AI Leaderboard · As of August 27, 2026
Which AI is best?
The answer changes almost weekly. So instead of answering it once, we answer it fresh every day: with independent benchmark data, honest prices and a recommendation for your specific day-to-day work.
Today's answer
The overall strongest AI for everyday work today is Claude (Claude Opus 5, Intelligence Index 63 on Artificial Analysis).
For your specific case the answer may differ. Three clicks are enough.
The leaderboard
The best AI models compared
Intelligence, speed and cost per task for the ten strongest models. Switch with one click to the self-hostable models with open weights.
Each bar is one AI model, coloured by provider. “Self-hostable” means models with open weights you can run on your own infrastructure. Prices in euro (ECB reference rate), cost per task based on a typical 2,000-token task. See the methodology.
The top 10 in detail
All models by Intelligence Index, with speed and price in euro (as of August 27, 2026).
| # | Model | Provider | Intelligence | Speed | Price /1M | Cost /task |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Claude Opus 5 | Anthropic | 63 | 55 tok/s | €8.57 | 1.71 ct |
| 2 | Claude Fable 5 | Anthropic | 62 | 68 tok/s | €17.14 | 3.43 ct |
| 3 | GPT-5.6 Sol | OpenAI | 61 | 70 tok/s | €6.86 | 1.37 ct |
| 4 | Grok 4.6 | xAI | 61 | 61 tok/s | €2.57 | 0.51 ct |
| 5 | GLM-5.3 self-hostable | Z.ai | 60 | 81 tok/s | €1.84 | 0.37 ct |
| 6 | Kimi K3 self-hostable | Kimi | 60 | 38 tok/s | €5.14 | 1.03 ct |
| 7 | GLM-5.3-Flash self-hostable | Z.ai | 58 | 42 tok/s | €0.20 | 0.04 ct |
| 8 | Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B self-hostable | Alibaba | 58 | 24 tok/s | €2.57 | 0.51 ct |
| 9 | Qwen3.8 Max self-hostable | Alibaba | 58 | 24 tok/s | €2.57 | 0.51 ct |
| 10 | Muse Spark 1.2 self-hostable | Meta | 57 | 0 tok/s | €1.71 | 0.34 ct |
Price per 1M tokens (euro, ECB reference rate); cost per task = one typical 2,000-token task. Multiple reasoning tiers of the same model are collapsed to its strongest value. Source: Artificial Analysis.
Recommendation
Find your AI
Three questions, one reasoned recommendation. No sign-up, no tracking of your answers.
Your recommendation
Claude
Claude runs Claude Opus 5, one of the strongest models in the independent benchmark (Intelligence Index 63). Very precise long-form text and analysis.
Price: approx. €20 / month (Pro; $17 with annual billing)
Alternative: ChatGPT (Largest feature set (agents, images, voice, custom GPTs))
The recommendation follows a fixed, openly documented formula over the daily data, no randomness, no paid placement. How we compute it.
Best AI by use case
Recommendations assume one paid subscription and no special data-protection needs, as of August 27, 2026.
| Use case | Recommendation today | Why (short) |
|---|---|---|
| Writing text | Claude | Very precise long-form text and analysis |
| Coding | Claude | Very precise long-form text and analysis |
| Research | Perplexity | Specialist for research with source citations |
| Creating images | Gemini | Seamlessly integrated into Gmail, Docs, Drive and Meet |
| Spreadsheets & data analysis | Microsoft Copilot | Built right into Word, Excel, Outlook, Teams |
| Presentations | Microsoft Copilot | Built right into Word, Excel, Outlook, Teams |
Self-hostable
Top 5 self-hostable models
Models with open weights run on your own infrastructure, for maximum data control and without ongoing token costs. The five strongest today (as of August 27, 2026).
| # | Model | Provider | Intelligence | Speed | Price /1M (hosted) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GLM-5.3 | Z.ai | 60 | 81 tok/s | €1.84 |
| 2 | Kimi K3 | Kimi | 60 | 38 tok/s | €5.14 |
| 3 | GLM-5.3-Flash | Z.ai | 58 | 42 tok/s | €0.20 |
| 4 | Qwen3.8 2.4T A95B | Alibaba | 58 | 24 tok/s | €2.57 |
| 5 | Qwen3.8 Max | Alibaba | 58 | 24 tok/s | €2.57 |
The price per 1M tokens refers to hosted offerings of these open models; with true self-hosting you pay for your own compute instead. Source: Artificial Analysis.
Frequently asked questions
Which AI is best right now?
The overall strongest AI for everyday work today is Claude (Claude Opus 5, Intelligence Index 63 on Artificial Analysis). For individual tasks the answer differs: for research with sources we recommend Perplexity today, for images Gemini. The tool above answers the question for your specific case.
Which AI is free and good?
All six systems in this comparison offer a free tier with daily limits. As a free all-rounder, Claude is the strongest choice today. If you work with AI every day you hit the free-tier limits quickly; the current subscription prices are in the daily ranking on this page.
Which AI suits companies (GDPR)?
If you handle company data, two things matter: choose a Team or Business plan, where inputs are not used for training (per the providers), and sign a data processing agreement (DPA). Microsoft Copilot (EU Data Boundary) and Gemini via Google Workspace offer EU data residency; Le Chat by Mistral is a European provider. Details per system are in our overview.
How often is this page updated?
The benchmark data is loaded automatically every day from the Artificial Analysis Data API, and the recommendations are recomputed from it. The date stamp above shows the last data fetch. Prices and provider facts are maintained editorially (as of July 26, 2026).
How are the recommendations made?
From the independent Intelligence Index by Artificial Analysis, multiplied by an openly documented use-case factor, filtered by your data-protection and budget requirements. No paid placements, no affiliate links. The full formula is on the methodology page.
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From knowing to doing
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