Top AI models in 2026: which is the best LLM?
- BRACAI
- 3 hours ago
- 7 min read
The best way to get better results from AI is to use the best AI model.
It is the easiest thing you can do. Forget difficult prompting techniques (at least for now).
This matters in daily work when you choose a chatbot (ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot).
It matters even more when you build automations like AI workflows and agents, where the model is the engine.
So which AI model is best?
Top AI models (LLMs) in 2026 👇🏼
Our methodology: We rank the main AI models (LLMs) using two signals: benchmark performance and Arena voting. The BRACAI index is the average of these two scores.
Most important AI model benchmarks in 2026
There are a lot of AI model benchmarks out there.
They also tend to change, which can get confusing.
The purpose of benchmarks is to test how good a model is at one specific thing.
For example, how good is it at math?
Here is an overview of the main benchmark areas:
We try to keep this up to date. Let us know if you spot any issues.
Voting by humans in the LLM arena
The other perspective is humans voting.
It is simple: you write a prompt, get two answers, and vote for the one you prefer.
This approach evaluates AI models based on how people experience them in real life.
Not advanced math. Not coding puzzles. Just: which answer is better?
At BRACAI, we believe this complements benchmarks really well.
You need both to get a fair picture of which AI model is best.
For the Arena score, we use the most well-known LLM arena.
Here you can test the model’s text responses.
GPT-5.2 (OpenAI)
Created by OpenAI, ChatGPT is the most adopted AI for professional work. Being the first modern LLM, ChatGPT has stayed in the top spot amongst contenders after all this time. Scoring well on benchmarks and with user votes, ChatGPT has not only stayed reliable but has also stayed strong throughout its lifetime.
While ChatGPT’s performance is best vs its peers across typical benchmarks, it scores behind Gemini on user preference, indicating that its advanced reasoning isn't necessarily translated into user preference.
As the oldest modern LLM, ChatGPT had time to grow its customer base, but with more LLM’s coming out ChatGPT has managed to stay at the top of the game, exceeding expectations and keeping its spot as the main trailblazer for the rest of the LLM crowd.
Gemini 3 Pro (Google)
With a name like Alphabet behind it, Google’s Gemini 3 Pro can only be expected as one of the best in the industry. Not only does it score strongly with the benchmarks, it also scores favorably amongst users in the LMArena.
Despite challenges in its earlier days, like with its image generator. Google’s Gemini has shown itself to be one of the top LLMs in the industry.
With the Google name also comes the Google Workspace, making Gemini an attractive LLM for businesses that already run on Google Workspace. With Gemini being easily integratable into Google Sheets or Docs, it can make work even easier for companies that use Google constantly, making it a favorable choice among companies with Google built into their infrastructure.
Claude Opus 4.5 (Anthropic)
Anthropic’s Claude was built upon the idea that AI should be safe and transparent. When a team that used to work for OpenAI split from the company, they formed Anthropic which then created Claude.
Claude takes a more scientific approach to learning compared to other LLM’s. Rather than pushing ahead and forcing an answer, Claude reflects on its responses as it learns, allowing itself to become more self-sufficient and therefore a more competitive LLM.
With Claude’s great benchmark scores and high user votes, it can be assumed that Claude’s unique approach to learning is efficient enough to keep up with the likes of OpenAI and Google. Alongside high user and benchmark scores, good backing from large investors has shown that Claude has what it takes to become a big contender in the AI ecosystem.
Grok 4.1 (xAI)
Grok is the brainchild of Elon Musk, a highly emotional and intelligent LLM. Alongside Musk’s financial support, the other companies under Musk (X,Tesla, etc) are able to provide an informational edge that no other company can provide.
This constant stream of data coming from Musk’s companies, is one of Grok’s biggest advantages; from the information coming in from X users, to satellite data coming in from Space X, Grok stands at the top of the crowd when it comes to information.
If you’re looking for a more down to earth and relatable or a more knowledgeable LLM, Grok is the choice for you. With a huge amount of information to train with coming from X and Space-X, Grok has a wide range of knowledge that can be applied to help users no matter the situation.
Qwen 3 (Alibaba)
Alibaba’s Qwen is a more recent Chinese LLM that came out in early 2024, and while it didn’t make the same splash that DeepSeek did, it still has a lot of noise surrounding it. Coming from Alibaba, one of the biggest companies in China, Qwen has a large financial backing which can be seen as Qwen ranks higher on the BRACAI index compared to its Chinese counterparts.
Well what does this mean about Chinese LLM’s? Despite the fact that Chinese LLM’s are behind American LLM’s, Qwen shows that China has made huge strides from where they started and while they aren’t keeping up with America’s pace just yet, they are slowly catching up.
Just because an LLM is good doesn’t mean it’s safe, Qwen also shares similar security concerns to DeepSeek as information may be handled by the Chinese government raising concerns about data security.
V3.2-exp (DeepSeek)
You’ve probably heard about DeepSeek before, it made huge waves when it came out as China’s contender for the top spot amongst LLM’s. In the United States it caused stocks to plummet after DeepSeek’s waves scared tech investors; China had entered the market with a capable and cost-efficient LLM that was said to be on par with ChatGPT’s 01 LLM.
A few years later and how does DeepSeek hold up? While it is still overall a capable model, it has lagged behind its competition in the US, with an overall average grade on the BRACHAI index.
Today, instead of stock concerns, there are now safety concerns surrounding DeepSeek, with concerns around the Chinese government’s access to user data and reported weak encryption methods, people have let the excitement behind DeepSeek diminish, leaving behind static where the buzz about DeepSeek used to be.
Mistral 3 (Mistral)
China isn’t the only country trying to overthrow America’s monopoly on LLM’s. France’s Mistral is the most prominent LLM hailing from Europe. Following their mission to create a democratized AI through open source and innovative AI models. Mistral’s goal was to fight against the LLM monopoly that America is currently running.
Despite being the biggest LLM from Europe, Mistral has problems with lagging behind its American and Chinese competitors, scoring below average on benchmarks and also below most American LLM’s on the LMArena.
However, Mistral has one big advantage: the EU has prevented America’s foothold in Europe by having strict guidelines on LLMs within the EU, deterring a lot of American LLMs. This has helped Mistral gain a foothold inside the EU. Alongside Mistral’s foothold, the open source AI approach helps European businesses grow with AI by providing a transparent LLM. With a transparent LLM European businesses can be assured that their data is going to the right places and is being kept safe within the EU.
Ernie 5.0 (Baidu)
ERNIE from Baidu has shown the second worst performance out of the 3 mentioned Chinese LLM’s scoring the lowest on the BRACAI index. However, user votes favor ERNIE, with it standing at number 9 globally on LMArena text leaderboard. This discrepancy between scores should be noted as ERNIE proves that benchmarks only prove half of what an LLM is truly capable of.
Ernie shows that China is constantly improving their LLM’s at rates close to America, proving that there is active competition against America in the race to create the best LLM possible.
However, like most Chinese LLM’s there are concerns around the Chinese Government’s involvement in the LLM. Like we mentioned with DeepSeek and Qwen, information from ERNIE may be handled by the Chinese government raising concerns about data security, which may lead users away from using ERNIE.
Llama 4 (Meta)
Back in America not all LLM’s are created equally. Meta’s Llama 4 is the lowest ranked overall with benchmarks and with user voting. Being from a relatively large company like Meta, one would expect high benchmark scores since large companies are always trying to get customers to buy the best product.
However, that is not the case, instead of offering a superior product Meta has decided to advertise Llama as an open source LLM, meaning that they plan on free distribution of Llama and that they won’t discriminate against certain groups using their LLM.
Ironically, even though Llama 4 is advertised as open source, it fails certain benchmarks that makes an LLM open source, mainly the requirement that Llama must be available to everyone, but Llama 3.2 is unavailable in the EU, meaning that instead of being open source, Llama 4 is more of an open weight model. As a below average LLM under a large brand name, it is advised to wait until a better version of Llama is released or to switch to another company instead.
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