AI for Developers

258 AI models ranked for developer use cases. Scored by quality plus bonus for function calling, JSON mode, streaming, and reasoning - the capabilities that matter most when building with AI APIs.

How we rank: composite score (benchmark scores 90%, capabilities 5%, context window 5%) adjusted with use-case-specific capability bonuses.

#1 for Developers

258

Total

252

Function Calling

243

JSON Mode

258

Reasoning

Free

Developer Models - Ranked by Dev Score

#	Model	Provider	Score	$/1M Out	Context
1	Claude Fable 5.2Anthropic	Anthropic	96	$40.00	1M
2	Claude Fable 5.2 (batch)Anthropic	Anthropic	96	$20.00	1M
3	Claude Fable 5.1Anthropic	Anthropic	96	$50.00	1M
4	Claude Fable 5.1 (batch)Anthropic	Anthropic	96	$25.00	1M
5	Claude Fable 5Anthropic	Anthropic	96	$50.00	1M
6	Claude Fable 5 (batch)Anthropic	Anthropic	96	$25.00	1M
7	Claude Opus 5.5Anthropic	Anthropic	95	$20.00	1M
8	Claude Opus 5Anthropic	Anthropic	95	$25.00	1M
9	Claude Opus 4.8Anthropic	Anthropic	95	$25.00	1M
10	Claude Opus 4.7Anthropic	Anthropic	95	$25.00	1M
11	GPT-5.5 ProOpenAI	OpenAI	93	$180.00	1.1M
12	GPT-5.5 Pro (batch)OpenAI	OpenAI	93	$90.00	1.1M
13	GPT-5.5OpenAI	OpenAI	93	$30.00	1.1M
14	GPT-5.4 ProOpenAI	OpenAI	92	$180.00	1.1M
15	GPT-5.4 Pro (batch)OpenAI	OpenAI	92	$90.00	1.1M
16	GPT-5.4OpenAI	OpenAI	92	$15.00	1.1M
17	Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom ToolsGoogle	Google	92	$12.00	1.0M
18	Gemini 3.1 Pro PreviewGoogle	Google	92	$12.00	1.0M
19	Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview (batch)Google	Google	92	$6.00	1.0M
20	GPT-5.3-CodexOpenAI	OpenAI	91	$14.00	400K
21	GPT-5.2-CodexOpenAI	OpenAI	91	$14.00	400K
22	GPT-5.2 ProOpenAI	OpenAI	91	$168.00	400K
23	GPT-5.2 Pro (batch)OpenAI	OpenAI	91	$84.00	400K
24	GPT-5.2OpenAI	OpenAI	91	$14.00	400K
25	Claude Opus 4.6Anthropic	Anthropic	90	$25.00	1M
26	GPT-5.6 Luna ProOpenAI	OpenAI	89	$1.20	1.1M
27	GPT-5.6 Luna Pro (batch)OpenAI	OpenAI	89	$0.60	1.1M
28	GPT-5.6 LunaOpenAI	OpenAI	89	$1.20	1.1M
29	GPT-5.6 Luna (batch)OpenAI	OpenAI	89	$0.60	1.1M
30	GPT-5.6 Terra ProOpenAI	OpenAI	89	$12.00	1.1M

Building with AI APIs

Function Calling & Tool Use

Let AI models call your functions and APIs. Essential for building agents, chatbots that take actions, and AI-powered workflows that interact with databases and external services.

Structured Output (JSON Mode)

Force AI responses into valid JSON for reliable parsing. Critical for data extraction, API responses, and any application that needs to process AI output programmatically.

Streaming for UX

Stream tokens as they generate for responsive user interfaces. Server-sent events (SSE) let you show AI responses in real-time - a must for any consumer-facing AI product.

Choosing the Right Model

Use premium models for complex reasoning and code generation. Use budget models for classification, extraction, and simple chat. Use open-source models for privacy and cost control.

Coding Assistants Best for Coding Agent Models API Pricing Function Calling LLM Leaderboard Code Gen Code Review Debugging Testing Web Dev Blockchain Game Dev ML Open Source Pair Programming Tech Writing

Frequently Asked Questions

Coding assistants (Cursor, Copilot, Claude Code) provide IDE-integrated experiences. AI APIs give you raw model access for custom integrations. This page ranks the underlying models - the same models power both assistant products and direct API access.

Three main patterns: 1) IDE assistants for real-time code suggestions and chat. 2) CLI tools for terminal-based development. 3) API integration for automated code review, testing, and documentation in CI/CD pipelines. Most developers use all three.

Large context windows (128K+) are the single most important feature - they let models understand your entire codebase. Reasoning is second for complex debugging and architecture decisions. Function calling enables tool integration. Streaming provides real-time feedback.

Free models handle common tasks well (boilerplate, simple functions, documentation). For complex architecture, security-sensitive code, and large codebase navigation, premium models with stronger reasoning and larger context windows provide significantly better results.