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A

Gemini (Google)

A Tier · 8.3/10

Google's LLM with deep Google Workspace integration, 2M token context window, and native code execution -- Gemini 3.6 Flash + 3.5 Flash-Lite GA 2026-07-21 (the 'upgraded Flash stopgap'; 3.6 Flash at $1.50/$7.50 per 1M, 17% fewer output tokens), Gemini 3.5 Pro STILL delayed and partner-testing-only (Bloomberg, 7/16 -- coding shortfalls, no ship date), Gemini 4 pre-training now underway

Last updated: 2026-08-03Free tier available

Score Breakdown

8.0
Ease of Use
8.0
Output Quality
9.0
Value
8.0
Features

Benchmark Scores

Benchmarks for Gemini 3.5 Flash (vendor-published 2026-05-19; third-party verification pending) -- legacy 3.1 Ultra retained below for context

Chatbot Arena ELOHuman preference rating1500
BenchmarkScore
Terminal-Bench 2.176.2%
MCP Atlas83.6%
CharXiv Reasoning (multimodal)84.2%
MMLU (3.1 Ultra baseline)90.5%
SWE-bench Verified (3.1 Ultra baseline)80.6%

Last updated: 2026-05-19

Visit Gemini (Google)

Personality & Tone

The Google research assistant

Tone: Neutral, thorough, and slightly corporate. Gemini leans academic, cites sources readily in Deep Research mode, and keeps its tone even across topics -- rarely funny, rarely snarky.

Quirks: Tightly integrated with Google products -- pulls from Search and Workspace by default, which is useful for grounded answers but means you hear Google's worldview. Can feel evasive or overly safe on opinionated or politically charged questions.

The Good and the Bad

What we like

  • +2 million token context window is the largest available -- can process entire books and full codebases in one prompt
  • +Best Google Workspace integration (Gmail, Docs, Drive, Calendar)
  • +Free tier is more generous than Claude's
  • +Gemini Advanced includes 2TB Google One storage -- real added value
  • +API pricing is very competitive, especially for Flash model

What could be better

  • −Output quality for creative writing is the weakest of the big three (GPT-4, Claude, Gemini)
  • −Hallucination rate is higher than Claude in our testing
  • −Google's track record of killing products makes long-term commitment feel risky
  • −The Gemini app UI feels like Google slapped AI onto an existing product

Pricing

Free

$0
  • ✓Gemini 3.6 Flash (GA 2026-07-21)
  • ✓Basic features
  • ✓Google integration

Google AI Pro

$19.99/month
  • ✓Gemini 3.1 Ultra (Gemini 3.5 Pro expected but not yet shipped as of July 2026)
  • ✓2M token context
  • ✓Code Execution sandbox
  • ✓2TB Google storage
  • ✓Workspace integration
  • ✓Lyria 3 access

Google AI Ultra

$249.99/month
  • ✓Gemini 3.1 Ultra (max usage)
  • ✓Gemini 3.1 Flash Live audio
  • ✓Gemini Spark agent access (expanded 2026-07-30 to 160+ countries and DOWN to the AI Pro tier; Chrome auto-browse US-first; unavailable in the EEA, UK, Switzerland and Nigeria)
  • ✓Lyria 3 Pro full access
  • ✓Highest API priority
  • ✓30TB Google storage

API

$0.075-5/per 1M tokens
  • ✓All models
  • ✓2M context
  • ✓Flash-Lite at $0.25/M input
  • ✓Grounding with Google Search
  • ✓Code Execution
  • ✓Mandatory spend caps (April 2026)

Known Issues

  • GEMINI 3.5 PRO STATUS CHECK (2026-08-03): still unshipped, and there is **no new information since July 21**. The Gemini API changelog runs through 7/30 (latest entries are the Robotics-ER 2 previews) with **no `gemini-3.5-pro` release at any point**, and there has been no GA post on blog.google. Google's last public word remains the 7/21 model post: 'Gemini 3.5 Pro is currently testing with partners and we plan to make it broadly available as soon as it's ready.' That is three missed windows -- June, the aggregator-only 'July 17', and the 7/21 drop that shipped Flash variants instead. **No vendor date exists; any '3.5 Pro is coming on X' claim is speculation.** Practical read for buyers: Google AI Pro's in-tier flagship is still Gemini 3.1 Ultra, and **Gemini 3.6 Flash (7/21) is the model to actually plan around**. Separately, Google has confirmed pre-training has begun on Gemini 4 -- no specs, no dateSource: ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/changelog (checked 2026-08-03, no 3.5 Pro entry through 7/30); blog.google Gemini 3.6 Flash post (2026-07-21) · 2026-08-03
  • NEW MODELS -- GEMINI 3.6 FLASH + 3.5 FLASH-LITE + 3.5 FLASH CYBER GA (2026-07-21, vendor post): Google shipped the 'upgraded Flash stopgap' it had flagged while Gemini 3.5 Pro stayed delayed. **Gemini 3.6 Flash** -- improved workhorse for coding/knowledge/multimodal at **$1.50/M input, $7.50/M output** (a ~17% output price cut vs 3.5 Flash's $9), uses **17% fewer output tokens** than 3.5 Flash, up to +65% on DeepSWE and 49% vs 37% on certain code tasks; live day-one across the Gemini API (AI Studio, Android Studio), Google Antigravity, the Gemini app, and GitHub Copilot. **Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite** -- fastest 3.5-class model at **$0.30/M input, $2.50/M output**, **350 output tokens/sec**, 54% on Terminal-Bench 2.1 (vs 31% prior); on Gemini API + Enterprise + rolling out in Google Search. **Gemini 3.5 Flash Cyber** -- a security-tuned model for finding/fixing vulnerabilities paired with the CodeMender agent, gov/trusted-partner-only via a limited-access pilot (no public pricing). CRUCIAL: Gemini 3.5 **Pro did NOT ship** here -- Google says it is 'currently testing 3.5 Pro with partners' and will release it 'as soon as it's ready' (still no date). Google also disclosed it has 'started our most ambitious pre-training run yet, for **Gemini 4**' (pre-training only, no specs, no date)Source: Google (blog.google/innovation-and-ai/models-and-research/gemini-models/gemini-3-6-flash-3-5-flash-lite-3-5-flash-cyber/), TechCrunch (2026-07-21), 9to5Google, GitHub Copilot changelog (2026-07-21) · 2026-07-21
  • GEMINI 3.5 PRO DELAY NOW VENDOR-SIDE CONFIRMED (2026-07-16, Bloomberg): Google is reportedly **months behind schedule** on Gemini 3.5 Pro -- Bloomberg's sourcing says the model's capabilities, 'particularly in coding,' fell short of internal goals, and a late-June remediation attempt (updated training data) produced 'disappointing' results. This is the third missed window (June -> the aggregator-only 'July 17' -> TBD), and press reports the delay news knocked ~$200B off Alphabet's market value on 7/16. Google's own statement: it is 'currently testing 3.5 Pro, an upgraded Flash model, and other models with partners' -- so an upgraded Flash stopgap may ship first. The 'July 17' date circulating on aggregators was never Google-confirmed. Treat all 3.5 Pro capability claims as unshipped. SEPARATE COMMUNITY WATCH (unconfirmed, do not treat as vendor fact): devs on Google's official AI forum report `gemini-2.5-flash` returning 'no longer available' 404s starting ~7/9, three months ahead of its published Oct 16, 2026 shutdown date -- no Google response in-thread yet; could be a bug or partial rollout. If you depend on 2.5 Flash, verify availability directlySource: Bloomberg (2026-07-16), 9to5Google (9to5google.com/2026/07/16/gemini-3-5-pro-delays/), LA Times (2026-07-17), discuss.ai.google.dev thread 174217 (community, unconfirmed) · 2026-07-16
  • GEMINI SPARK: CHROME AUTO-BROWSE + 160-COUNTRY EXPANSION, AND IT DROPS TO THE AI PRO TIER (2026-07-30, vendor post): the biggest Spark update since launch, and it changes who can get it. **(1) Chrome integration.** Spark now drives Chrome directly -- Google's wording: Spark can 'use your logged-in accounts and saved passwords to handle tedious web errands, like scheduling viewings for apartments you've saved or researching flight options.' Safety posture: Google says it architected defenses against prompt injection and keeps humans in the loop on sensitive actions, 'such as payments, by handing the task back to you.' **Chrome auto-browse is rolling out in the U.S. first**, with other regions later. **(2) Availability widens sharply, and the tier drops.** Access opened to **over 160 additional countries** -- and critically for **Google AI Pro ($19.99/mo) subscribers**, not just the AI Ultra tier Spark launched on. **(3) The exclusions matter and Google does not list them in the blog post:** per Google's own support documentation, 'Spark is currently unavailable in the European Economic Area, Nigeria, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.' So EU and UK readers are still locked out even after the expansion -- an unusually large carve-out that reads as regulatory caution rather than capacity. (Exclusion list quoted from Google support docs as reported by PPC Land; the blog post itself is silent on it -- flagging the sourcing because it is the detail most likely to affect a reader's decision.)Source: blog.google (blog.google/innovation-and-ai/products/gemini-app/gemini-spark-updates-july-2026/, fetched 2026-08-03); exclusion list via PPC Land quoting Google support documentation · 2026-07-30
  • LYRIA 3.5 MUSIC MODEL (2026-07-29, vendor post): Google shipped **Lyria 3.5**, described as 'our newest music generation model', delivering 'significant advancements across musicality, lyrics, and vocal quality.' Specifics Google cites: richer and more complex melodic structures, better lyric prompt-adherence and structural awareness, more realistic and emotionally nuanced vocals with improved pronunciation, and more creative control over tempo and duration. **Availability is narrow: it is rolling out in Google Flow Music.** The announcement does NOT mention the Gemini app, the API, or MusicFX, and says nothing about SynthID watermarking -- so do not assume API access. See the lyria page for detailSource: blog.google (blog.google/innovation-and-ai/models-and-research/google-labs/lyria-3-5/, fetched 2026-08-03) · 2026-07-29
  • GEMINI ROBOTICS ER 2 (2026-07-30, vendor): Google released **two new embodied-reasoning model endpoints for robotics in public preview**, per the Gemini API changelog: 'Gemini Robotics ER 2 in public preview: Released two new embodied reasoning model endpoints for robotics.' Google's blog frames the capability as real-time spatial reasoning, multi-step task planning, and collaboration between different robots. Noted here for completeness -- it is a developer/robotics API, not a consumer Gemini feature, and does not change anything in the Gemini appSource: ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/changelog (2026-07-30), blog.google (blog.google/innovation-and-ai/models-and-research/google-deepmind/gemini-robotics-er-2/) · 2026-07-30
  • GEMINI SPARK ON MACOS (2026-06-30/07-01): Google's agentic assistant Gemini Spark launched on the Mac Gemini app in beta -- Google AI Ultra subscribers, 18+, US only (gemini.google/mac). Local file automation, MCP support, and new connected apps: Canva, Dropbox, Instacart, OpenTable, Zillow Rentals, plus Google Tasks/Keep. Google's answer to Claude desktop agents and OpenAI's Codex/Operator surface war on the desktopSource: blog.google (blog.google/innovation-and-ai/products/gemini-app/gemini-spark-updates-june-2026/), TechCrunch 2026-07-01 · 2026-07-01
  • NEW MEDIA MODELS (2026-06-30, vendor post): Google shipped **Nano Banana 2 Lite** (`gemini-3.1-flash-lite-image`) and **Gemini Omni Flash** (`gemini-omni-flash-preview`) to AI Studio, the Gemini API, and the Enterprise Agent Platform. Nano Banana 2 Lite is Google's 'fastest, most cost-efficient Gemini Image model' -- text-to-image in ~4 seconds at **$0.034 per 1K-resolution image** (coming to AI Mode in Search, the Gemini app, NotebookLM, and Google Photos). Gemini Omni Flash does video generation + conversational (natural-language) video editing and multimodal referencing at **$0.10 per second of video output** (10-second clips at launch, longer coming); SynthID watermarked. Both target high-volume, low-latency workflows. See the nano-banana and veo pages for detail.Source: blog.google (blog.google/innovation-and-ai/models-and-research/gemini-models/gemini-omni-flash-nano-banana-2-lite/) · 2026-06-30
  • API SHUTDOWNS NOW IN EFFECT (dates passed as of this review): the older media model IDs announced 6/15 have retired on schedule -- **Veo 2.0 + Veo 3.0 shut down 2026-06-30** (migrate to Veo 3.1) and the **Nano Banana preview image IDs `gemini-3.1-flash-image-preview` + `gemini-3-pro-image-preview` shut down 2026-06-25** (use the GA `gemini-3.1-flash-image` / `gemini-3-pro-image`). Pinned calls to any of these legacy IDs are now failing. **Imagen 4.0 models (`imagen-4.0-generate-001`, `-ultra-`, `-fast-`) still shut down 2026-08-17** (→ `gemini-3.1-flash-image`).Source: Gemini API changelog + deprecations (ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/deprecations) · 2026-06-30
  • AGENT CAPABILITY (2026-06-24): Google added **native computer use to Gemini 3.5 Flash** -- the model can see, reason, and act across desktop, mobile, and browser environments, aimed at building long-horizon enterprise automation agents. Puts Gemini 3.5 Flash into direct competition with Anthropic computer use and OpenAI's Operator/Codex computer-use tooling.Source: blog.google (blog.google/innovation-and-ai/models-and-research/gemini-models/introducing-computer-use-gemini-3-5-flash/) · 2026-06-24
  • PRICE CUT (2026-06-09): **Google AI Plus dropped from $7.99 to $4.99/mo** and doubled storage 200GB → 400GB (US; tier includes Gemini Omni Flash video gen, Flow, and NotebookLM). TechCrunch framed it as 'a warning shot in the AI subscription price wars' -- it undercuts ChatGPT Go ($8/mo) by nearly half. Current Google AI plan ladder: Plus $4.99 / Pro $19.99 / Ultra 5x from $99.99 / Ultra 20x $199.99Source: blog.google (Google One subscriptions post), TechCrunch (2026-06-09), Engadget · 2026-06-09
  • PARTNERSHIP WIN (2026-06-08, WWDC): Apple's rebuilt **Siri AI** runs on next-generation Apple Foundation Models that Apple says were 'custom-built in collaboration with Google and its Gemini models' -- press reports the deal at ~$1B/year for a ~1.2T-parameter custom Gemini variant. This puts Gemini-derived models behind the default assistant on qualifying iPhones, iPads, and Macs when iOS 27 / macOS 27 ship this fall. Separately, iOS 27's Extensions framework lets users select Gemini itself as the system assistant behind Siri, Writing Tools, and Image Playground -- distribution ChatGPT used to hold exclusively. Arguably Google's biggest AI distribution win to date; see the siri-ai page for the Apple-side detailSource: Apple newsroom (apple.com/newsroom/2026/06/apple-unveils-next-generation-of-apple-intelligence-siri-ai-and-more/), TechCrunch, CNBC, SiliconANGLE · 2026-06-08
  • SHUTDOWN NOW IN EFFECT (2026-06-18, TODAY): As of today, **Gemini CLI and the Gemini Code Assist IDE extensions have stopped serving requests** for Google AI Pro & Ultra subscribers and free-tier Gemini Code Assist for individuals (per Google's vendor post: 'On June 18, 2026, Gemini CLI and Gemini Code Assist IDE extensions will stop serving requests for Google AI Pro and Ultra, as well as those using it free of charge'). 'Login with Google' auth for these consumer surfaces also stopped working, and there is no grace period -- any CI/CD or script calling `gemini` on a consumer plan breaks now. **Enterprise customers** (Gemini Code Assist Standard/Enterprise licenses, or Code Assist for GitHub via Google Cloud) are UNAFFECTED and keep access with ongoing model updates. Replacement: **Antigravity CLI** (available to everyone now) -- Google says 'there won't be 1:1 feature parity out of the gate' but it keeps the critical Gemini CLI features (Agent Skills, Hooks, Subagents, Extensions, now as Antigravity plugins). If you were scripting against Gemini CLI on a consumer plan, migrate immediately.Source: Google Developers Blog (developers.googleblog.com/en/an-important-update-transitioning-gemini-cli-to-antigravity-cli/), 9to5Google · 2026-06-18
  • GEMINI API MODEL SHUTDOWNS (announced 2026-06-15, via the Gemini API changelog): a cluster of older media-generation model IDs are being retired. **Veo 2.0 + Veo 3.0 video models shut down 2026-06-30** (migrate to `veo-3.1-generate-preview` / `veo-3.1-fast-generate-preview` or the 3.1 GA models). **Nano Banana preview image IDs `gemini-3.1-flash-image-preview` + `gemini-3-pro-image-preview` shut down 2026-06-25** (migrate to the GA `gemini-3.1-flash-image` / `gemini-3-pro-image`, released 5/28). **Imagen 4.0 models (`imagen-4.0-generate-001`, `-ultra-`, `-fast-`) shut down 2026-08-17.** Only the model IDs change -- update integrations before each date to avoid service interruption. (Separately, the consumer Gemini CLI shutdown above is the 6/18 event.)Source: Gemini API changelog (ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/changelog, 2026-06-15 entries) · 2026-06-15
  • I/O 2026 SHIP (2026-05-19): **GEMINI OMNI** announced -- Google's natively multimodal video-generation model, first variant **Gemini Omni Flash**. Generates video from image / audio / video / text input, supports conversational editing inside the Gemini app, physics-grounded outputs, SynthID watermarking. Availability: Gemini app for AI Plus / Pro / Ultra subscribers globally; YouTube Shorts + YouTube Create app at no extra cost; Developer API 'in the coming weeks'. Direct competitive shot at OpenAI's Sora-2 (Sora 1 retired 2026-04-26) + Runway Gen-4.5 + Pika + Luma. The differentiator is in-conversation editing inside Gemini rather than a separate video-gen app. **Aggregator-circulated 'Veo 4' name is NOT this product** -- DeepMind models page still lists Veo 3.1 as current; no Veo 4 exists. Omni is the video-gen ship that Veo's lineup didn't get at I/O 2026.Source: blog.google (blog.google/innovation-and-ai/models-and-research/gemini-models/gemini-omni/) · 2026-05-19
  • I/O 2026 SHIP (2026-05-19): GEMINI 3.5 FLASH GA. Available immediately in Gemini app (global), AI Mode in Google Search, Google Antigravity platform, Gemini API via Google AI Studio + Android Studio, Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform, and Gemini Enterprise. Vendor-published benchmarks: Terminal-Bench 2.1 = 76.2%, GDPval-AA = 1656 Elo, MCP Atlas = 83.6%, CharXiv Reasoning (multimodal) = 84.2%, claimed 4x faster than other frontier models. Vendor framing: 'outperforming Gemini 3.1 Pro on challenging coding and agentic benchmarks' with richer interactive web UIs and graphics vs. Gemini 3. Pricing not disclosed in launch post -- check ai.google.dev/pricing for canonical.Source: blog.google/innovation-and-ai/models-and-research/gemini-models/gemini-3-5/, ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/changelog (2026-05-19 entry releases gemini-3.5-flash GA) · 2026-05-19
  • GEMINI 3.5 PRO -- STILL NOT SHIPPED as of 2026-07-04 (SLIPPED past its June window). At I/O (5/19) Google said 3.5 Pro was in internal testing with rollout 'next month' (June), but the Gemini API changelog runs through 6/30 with no 3.5 Pro entry and there is no blog.google GA post. Only Gemini 3.5 Flash is GA. Press now points to July 2026 -- treat that as unconfirmed/aggregator speculation, not a vendor date. When it lands, AI Pro subscribers will likely get 3.5 Pro as the in-tier flagship replacing 3.1 Ultra. Watch blog.google + ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/changelog.Source: blog.google Gemini 3.5 announcement post (2026-05-19); ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/changelog (no 3.5 Pro entry through 2026-06-30) · 2026-05-19
  • I/O 2026 SHIP (2026-05-19): MANAGED AGENTS IN THE GEMINI API now in public preview, including the general-purpose ANTIGRAVITY AGENT (model id: antigravity-preview-05-2026). New paradigm: stateful autonomous agents executing in Google-hosted sandbox environments via the Gemini API. Differentiates the Gemini API from a stateless completion endpoint -- competes structurally with OpenAI Responses API + Anthropic Managed Agents (Dreaming/Outcomes/Multiagent Orchestration shipped 2026-05-06).Source: ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/changelog (2026-05-19 entries) · 2026-05-19
  • I/O 2026 UPCOMING (2026-05-19): GEMINI SPARK announced -- Google's 24/7 proactive agent that 'takes action on your behalf' and runs in the background 'even if your phone and laptop are turned off'. Rolling out post-I/O to Google AI Ultra subscribers (18+, US-only at launch) plus 'select business users'. Powered by Gemini 3.5 Flash + Antigravity stack. Integrates Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, YouTube, Maps. Capabilities: task tracking, scheduled automation, custom reusable skills, file/workspace org, email categorization. Operates under user direction with approval gates for sensitive actions -- not continuous monitoring by default. Direct competitor to Anthropic Orbit (Code with Claude 5/6 announcement) and Microsoft Copilot Cowork.Source: gemini.google/overview/agent/spark/ (vendor-primary), blog.google Sundar Pichai I/O 2026 keynote post · 2026-05-19
  • GEMINI 3.1 FLASH-LITE GA (2026-05-07): Generally available on the Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform. Fastest + most cost-efficient Gemini 3 series model. **2.5x faster Time-to-First-Answer-Token vs Gemini 2.5 Flash; +45% output speed**. Pricing per third-party reference: $0.25/M input, $1.50/M output (vendor blog itself omits direct pricing -- check ai.google.dev/pricing for canonical). Customer signals at GA: Gladly reports ~60% lower cost vs thinking-tier models; OffDeal cites sub-second p95 for classifiers.Source: Google Cloud blog (cloud.google.com/blog/products/ai-machine-learning/gemini-3-1-flash-lite-is-now-generally-available), blog.google · 2026-05-07
  • Gemini 2.5 family retirement dates EXTENDED (ai.google.dev deprecations page, checked 2026-04-24): Gemini 2.5 Pro, 2.5 Flash, AND 2.5 Flash-Lite now all retire 2026-10-16 (pushed out from original 2026-06-17 / 2026-07-22 dates). Gives ~6 more months to migrate to gemini-3.1-pro + gemini-3-flash. Production code still calling 2.5 model names continues to work through Oct 16, but do not ship new code on retiring endpointsSource: ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/deprecations (verified 2026-04-24) · 2026-04-24
  • Gemini 3.1 Flash TTS launched 2026-04-15 as a preview on Gemini API, AI Studio, Vertex AI, and Google Vids. 70+ languages, audio tags for vocal style/pace/delivery embedded in the text prompt, Elo 1,211 on Artificial Analysis TTS leaderboard. Positions Google as a direct competitor to ElevenLabs v3 on the TTS stackSource: blog.google Gemini 3.1 Flash TTS, MarkTechPost · 2026-04
  • Image generation of people was temporarily disabled after generating historically inaccurate results, partially restored but still limitedSource: The Verge, Google Blog · 2026-01
  • Gemini Pro model access removed from free API tier on April 1, 2026 -- mandatory spend caps and prepaid billing now required for new accountsSource: Google AI for Developers, FindSkill.ai · 2026-04
  • Google AI Ultra at $249.99/mo is hard to justify against Claude Max ($200) and ChatGPT Pro ($200) unless you specifically need Lyria 3 ProSource: Reddit r/Bard · 2026-04

Best for

Google Workspace power users. If you live in Gmail, Docs, and Drive, Gemini Advanced integrates directly into your workflow. Also great for developers who need the cheapest API with the longest context window.

Not for

Anyone who needs the best raw output quality. Claude and GPT-4 both write better. Also not for anyone spooked by Google's history of abandoning products.

Our Verdict

Gemini's strength is the ecosystem play. The 1M context window is genuinely useful for long documents, and the Google Workspace integration is something neither OpenAI nor Anthropic can match. But purely as an LLM, the output quality is a step behind Claude and GPT-4. Pick Gemini if you're deep in Google's ecosystem. Otherwise, the other two are better standalone.

Sources

  • Google Blog: Gemini 3.6 Flash + 3.5 Flash-Lite + 3.5 Flash Cyber (2026-07-21) (accessed 2026-07-22)
  • TechCrunch: Google releases three new Gemini models but no 3.5 Pro (2026-07-21) (accessed 2026-07-22)
  • 9to5Google: Gemini 3.5 Pro delays (Bloomberg-sourced, 2026-07-16) (accessed 2026-07-18)
  • Google Blog: Gemini Omni Flash + Nano Banana 2 Lite (2026-06-30) (accessed 2026-07-04)
  • Google Blog: Computer use in Gemini 3.5 Flash (2026-06-24) (accessed 2026-07-04)
  • Google Blog: Gemini Spark updates June 2026 (macOS beta) (accessed 2026-07-05)
  • Google Developers Blog: Transitioning Gemini CLI to Antigravity CLI (shutdown took effect 2026-06-18) (accessed 2026-06-18)
  • Gemini API changelog: Veo 2.0/3.0 (6/30), Nano Banana preview (6/25), Imagen 4.0 (8/17) shutdowns (accessed 2026-06-18)
  • Google Blog: Gemini 3.5 frontier intelligence with action (2026-05-19) (accessed 2026-05-20)
  • Gemini API Changelog: 3.5 Flash GA + Managed Agents + Antigravity preview (2026-05-19) (accessed 2026-05-20)
  • Gemini Spark product page (vendor-primary) (accessed 2026-05-20)
  • Google AI for Developers: deprecations (accessed 2026-04-21)
  • Google Blog: Gemini 3.1 Flash TTS (accessed 2026-04-21)
  • LMSYS Chatbot Arena rankings (accessed 2026-04-13)
  • Reddit r/Bard (accessed 2026-04-13)

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Muse Spark (Meta) logo

Muse Spark (Meta)

Meta's frontier model line from its Superintelligence Lab -- Muse Spark 1.1 (2026-07-09) adds substantially better coding, 1M-token multi-agent orchestration, and Meta's first paid developer API (Meta Model API, public preview)

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8.8/10
Free tierFrom $0
Completely free to use via Meta AI app a...Natively multimodal: handles text, image...
Updated 2026-07-18
GPT-Rosalind (OpenAI) logo

GPT-Rosalind (OpenAI)

OpenAI's first domain-specific model -- life sciences, drug discovery, translational medicine. Launched 2026-04-16 as a Trusted Access research preview. Launch partners: Amgen, Moderna, Allen Institute, Thermo Fisher. Paired with a Life Sciences Codex plugin (50+ scientific tool integrations)

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6.8/10
From Invite only
OpenAI's first named vertical/domain-spe...Launch partners Amgen, Moderna, Allen In...
Updated 2026-04-17
GPT-5.4-Cyber (OpenAI) logo

GPT-5.4-Cyber (OpenAI)

OpenAI's defensive-cybersecurity variant of GPT-5.4, launched 2026-04-16. Lowered refusal boundary for security-research tasks and native binary reverse-engineering. Access gated via Trusted Access for Cyber (TAC) program -- thousands of verified defenders, hundreds of teams, no public pricing

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7.2/10
From Not publicly disclosed
Directly competes with Claude Mythos Pre...Lowered refusal boundary on defensive-se...
Updated 2026-04-19
Microsoft MAI-Thinking-1 logo

Microsoft MAI-Thinking-1

Microsoft's first in-house reasoning model -- launched 2026-06-02 at Build as the flagship of seven new MAI models. 35B-active / ~1T-total sparse Mixture-of-Experts, 256K context. AIME 2025 97.0%, matches leading models on SWE-Bench Pro, and beat Claude Sonnet 4.6 in human-preference testing. Available on Microsoft Foundry + OpenRouter / Fireworks / Baseten

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7.5/10
From Not disclosed
Microsoft's first in-house frontier-clas...Strong published reasoning numbers: AIME...
Updated 2026-06-02
Hunyuan 3 (Tencent Hy3) logo

Hunyuan 3 (Tencent Hy3)

Tencent's Hy3 reached GA 2026-07-06 (upgraded from the April preview) -- 295B total / 21B active MoE, 256K context, now Apache 2.0 open weights on HuggingFace + ModelScope with the EU/UK/South Korea restriction lifted. ~90% agent-task completion on Tencent's internal apps; API via Tencent Cloud TokenHub. Integrated into Yuanbao, WeChat, QQ

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8.1/10
Free tierFrom $0
Open weights from a top-3 Chinese tech c...Pricing is aggressive. ~1.2 RMB per mill...
Updated 2026-07-22
MiMo (Xiaomi) logo

MiMo (Xiaomi)

Xiaomi's MiMo-V2.5 family launched 2026-04-22 -- Pro (1T total / 42B active MoE, 1M context, native vision+audio reasoning), Multimodal base, TTS (3 sub-models: base, VoiceDesign, VoiceClone), and ASR (open-source, English + Chinese + major dialects). Full voice pipeline for the agent era. Extra-charge 1M-context tier removed at launch

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8.3/10
Free tierFrom $0
Full voice pipeline shipped together: a ...Native multimodal in MiMo-V2.5-Pro is th...
Updated 2026-07-04