What is the best cheap llm right now?

Gemini 3.7 Flash is the current #1 on this list. Rankings move when daily ingest updates SWE-bench, Elo, price, or latency.

How is this list ranked?

Output price first among models we still consider usable for chat. Weights: Elo 35%, TTFT 25%, Speed 20%, Out $ 20%.

Is preference Elo the only score?

Preference Elo is a crowd vote from LMArena / Arena. People see two hidden answers and pick the one they like more. The model that wins more often gets a higher Elo. That means people preferred it — not that it passed a school test. It is not SWE-bench, not accuracy, and not a number we invent. This list uses a named Stack Engine mix — Elo is only one input when the job is “best chatbot,” not when the job is “cheapest coding agent.”

Why should I trust this over a tweet?

Every cell has a source and an as-of date. We noindex thin pages and we do not fill missing scores. Open the model or pair page and read the snapshot.

Search Intent · best cheap llm

Best cheap LLM in 2026

Lowest list-price models that still clear a usability bar. For high-volume chat and batch jobs.

Weights:Elo 35%TTFT 25%Speed 20%Out $ 20%

Current #1 Ranked PickScore 81.5 / 100

Gemini 3.7 Flash

Google · Closed flagship

Elo: 1,530 (Top 23%)TTFT: 82 ms (Top 1%)Speed: 215 tok/s (Top 1%)Out $: $1.875/1M (Top 50%)

SWE-bench: 72.4%Elo: 1,530

View full model fact sheet

Complete Ranked Category List

Models ranked by verified benchmark weights across SWE-bench and coding preference evaluations.

#1Gemini 3.7 Flash(Google)

Score 81.5

Elo: 1,530 (Top23%)TTFT: 82 ms (Top1%)Speed: 215 tok/s (Top1%)Out $: $1.875/1M (Top50%)

🏆 #1 Overall Leader in Category

#2GPT-5.6 Luna(OpenAI)

Score 75.3

Elo: 1,466 (Top51%)TTFT: 88 ms (Top2%)Speed: 188 tok/s (Top5%)Out $: $0.6/1M (Top27%)

Rank #2vs #1

#3DeepSeek V4 Flash(DeepSeek)

Score 73.3

Elo: 1,490 (Top38%)TTFT: 165 ms (Top25%)Speed: 142 tok/s (Top19%)Out $: $0.28/1M (Top17%)

Rank #3vs #1

#4Yi-Lightning(01.AI)

Score 72.6

Elo: 1,475 (Top44%)TTFT: 150 ms (Top20%)Speed: 130 tok/s (Top24%)Out $: $0.14/1M (Top11%)

Rank #4vs #1

#5Doubao Lite 1.5(ByteDance)

Score 67.3

Elo: 1,360 (Top78%)TTFT: 110 ms (Top9%)Speed: 180 tok/s (Top8%)Out $: $0.1/1M (Top8%)

Rank #5vs #1

#6Llama 4 Scout(Meta)

Score 66.0

Elo: 1,412 (Top69%)TTFT: 130 ms (Top14%)Speed: 155 tok/s (Top14%)Out $: $0.3/1M (Top18%)

Rank #6vs #1

#7Llama 4 Maverick(Meta)

Score 64.7

Elo: 1,468 (Top49%)TTFT: 170 ms (Top27%)Speed: 130 tok/s (Top24%)Out $: $0.8/1M (Top33%)

Rank #7vs #1

#8Gemini 2.0 Flash Thinking(Google)

Score 63.3

Elo: 1,490 (Top38%)TTFT: 220 ms (Top49%)Speed: 115 tok/s (Top33%)Out $: $0.4/1M (Top23%)

Rank #8vs #1

#9Doubao Pro 1.5(ByteDance)

Score 61.9

Elo: 1,470 (Top48%)TTFT: 190 ms (Top38%)Speed: 105 tok/s (Top42%)Out $: $0.28/1M (Top17%)

Rank #9vs #1

#10GLM-5.3(Zhipu)

Score 58.1

Elo: 1,558 (Top14%)TTFT: 255 ms (Top63%)Speed: 90 tok/s (Top56%)Out $: $1.8/1M (Top50%)

Rank #10vs #1

#11GPT-5 mini(OpenAI)

Score 57.9

Elo: 1,410 (Top70%)TTFT: 140 ms (Top17%)Speed: 155 tok/s (Top14%)Out $: $2/1M (Top53%)

Rank #11vs #1

#12GPT-4o mini(OpenAI)

Score 56.7

Elo: 1,272 (Top92%)TTFT: 130 ms (Top14%)Speed: 160 tok/s (Top11%)Out $: $0.6/1M (Top27%)

Rank #12vs #1

Frequently asked questions

Plain-English methodology and leaderboard answers

: Gemini 3.7 Flash is the current #1 on this list. Rankings move when daily ingest updates SWE-bench, Elo, price, or latency.

What is preference Elo? · How rankings update

Search Intent · best cheap llm

Best cheap LLM in 2026

Lowest list-price models that still clear a usability bar. For high-volume chat and batch jobs.

Weights:Elo 35%TTFT 25%Speed 20%Out $ 20%

Current #1 Ranked PickScore 81.5 / 100

Gemini 3.7 Flash

Google · Closed flagship

Elo: 1,530 (Top 23%)TTFT: 82 ms (Top 1%)Speed: 215 tok/s (Top 1%)Out $: $1.875/1M (Top 50%)

SWE-bench: 72.4%Elo: 1,530

View full model fact sheet

Complete Ranked Category List

Models ranked by verified benchmark weights across SWE-bench and coding preference evaluations.

#1Gemini 3.7 Flash(Google)

Score 81.5

Elo: 1,530 (Top23%)TTFT: 82 ms (Top1%)Speed: 215 tok/s (Top1%)Out $: $1.875/1M (Top50%)

🏆 #1 Overall Leader in Category

#2GPT-5.6 Luna(OpenAI)

Score 75.3

Elo: 1,466 (Top51%)TTFT: 88 ms (Top2%)Speed: 188 tok/s (Top5%)Out $: $0.6/1M (Top27%)

Rank #2vs #1

#3DeepSeek V4 Flash(DeepSeek)

Score 73.3

Elo: 1,490 (Top38%)TTFT: 165 ms (Top25%)Speed: 142 tok/s (Top19%)Out $: $0.28/1M (Top17%)

Rank #3vs #1

#4Yi-Lightning(01.AI)

Score 72.6

Elo: 1,475 (Top44%)TTFT: 150 ms (Top20%)Speed: 130 tok/s (Top24%)Out $: $0.14/1M (Top11%)

Rank #4vs #1

#5Doubao Lite 1.5(ByteDance)

Score 67.3

Elo: 1,360 (Top78%)TTFT: 110 ms (Top9%)Speed: 180 tok/s (Top8%)Out $: $0.1/1M (Top8%)

Rank #5vs #1

#6Llama 4 Scout(Meta)

Score 66.0

Elo: 1,412 (Top69%)TTFT: 130 ms (Top14%)Speed: 155 tok/s (Top14%)Out $: $0.3/1M (Top18%)

Rank #6vs #1

#7Llama 4 Maverick(Meta)

Score 64.7

Elo: 1,468 (Top49%)TTFT: 170 ms (Top27%)Speed: 130 tok/s (Top24%)Out $: $0.8/1M (Top33%)

Rank #7vs #1

#8Gemini 2.0 Flash Thinking(Google)

Score 63.3

Elo: 1,490 (Top38%)TTFT: 220 ms (Top49%)Speed: 115 tok/s (Top33%)Out $: $0.4/1M (Top23%)

Rank #8vs #1

#9Doubao Pro 1.5(ByteDance)

Score 61.9

Elo: 1,470 (Top48%)TTFT: 190 ms (Top38%)Speed: 105 tok/s (Top42%)Out $: $0.28/1M (Top17%)

Rank #9vs #1

#10GLM-5.3(Zhipu)

Score 58.1

Elo: 1,558 (Top14%)TTFT: 255 ms (Top63%)Speed: 90 tok/s (Top56%)Out $: $1.8/1M (Top50%)

Rank #10vs #1

#11GPT-5 mini(OpenAI)

Score 57.9

Elo: 1,410 (Top70%)TTFT: 140 ms (Top17%)Speed: 155 tok/s (Top14%)Out $: $2/1M (Top53%)

Rank #11vs #1

#12GPT-4o mini(OpenAI)

Score 56.7

Elo: 1,272 (Top92%)TTFT: 130 ms (Top14%)Speed: 160 tok/s (Top11%)Out $: $0.6/1M (Top27%)

Rank #12vs #1

Frequently asked questions

Plain-English methodology and leaderboard answers

: Gemini 3.7 Flash is the current #1 on this list. Rankings move when daily ingest updates SWE-bench, Elo, price, or latency.

What is preference Elo? · How rankings update