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AI Model Comparison 2026

Compare 21 leading AI models by price, context, reasoning & capability. Updated weekly.

✓ Updated April 2026 21 Models 9 Providers Updated Weekly

Models Tracked

Providers

Cheapest API

1M+

Max Context

AI model comparison 2026 — this table covers every major model you need to know: GPT-5.2, Claude Sonnet, Gemini 2.5 Pro, Grok 4, DeepSeek R1 and more. We track input/output pricing per million tokens, context windows, reasoning capabilities, and multimodal support so you can pick the right model for your use case — whether you’re building an app, comparing costs, or just curious how GPT vs Claude vs Gemini stack up. Data is reviewed and updated every week.

Provider All Providers AnthropicOpenAIGoogle MetaxAIDeepSeek MistralMoonshotAlibaba/Qwen

Access AllFree PaidOpen Source

Reasoning AllHas ReasoningStandard

Multimodal AllMultimodalText Only

21 models

	Model ↕	Provider ↕	Context ↕	Input $/1M ↕	Output $/1M ↕	Reasoning ↕	Multimodal ↕	Access ↕	Score ↕	Best For

Prices in USD per million tokens. Last updated: April 2026. Open-source/self-hosted models shown as $0 (hosting costs apply). Calculate your API costs →

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Comparing:

Frequently Asked Questions

There’s no single “best” — it depends on your use case. For overall quality and coding, Claude Sonnet 4.6 and GPT-5 lead the pack. For long-context tasks, Gemini 2.5 Pro (1M token window) is unmatched. For budget-conscious API use, Gemini 2.0 Flash or GPT-4o Mini offer excellent value. Open-source? DeepSeek R1 punches well above its weight.

The cheapest paid APIs are Gemini 2.0 Flash ($0.10 input / $0.40 output per 1M tokens) and GPT-4o Mini ($0.15 / $0.60). Completely free options include self-hosted open-source models like Llama 3.3 70B, Mistral 7B, and Qwen 2.5 72B — though you’ll need to factor in hosting costs.

“Reasoning” models use extended chain-of-thought processing — they “think” through problems step-by-step before answering. This makes them significantly better at math, logic, coding, and complex analysis. Models like o3, o4-mini, Claude Sonnet 4.6, Gemini 2.5 Pro, and DeepSeek R1 all have reasoning capabilities. Standard models respond faster but may struggle with multi-step problems.

Several models are free to self-host: Llama 3.3 70B, Llama 3 8B (Meta), Mistral 7B, Qwen 2.5 72B, and DeepSeek R1. Many providers also offer free tiers via their APIs — Google Gemini, Groq, and Together AI all have generous free allowances. Note that “free” API tiers usually have rate limits.

This table is reviewed and updated every week (every Monday). The AI model landscape moves fast — new models launch, prices change, and capabilities shift regularly. We track major providers including Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, Meta, xAI, DeepSeek, Mistral, Moonshot, and Alibaba/Qwen. Last updated: April 2026.

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