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The May 2026 answer: use Claude Opus 4.7 for hard coding and agentic software work, GPT-5.5 in ChatGPT or Codex for general professional work, GPT-5.4 when you need OpenAI API access, Gemini 3.1 Pro for large-context research and cost-controlled frontier work, DeepSeek V4 for cheap high-volume API calls, and Kimi K2.6 for agent-swarm workflows. Do not pick one model for everything.
- OpenAI says GPT-5.5 is rolling out in ChatGPT and Codex, but not in the API yet.
- OpenAI's published GPT-5.4 API price is $2.50 per million input tokens and $15 per million output tokens.
- Claude Opus 4.7 is available on Claude, the Claude API, Amazon Bedrock, Google Vertex AI, and Microsoft Foundry.
- Claude Opus 4.7 API pricing starts at $5 input and $25 output per million tokens.
- Gemini 3.1 Pro is available through the Gemini API, Vertex AI, the Gemini app, and NotebookLM.
- Gemini 3 Pro Preview pricing on Vertex AI is $2 input and $12 text output per million tokens up to 200K input tokens.
- DeepSeek V4 launched on April 24, 2026 with V4 Flash and V4 Pro API models, both listed with 1M context.
- Kimi K2.6 is Moonshot's current open-source agent model, with Agent Swarm beta supporting up to 300 sub-agents.
This guide is not a private benchmark claim. It is a practical routing guide based on official product docs, pricing pages, and public launch notes checked on May 1, 2026.
The old version of this article treated GPT-5.2, Claude Opus 4.6, Gemini 3 Pro, DeepSeek V3.2, and Kimi K2.5 as the current set. That is no longer true. The current decision set is messier: GPT-5.5 is available in ChatGPT and Codex but not the API, GPT-5.4 is still the public OpenAI API reference, Opus 4.7 is Anthropic's public flagship, DeepSeek V4 has shipped, and Kimi K2.6 moved the agent-swarm numbers again.
Important API caveat
Do not quote GPT-5.5 API pricing yet. OpenAI's help center says GPT-5.5 is rolling out in ChatGPT and Codex, and also says it is not launching to the API yet. Use GPT-5.4 for OpenAI API cost planning until OpenAI publishes GPT-5.5 API terms.
Quick picks
Start with the task, then check price and access
| Task | Default pick | Budget or alternate pick | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hard coding / refactors | Claude Opus 4.7 | DeepSeek V4 Pro | Opus is the safest premium coding pick; V4 Pro is much cheaper if it passes your tests. |
| Daily coding assistant | Claude Sonnet 4.6 or GPT-5.5 in Codex | Kimi K2.6 | Use the premium model for complex edits; test Kimi for long agent runs and UI-heavy work. |
| Writing and editing | GPT-5.5 in ChatGPT | Claude Sonnet 4.6 | GPT-5.5 is best when you also need tools; Claude is strong when constraints matter. |
| Research over long documents | Gemini 3.1 Pro | DeepSeek V4 Flash | Gemini is the cleaner frontier pick; DeepSeek is the cheap high-context API option. |
| Data analysis | GPT-5.5 in ChatGPT | Gemini 3.1 Pro | ChatGPT has mature data tools; Gemini works well when data sits in Google's ecosystem. |
| Image generation | GPT Image / ChatGPT or Midjourney | Nano Banana Pro | Use ChatGPT for convenience, Midjourney for style, Nano Banana Pro for Google workflows and text-heavy visuals. |
| Video generation | Veo 3.1 | Runway | Veo is the current Google pick; compare against Runway when editing controls matter. |
| Automation / agent swarms | Kimi K2.6 Agent Swarm | n8n + DeepSeek V4 Flash | Kimi is the integrated swarm option; DeepSeek keeps API cost low for DIY pipelines. |
If you want a single sentence: pay for the model when mistakes are expensive, use cheap models when volume is the bottleneck, and route tasks instead of forcing one model to do everything.
Best AI for coding
Premium: Claude Opus 4.7. Budget: DeepSeek V4 Pro or Kimi K2.6.
| Model | Use it for | Published cost reference | Caveat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Opus 4.7 | Difficult repo work, agents, code review, long multi-step tasks | $5 input / $25 output per 1M tokens | Expensive, and Opus 4.7 uses a new tokenizer versus older Claude models. |
| Claude Sonnet 4.6 | Daily coding where Opus is overkill | $3 input / $15 output per 1M tokens | Less capable than Opus on the hardest tasks. |
| GPT-5.5 in Codex | OpenAI coding agent workflows | Credit-based Codex rate card, not public API token pricing | OpenAI says GPT-5.5 is not in the API yet. |
| GPT-5.4 API | OpenAI API coding workflows | $2.50 input / $15 output per 1M tokens | Not the newest ChatGPT/Codex model. |
| DeepSeek V4 Pro | Cost-sensitive coding and agent experiments | $1.74 cache-miss input / $3.48 output per 1M tokens | Run your own evals before trusting it on production changes. |
| Kimi K2.6 | Front-end builds, long-horizon coding, agent-swarm work | $0.95 input / $4 output per 1M tokens | Pricing and access can differ between Kimi product modes and API. |
My default pick for serious coding is Claude Opus 4.7. That is not because it is cheapest. It is because Anthropic is explicitly positioning Opus 4.7 around coding, agents, long context, and complex multi-step work, and the pricing is clear.
For API cost control, DeepSeek V4 Pro is the model to test first. The official DeepSeek rate card lists V4 Pro at $1.74 per million cache-miss input tokens and $3.48 per million output tokens, with lower cache-hit input pricing. That is cheap enough to justify a real internal bake-off.
Kimi K2.6 is a different bet. The draw is not token price alone. Moonshot is selling K2.6 around long-horizon coding and agent swarms, and its help center says the K2.6 Agent Swarm beta can coordinate up to 300 sub-agents. That makes it worth testing for broad research, batch code tasks, and UI-heavy generation.
Best AI for writing
GPT-5.5 for broad writing. Claude Sonnet 4.6 for precise editing.
| Model | Best fit | Cost or access | What to watch |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPT-5.5 in ChatGPT | Drafting, rewriting, docs, mixed tool work | ChatGPT paid plans; API not launched yet | Do not use it for API cost estimates. |
| GPT-5.4 API | OpenAI API writing workflows | $2.50 input / $15 output per 1M tokens | Use if you need API automation today. |
| Claude Sonnet 4.6 | Editing, technical writing, policy, structured docs | $3 input / $15 output per 1M tokens | Usually better when you need tighter constraint following. |
| Gemini 3.1 Pro | Research-backed writing and long source material | $2 input / $12 output per 1M tokens up to 200K input | Great economics; still check citations manually. |
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | High-volume drafts, summaries, rewrites | $0.14 cache-miss input / $0.28 output per 1M tokens | Use for volume, not for final brand voice without review. |
For most writing inside a browser, use ChatGPT with GPT-5.5 if you have access. It has the best product surface for turning messy work into finished docs because the model sits next to browsing, data analysis, files, image generation, and canvas.
For API writing systems, do not pretend GPT-5.5 has a public API price. Use GPT-5.4, Claude Sonnet 4.6, Gemini 3.1 Pro, or DeepSeek V4 depending on your quality and cost target.
For anything that will represent a company, I would not publish raw output from the cheap models. Use them for drafts and variants. Use a stronger model, or a human editor, for the final pass.
Best AI for research
Gemini 3.1 Pro when context matters. GPT-5.5 or Perplexity when live web work matters.
| Research job | Best pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A long report, legal packet, transcript set, or codebase | Gemini 3.1 Pro | Google gives it a strong long-context and pricing position. |
| Live web research in a chat product | GPT-5.5 in ChatGPT or Perplexity Pro | Both are built for interactive source-finding workflows. |
| Cheap document triage at scale | DeepSeek V4 Flash | 1M context and very low output price make it useful for first-pass filtering. |
| Research that becomes a deliverable | Kimi K2.6 Agent | Kimi is focused on docs, slides, spreadsheets, reports, and agent outputs. |
| Research with Google ecosystem data | Gemini 3.1 Pro | It is the natural pick when your sources and workflow live in Google products. |
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Gemini 3.1 Pro is the cleanest research recommendation in this guide. Google says it is available in the Gemini API, Vertex AI, the Gemini app, and NotebookLM. Vertex pricing is also attractive: $2 input and $12 text output per million tokens up to 200K input tokens, with long-context pricing after that.
Use GPT-5.5 when the research job is less about raw context and more about working across tools: web search, files, data analysis, spreadsheets, and a final written output. Just remember that a model with web access can still cite weak pages. Source-check the important claims.
Best AI for data analysis
ChatGPT for the product experience. Gemini or Claude when your workflow is already there.
| Scenario | Pick | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Upload a CSV and ask questions | ChatGPT with GPT-5.5 | OpenAI lists data analysis and file analysis among supported ChatGPT tools. |
| Analyze data in Google workflows | Gemini 3.1 Pro | Best fit when your data is already in Google's stack. |
| Enterprise document/data reasoning | Claude Opus 4.7 | Strong premium option when accuracy matters more than token cost. |
| Cheap batch extraction | DeepSeek V4 Flash | Low token cost makes it good for first-pass extraction and classification. |
| Generate reports, slides, or sheets from research | Kimi K2.6 Agent | Kimi's product direction is centered on deliverables, not just chat answers. |
For a normal person with spreadsheets, ChatGPT is still the easiest answer. Upload the file, ask for the chart, inspect the result. For developers building a data pipeline, the answer changes. You probably want a router: DeepSeek V4 Flash for cheap extraction, Gemini 3.1 Pro for large context, and a premium model for final reasoning.
Best AI for images and video
The right pick depends on whether you care about convenience, style, text, or motion.
| Task | Pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Quick images inside a writing workflow | ChatGPT image generation | Convenient when the image is part of a broader document or campaign. |
| Designed marketing visuals | Midjourney | Still a strong choice when visual taste matters more than API integration. |
| Text-heavy images, diagrams, Google workflows | Nano Banana Pro | Google says it improves text rendering, world knowledge, and creative controls. |
| API image generation in OpenAI stack | GPT Image model family | OpenAI lists GPT Image models as its current image generation line. |
| Short AI video | Veo 3.1 | Google's current video model line for Gemini, Flow, Vertex AI, and related products. |
Do not use DALL-E 3 as the current OpenAI image recommendation without context. OpenAI's current docs point users to the GPT Image model family. DALL-E 3 can still matter historically or inside older workflows, but it should not be the default comparison point for a May 2026 guide.
For Google image work, Nano Banana Pro is the model to mention. Google describes it as Gemini 3 Pro Image, with better text rendering, creative controls, and world knowledge. Vertex pricing also lists image output prices for Gemini 3 Pro Preview: $0.134 for 1K/2K images and $0.24 for 4K images.
Best AI for automation
Kimi for swarms, Claude for code-heavy agents, DeepSeek for cheap volume.
| Automation style | Best pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Large parallel research or content tasks | Kimi K2.6 Agent Swarm | Kimi says K2.6 Agent Swarm supports up to 300 sub-agents and over 4,000 tool calls. |
| Code-heavy autonomous work | Claude Opus 4.7 or Claude Sonnet 4.6 | Claude Code and Anthropic's agent positioning make this the safer premium path. |
| OpenAI/Codex teams | GPT-5.5 in Codex | Use when your workflow is already inside Codex. |
| Cheap API automation | DeepSeek V4 Flash | Lowest listed output price in this guide. |
| No-code app workflow automation | Zapier, n8n, Make, Lindy, or Manus | Use a workflow tool when orchestration matters more than the base model. |
Kimi K2.6 is the most interesting automation update since the last version of this article. K2.5 had the 100-sub-agent claim. K2.6 raises the product claim to 300 sub-agents in the Agent Swarm beta. That is not a reason to hand it your production system on day one, but it is a reason to test it on research, batch processing, long-form writing, and multi-file work.
If the automation writes or edits production code, start with Claude. If the automation touches thousands of low-risk records, start with DeepSeek V4 Flash and add quality gates.
Pricing comparison
Token prices only make sense when you separate API models from chat subscriptions
| Model or product | Input / 1M tokens | Output / 1M tokens | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPT-5.5 in ChatGPT/Codex | Not public API pricing | Not public API pricing | OpenAI says GPT-5.5 is not launching to the API yet. |
| GPT-5.4 API | $2.50 | $15 | OpenAI's published API rate from the GPT-5.4 launch. |
| Claude Opus 4.7 | $5 | $25 | Premium Anthropic model for coding and agents. |
| Claude Sonnet 4.6 | $3 | $15 | Daily premium Claude model. |
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | $1 | $5 | Fast cheaper Claude model. |
| Gemini 3 Pro Preview | $2 | $12 | Up to 200K input tokens on Vertex AI; long-context rates are higher. |
| Gemini 3 Flash Preview | $0.50 | $3 | Lower-cost Gemini 3 option. |
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | $0.14 cache miss / $0.028 cache hit | $0.28 | 1M context listed by DeepSeek. |
| DeepSeek V4 Pro | $1.74 cache miss / $0.145 cache hit | $3.48 | Higher-capability DeepSeek V4 option. |
| Kimi K2.6 | $0.95 / $0.16 cache hit | $4 | Pricing shown on Moonshot's API platform. |
| Kimi K2.5 | $0.60 / $0.10 cache hit | $3 | Older than K2.6 but still listed. |
| Perplexity Pro | Subscription | Subscription | $20/month consumer research product. |
Source: Official provider pricing pages checked May 1, 2026. Some models have separate long-context, cache, batch, subscription, or workspace pricing.
Cheap does not mean equivalent
DeepSeek V4 Flash is dramatically cheaper than the premium Western models on token price. That does not mean it should replace them everywhere. It means you should test it on low-risk volume work before paying premium prices for every call.
Budget tiers
What to use at each spend level
$0/month: free and limited
- General work: free tiers from ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Kimi, or Perplexity, depending on access limits in your region.
- Coding: free coding tiers are useful for trials, not sustained professional use.
- Research: use free products for exploration, but check sources manually before publishing.
- Images: free image quotas are fine for drafts and ideas.
$20/month: one paid assistant
- Most people: ChatGPT Plus if you want writing, data analysis, image generation, files, and research in one product.
- Claude-heavy users: Claude Pro if your work is mostly writing, reasoning, and Claude Code.
- Research-first users: Perplexity Pro if you live in source-backed web research.
$50-100/month: professional individual stack
- Primary assistant: ChatGPT Plus or Claude Pro.
- Research: Gemini or Perplexity, depending on whether you need long context or live web answers.
- API experiments: DeepSeek V4 Flash or Kimi K2.6 for low-cost workflows.
- Coding: Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, or your editor's built-in assistant based on workflow, not brand.
$200+/month: routed stack
- Hard code changes: Claude Opus 4.7 or GPT-5.5 in Codex.
- Bulk drafting and extraction: DeepSeek V4 Flash.
- Large document work: Gemini 3.1 Pro.
- Parallel agent runs: Kimi K2.6 Agent Swarm, after testing output quality.
- Final review: a premium model plus human review for anything customer-facing.
The routing strategy
- 1Use Claude Opus 4.7 or GPT-5.5 for expensive mistakes: production code, final analysis, and complex agent work.
- 2Use Gemini 3.1 Pro when the prompt is huge or the work lives in Google's ecosystem.
- 3Use DeepSeek V4 Flash for cheap high-volume extraction, classification, and first drafts.
- 4Use Kimi K2.6 when the task benefits from parallel sub-agents or deliverables like docs, slides, sheets, and websites.
- 5Retest monthly because access, pricing, and model names are changing faster than normal software products.
Sources checked
Official or primary sources used for the May 2026 refresh
- OpenAI Help: GPT-5.3 and GPT-5.5 in ChatGPT
- OpenAI: Introducing GPT-5.4
- OpenAI Help: Codex rate card
- Anthropic: Claude Opus 4.7
- Claude pricing
- Google: Gemini 3.1 Pro announcement
- Google Cloud Vertex AI pricing
- DeepSeek API changelog
- DeepSeek models and pricing
- Kimi K2.6 technical blog
- Kimi K2.6 Agent Swarm help page
- Moonshot Kimi API platform pricing snapshot
- Google: Nano Banana Pro
- Google: Veo 3.1 update
- OpenAI image generation docs
- OpenAI Help: ChatGPT Plus
- Perplexity Help: Perplexity Pro
- Midjourney plan comparison
Bottom line
Stop asking for one winner
The best model in May 2026 depends on the job. Claude Opus 4.7 is the premium coding pick. GPT-5.5 is the strongest OpenAI product experience inside ChatGPT and Codex, but GPT-5.4 is still the published OpenAI API reference. Gemini 3.1 Pro is the cost-effective long-context frontier model. DeepSeek V4 changes the economics of high-volume API work. Kimi K2.6 is the one to watch for parallel agent workflows.
The mistake is paying premium prices for routine volume, or using cheap models where failure is expensive. Route the work. Test with your own prompts. Keep a short list of fallbacks.
The practical stack
Claude Opus 4.7 for hard code. GPT-5.5 for ChatGPT/Codex workflows. GPT-5.4 for OpenAI API work. Gemini 3.1 Pro for long context. DeepSeek V4 Flash for cheap volume. Kimi K2.6 for swarm-style automation.
For a deeper frontier comparison, read Claude Opus 4.7 vs GPT-5.5 vs Gemini 3.1 Pro vs DeepSeek V4. For coding tool costs, use the AI coding tools pricing comparison.
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