Which model should I use?
Don’t pay flagship prices for work a cheaper model handles just as well. Tell us the task, how good it has to be, and your volume — we’ll return the cheapest model that’s still smart enough, and show what the top model would cost so you can see the trade.
Cheapest model that clears your bar
Step 3.5 Flash
StepFun · Arena 1404 · about $30/month at your volume.
The top-ranked model, Kimi K3, scores 69 Elo higher but costs $1,200/month — you save $1,170/month by shipping Step 3.5 Flash instead.
| Step 3.5 Flash | 1404 | $30 | StepFun |
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | 1430 | $35 | DeepSeek |
| MiMo-V2.5 | 1427 | $35 | Xiaomi |
| MiMo-V2-Flash | 1395 | $35 | Xiaomi |
| MiMo-V2-Omni | 1422 | $35 | Xiaomi |
| DeepSeek V3.2 | 1420 | $63 | DeepSeek |
| Hunyuan Hy3 | 1444 | $70 | Tencent |
| MiniMax-M3 | 1421 | $105 | MiniMax |
| MiniMax-M2.7 | 1405 | $105 | MiniMax |
| MiniMax-M2.1 | 1391 | $105 | MiniMax |
| MiniMax M2.1 | 1391 | $105 | AWS Bedrock |
| DeepSeek V4 Pro | 1434 | $109 | DeepSeek |
Bar = within 6% of the top Arena score in this category (1473). Costs assume your token mix and are estimates for planning only.
Intelligence scores are community Arena ratings from LMArena / arena.ai, used under CC BY 4.0. Snapshot last refreshed 28 July 2026. Scores are a relative signal, not an absolute measure of capability. A Measured score was voted on directly; an Estimated score is inherited from an identical base model (a regional/creator-prefixed hosting duplicate). See our methodology.
FAQ
How do you pick the model?
We take every model that clears your quality bar for the task (an Arena score within a chosen percentage of the best), keeps the capabilities you require, and meets your context need — then return the cheapest one at your monthly volume.
Why cheapest instead of best?
The best model is almost always overkill and over-priced for routine work. Once a model is smart enough for your task, extra Arena points you can't perceive aren't worth paying for. We show the top model's cost too, so you can decide.
Cite / link to this page
You’re welcome to reference this page and its figures with attribution and a link back.
https://aicalculatorpro.com/which-model/<a href="https://aicalculatorpro.com/which-model/">Which LLM should I use? — AI Calculator Pro</a>