Model Selection FAQ

Which model has the best overall capabilities?

Claude Opus 4-6 is the strongest model available today, excelling at coding, reasoning, and creative writing. However, it comes at a premium price ($15/$75 per 1M tokens).

For a better balance of capability and cost, Claude Sonnet 4-6 is the more practical choice — performance close to Opus at roughly 1/5 the price ($3/$15 per 1M tokens).

Which model is the cheapest?

The most affordable models by token price:

Check the Models & Pricing page for current prices.

Which model is the fastest?

Low-latency recommendations:

• Claude Haiku 4-5 — Anthropic fastest model, TTFT typically under 200ms
• GPT-4.1-nano — OpenAI lightest, extremely low latency
• Gemini 2.5 Flash — Google speed-optimized model
• Doubao Lite — routed via Asia-Pacific nodes, ultra-low latency

Latency depends on model size, input length, and network conditions. Test in the Playground for your specific use case.

Which model is best for Chinese language?

Models specifically optimized for Chinese:

• Qwen 3.6 Plus — Alibaba, top-tier Chinese comprehension and generation
• GLM-5.1 — Zhipu, excellent for academic and professional Chinese content
• DeepSeek V3.2 — balanced Chinese and English, strong reasoning
• Kimi — Moonshot AI, excels at long-context Chinese processing
• Doubao — ByteDance, fluent in everyday conversation and creative writing

If your application is primarily Chinese, these models typically offer better value than international models for Chinese tasks.

Which model is best for coding?

Recommendations for programming tasks:

• Claude Sonnet 4-6 — default model for Claude Code, excellent at code generation and refactoring
• Claude Opus 4-6 — best for complex architecture design and large-scale refactoring
• GPT-5-codex — OpenAI model optimized specifically for code
• Qwen3-coder-next — best Chinese code model
• DeepSeek V3.2 — strongest open-source model for code

If you use Claude Code, Cursor, or Cline, the Claude models typically provide the best experience.

Which model is strongest at reasoning?

For complex logic, mathematical proofs, and multi-step thinking:

• Claude Opus 4-6 — strongest overall reasoning
• OpenAI o3 — dedicated reasoning model with extended thinking
• OpenAI o4-mini — lighter version of o3, better reasoning-to-cost ratio
• DeepSeek R1 — benchmark-setting open-source reasoning model
• Qwen QwQ Plus — Chinese reasoning model

These models typically output reasoning tokens (thinking process), which means higher per-request costs.

Next Steps

• Choose a Model — Step-by-step model selection guide
• Model Pricing — Full pricing table to compare costs
• Cost Optimization — Strategies to reduce spend without sacrificing quality