What is the best mid range llm right now?

Gemini 3 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?

Sonnet / Terra / Flash class. Usable Elo without Opus or Sol prices. 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 mid range llm

Best mid-range LLM in 2026

Workhorse models under $12/1M output. For daily coding and chat without Opus or Sol invoices.

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

Current #1 Ranked PickScore 81.8 / 100

Gemini 3 Flash

Google · Closed flagship

Elo: 1,495 (Top 34%)TTFT: 95 ms (Top 6%)Speed: 190 tok/s (Top 4%)Out $: $0.6/1M (Top 20%)

SWE-bench: 75.8%Elo: 1,495

View full model fact sheet

Complete Ranked Category List

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

#1Gemini 3 Flash(Google)

Score 81.8

Elo: 1,495 (Top34%)TTFT: 95 ms (Top6%)Speed: 190 tok/s (Top4%)Out $: $0.6/1M (Top20%)

🏆 #1 Overall Leader in Category

#2Gemini 3.7 Flash(Google)

Score 81.1

Elo: 1,530 (Top23%)TTFT: 82 ms (Top1%)Speed: 215 tok/s (Top1%)Out $: $3.75/1M (Top52%)

Rank #2vs #1

#3Gemini 3.6 Flash(Google)

Score 77.0

Elo: 1,506 (Top32%)TTFT: 92 ms (Top4%)Speed: 198 tok/s (Top2%)Out $: $3.75/1M (Top52%)

Rank #3vs #1

#4DeepSeek V4 Flash(DeepSeek)

Score 75.3

Elo: 1,490 (Top39%)TTFT: 165 ms (Top25%)Speed: 142 tok/s (Top19%)Out $: $0.28/1M (Top5%)

Rank #4vs #1

#5Yi-Lightning(01.AI)

Score 74.1

Elo: 1,475 (Top45%)TTFT: 150 ms (Top20%)Speed: 130 tok/s (Top24%)Out $: $0.14/1M (Top2%)

Rank #5vs #1

#6GPT-5.6 Luna(OpenAI)

Score 73.7

Elo: 1,466 (Top51%)TTFT: 88 ms (Top2%)Speed: 188 tok/s (Top5%)Out $: $1.2/1M (Top35%)

Rank #6vs #1

#7Seed 2.1 Turbo(ByteDance)

Score 72.1

Elo: 1,472 (Top47%)TTFT: 120 ms (Top12%)Speed: 160 tok/s (Top11%)Out $: $1.1/1M (Top31%)

Rank #7vs #1

#8Doubao Lite 1.5(ByteDance)

Score 68.7

Elo: 1,360 (Top78%)TTFT: 110 ms (Top9%)Speed: 180 tok/s (Top8%)Out $: $0.1/1M (Top1%)

Rank #8vs #1

#9Llama 4 Scout(Meta)

Score 68.3

Elo: 1,412 (Top68%)TTFT: 130 ms (Top14%)Speed: 155 tok/s (Top14%)Out $: $0.3/1M (Top8%)

Rank #9vs #1

#10Grok 4.6(xAI)

Score 68.3

Elo: 1,592 (Top6%)TTFT: 195 ms (Top40%)Speed: 118 tok/s (Top30%)Out $: $6/1M (Top68%)

Rank #10vs #1

#11GPT-5.6 Terra(OpenAI)

Score 67.6

Elo: 1,548 (Top19%)TTFT: 160 ms (Top23%)Speed: 128 tok/s (Top26%)Out $: $12/1M (Top74%)

Rank #11vs #1

#12Llama 4 Maverick(Meta)

Score 67.0

Elo: 1,468 (Top50%)TTFT: 170 ms (Top27%)Speed: 130 tok/s (Top24%)Out $: $0.6/1M (Top20%)

Rank #12vs #1

Frequently asked questions

Plain-English methodology and leaderboard answers

: Gemini 3 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 mid range llm

Best mid-range LLM in 2026

Workhorse models under $12/1M output. For daily coding and chat without Opus or Sol invoices.

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

Current #1 Ranked PickScore 81.8 / 100

Gemini 3 Flash

Google · Closed flagship

Elo: 1,495 (Top 34%)TTFT: 95 ms (Top 6%)Speed: 190 tok/s (Top 4%)Out $: $0.6/1M (Top 20%)

SWE-bench: 75.8%Elo: 1,495

View full model fact sheet

Complete Ranked Category List

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

#1Gemini 3 Flash(Google)

Score 81.8

Elo: 1,495 (Top34%)TTFT: 95 ms (Top6%)Speed: 190 tok/s (Top4%)Out $: $0.6/1M (Top20%)

🏆 #1 Overall Leader in Category

#2Gemini 3.7 Flash(Google)

Score 81.1

Elo: 1,530 (Top23%)TTFT: 82 ms (Top1%)Speed: 215 tok/s (Top1%)Out $: $3.75/1M (Top52%)

Rank #2vs #1

#3Gemini 3.6 Flash(Google)

Score 77.0

Elo: 1,506 (Top32%)TTFT: 92 ms (Top4%)Speed: 198 tok/s (Top2%)Out $: $3.75/1M (Top52%)

Rank #3vs #1

#4DeepSeek V4 Flash(DeepSeek)

Score 75.3

Elo: 1,490 (Top39%)TTFT: 165 ms (Top25%)Speed: 142 tok/s (Top19%)Out $: $0.28/1M (Top5%)

Rank #4vs #1

#5Yi-Lightning(01.AI)

Score 74.1

Elo: 1,475 (Top45%)TTFT: 150 ms (Top20%)Speed: 130 tok/s (Top24%)Out $: $0.14/1M (Top2%)

Rank #5vs #1

#6GPT-5.6 Luna(OpenAI)

Score 73.7

Elo: 1,466 (Top51%)TTFT: 88 ms (Top2%)Speed: 188 tok/s (Top5%)Out $: $1.2/1M (Top35%)

Rank #6vs #1

#7Seed 2.1 Turbo(ByteDance)

Score 72.1

Elo: 1,472 (Top47%)TTFT: 120 ms (Top12%)Speed: 160 tok/s (Top11%)Out $: $1.1/1M (Top31%)

Rank #7vs #1

#8Doubao Lite 1.5(ByteDance)

Score 68.7

Elo: 1,360 (Top78%)TTFT: 110 ms (Top9%)Speed: 180 tok/s (Top8%)Out $: $0.1/1M (Top1%)

Rank #8vs #1

#9Llama 4 Scout(Meta)

Score 68.3

Elo: 1,412 (Top68%)TTFT: 130 ms (Top14%)Speed: 155 tok/s (Top14%)Out $: $0.3/1M (Top8%)

Rank #9vs #1

#10Grok 4.6(xAI)

Score 68.3

Elo: 1,592 (Top6%)TTFT: 195 ms (Top40%)Speed: 118 tok/s (Top30%)Out $: $6/1M (Top68%)

Rank #10vs #1

#11GPT-5.6 Terra(OpenAI)

Score 67.6

Elo: 1,548 (Top19%)TTFT: 160 ms (Top23%)Speed: 128 tok/s (Top26%)Out $: $12/1M (Top74%)

Rank #11vs #1

#12Llama 4 Maverick(Meta)

Score 67.0

Elo: 1,468 (Top50%)TTFT: 170 ms (Top27%)Speed: 130 tok/s (Top24%)Out $: $0.6/1M (Top20%)

Rank #12vs #1

Frequently asked questions

Plain-English methodology and leaderboard answers

: Gemini 3 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