and Adoption Ease (5%). Full detail on the methodology page.
No. We do not claim first-person lab tests. Scores are an editorial synthesis of published benchmarks (SWE-bench, ARC-AGI-2, Scale SEAL), provider pricing pages and independent reports. Every score links to its source.
Token pricing spans a 750x range across models, and agentic workflows consume 5-20x more tokens than a single completion. The calculator shows the real monthly and annual cost for your volume before you commit.
Token pricing and scores are re-verified monthly — AI pricing has dropped roughly 80% in the past year and leaderboards change constantly. The data verified date is shown in the footer.
It depends on your task, budget and data risk. Use the Match Engine above for a quick answer, or the comparison table for the full picture. There is no single best AI — only the best match for a specific job.