VOL. 2026ISSUE 04Updated as of 2026-04-24

April

2026

LLM Monthly Leaderboard. Eight categories. Twenty-four leading models. Updated monthly. AI-friendly citations included.

8
categories
24
models
6
sources
↓ Index01 reasoning02 image03 video04 code05 voice06 music07 vision08 open-source
Share this issueXLinkedIn
01
Text Generation & Reasoning

Text Generation & Reasoning

2026 enters a tri-titan era — no single dominant model, the best choice depends on the task at hand.

Previously: GPT-5.4

Current leader
GPT-5.5
OpenAI

Released April 23, the first fully retrained foundation model since GPT-5.

Score
89
  • 01Terminal-Bench 2.0: 82.7%
  • 02OSWorld-Verified: 78.7%
  • 03GDPval: 84.9%
  • 04ARC-AGI-2: 85.0%
  • 051M-token context
Runners-up
№2

Claude Opus 4.7

Anthropic

Released April 16, strongest at long-context and code review.

  • SWE-Bench Pro: 64.3%
  • MCP-Atlas: 79.1%
  • Most reliable multi-step reasoning
  • Most thorough code-logic review
  • 1M-token context
86
№3

Gemini 3.1 Pro

Google

In preview, strongest at math and algorithmic competition.

  • LiveCodeBench Elo: 2887
  • 1M-token context
  • Lowest API price ($2/$12)
  • Leading video understanding
  • Best price-to-performance
~85
Change

Released April 23, 2026. SOTA on 14 benchmarks, composite score 89.

Market

GPT-5.5 leads in agentic and terminal coding; Claude Opus 4.7 leads in multi-file refactoring and code review; Gemini 3.1 Pro leads in algorithmic competition.

Tags1M-token contextAgentic workflowsMultimodal understanding
02
Text-to-Image

Text-to-Image

GPT Image-2 takes the throne with 99.2% text-rendering accuracy, while Nano Banana 2 keeps an edge in real-time generation.

Previously: Nano Banana 2

Current leader
GPT Image-2
OpenAI

Highest text-rendering accuracy.

Score
99.2%
  • 01Text-rendering accuracy 99.2%
  • 02Chinese / Arabic support
  • 03Spatial logic & anatomical correctness
  • 04Character consistency
  • 05Thinking-mode reasoning engine
Runners-up
№2

Nano Banana 2

Google

Ultra-fast 4K generation with live web search.

  • Flash architecture, ultra-fast generation
  • 4K image in 4-15s
  • Live web-search integration
  • Fastest on the market
  • Deep Gemini-ecosystem integration
4-15s
№3

Flux Pro

Black Forest Labs

Strongest open-source ecosystem.

  • Open-source, commercial use
  • Rich community ecosystem
  • Style diversity
  • Local deployment
Change

Released April 2026, with major leads in text rendering and spatial reasoning.

Market

GPT Image-2 wins on typography and physical correctness; Nano Banana 2 wins on speed and live web grounding — they complement rather than replace each other.

Tags4K generationMultilingual textCharacter consistencyReal-time generation
03
Text-to-Video

Text-to-Video

Sora 2 has exited; Google Veo 3.1 now leads in overall capability, while Seedance 2.0 and Kling 3.0 lead in specific niches.

Previously: Sora 2

Current leader
Veo 3.1
Google

Native audio + multi-shot, strongest overall.

  • 01Native audio generation
  • 02Multi-shot narrative
  • 03Excellent physics simulation
  • 04YouTube-ecosystem integration
Runners-up
№2

Seedance 2.0

ByteDance

Strongest multi-shot storyboarding.

  • Multi-shot storyboarding
  • Professional cinematic language
  • Leading domestic Chinese model
  • Douyin/TikTok ecosystem integration
№3

Kling 3.0 Omni

Kuaishou

Cinematic-grade visuals + most accurate lip-sync.

  • Cinematic-grade visuals
  • Most accurate lip-sync
  • Kuaishou ecosystem integration
  • Optimized for Chinese scenarios
Change

Sora 2 deprecated. Veo 3.1 takes the overall lead.

Market

Veo 3.1 best overall; Seedance for multi-shot storyboarding; Kling for cinematic visuals and lip-sync; Pika for social creators.

TagsNative audioMulti-shot narrativeCinematic visualsLip-sync
04
Code Generation

Code Generation

GPT-5.5 retakes the lead in terminal-agent coding; Claude Opus 4.7 still owns multi-file refactoring and tool orchestration.

Previously: Claude Opus 4.6

Current leader
GPT-5.5
OpenAI

Terminal-Bench 2.0 #1, strongest agentic coding.

Score
82.7%
  • 01Terminal-Bench 2.0: 82.7%
  • 02Expert-SWE: 73.1%
  • 03Autonomous coding judgment
  • 04Fewer tokens for the same task
Runners-up
№2

Claude Opus 4.7

Anthropic

SWE-Bench Pro #1, strongest multi-file refactoring.

  • SWE-Bench Pro: 64.3%
  • MCP-Atlas: 79.1%
  • Multi-file logic review
  • Code-vulnerability detection
64.3%
№3

Gemini 3.1 Pro

Google

LiveCodeBench #1, strongest in algorithmic competition.

  • LiveCodeBench Elo: 2887
  • 1M-context whole-repo analysis
  • Lowest price
  • Best for algorithmic competition
2887 Elo
Change

GPT-5.5 released April 23, leading Terminal-Bench 2.0 by 13 percentage points.

Market

Use GPT-5.5 for terminal agentic coding, Claude Opus 4.7 for multi-file refactoring and review, Gemini for whole-repo analysis.

TagsAgentic codingMulti-file refactoringTool orchestrationAlgorithmic competition
05
Text-to-Speech

Text-to-Speech

ElevenLabs remains the industry benchmark for voice realism and cloning; Hume AI leads in emotional voice.

Previously: ElevenLabs v2

Current leader
ElevenLabs v3
ElevenLabs

Industry-benchmark voice realism.

Score
9.2/10
  • 01Realism score 9.2/10
  • 0275ms ultra-low latency
  • 0329+ languages
  • 04Professional Clone quality
  • 05Enterprise-grade API
Runners-up
№2

Hume AI Octave

Hume AI

Top of the emotional-voice leaderboard.

  • Emotion recognition 9.3/10
  • Emotional response capability
  • Empathetic interaction
  • Precise affect awareness
9.3/10
№3

GPT-4o Voice

OpenAI

Best real-time conversational experience.

  • Low-latency real-time conversation
  • Natural voice output
  • Multilingual real-time translation
  • Deep ChatGPT integration
Change

Continues to lead. v3 ships at 75ms ultra-low latency.

Market

ElevenLabs v3 for professional voiceover and cloning; Hume Octave for emotional interaction; GPT-4o Voice for real-time conversation.

TagsUltra-low latencyEmotional voiceVoice cloningMultilingual
06
AI Music Generation

AI Music Generation

Suno v5.5 remains the most-used platform; tools differentiate on speed, post-production, and enterprise deployment.

Previously: Suno v5

Current leader
Suno v5.5
Suno

Most widely used AI music platform.

  • 01Largest user base
  • 02Studio multi-track editing
  • 03MIDI export
  • 04Fastest to a finished song
Runners-up
№2

Udio v1.5

Udio

Strongest post-production and stem control.

  • Stem download
  • Mix control
  • Key adjustment
  • Professional post-production
№3

Lyria 3 Pro

Google DeepMind

Best for enterprise / API deployment.

  • Vertex AI delivery
  • Structured generation
  • Clear copyright posture
  • Enterprise-grade deployment
Change

Continuous iteration. v5.5 Studio adds multi-track editing and MIDI export.

Market

Suno is fastest to a finished song, Udio is strongest in editing, Lyria is safest for enterprise deployment, ElevenMusic / StableAudio are clearest on commercial rights.

TagsMulti-track editingMIDI exportStem controlCopyright safety
07
Vision Understanding

Vision Understanding

GPT-4o Vision keeps the strongest general-purpose lead; Gemini Vision leads on video understanding and long-document parsing.

Current leader
GPT-4o Vision
OpenAI

Strongest general-purpose vision understanding.

  • 01UI parsing
  • 02Chart understanding
  • 03Live visual conversation
  • 04Multimodal fusion
Runners-up
№2

Gemini Vision

Google

Leader for video and long-document understanding.

  • 1M-token long documents
  • Leading video understanding
  • Multi-frame analysis
  • Search integration
№3

Qwen-VL

Alibaba

Top open-source Chinese-scenario vision model.

  • Optimized for Chinese scenarios
  • Open-source, commercial use
  • Multimodal reasoning
  • Local deployment
Change

Continues to lead — strongest on UI parsing and live visual conversation.

Market

GPT-4o Vision for general-purpose; Gemini Vision for long video / documents; Qwen-VL for the strongest open-source Chinese option.

TagsLive visionLong-document parsingUI parsingMultilingual
08
Open Source

Open Source

Open-source models are closing the gap with closed-source on several benchmarks. Llama 4, DeepSeek V3.2, and Qwen3 form the leading tier.

Previously: Llama 3

Current leader
Llama 4
Meta

Most complete open-source ecosystem.

  • 01Multimodal support
  • 02Largest community ecosystem
  • 03Commercial-use license
  • 04Multiple sizes
Runners-up
№2

DeepSeek V3.2

DeepSeek

Strongest open-source reasoning model.

  • Excellent math reasoning
  • Strong coding ability
  • Efficient MoE architecture
  • Extremely low API price
№3

Qwen3

Alibaba

Top open-source Chinese model.

  • Strongest Chinese understanding
  • Multimodal support
  • Agent capability
  • Full size coverage
Change

Released in 2026, with major multimodal improvements.

Market

Llama 4 has the largest ecosystem; DeepSeek is strongest at reasoning and the cheapest; Qwen3 leads in Chinese and agent capability.

TagsMultimodalCommercial useLocal deploymentLow cost
Editorial · 06 observations

What changed this month

What changed across the AI model landscape this month — distilled from the data above.

01

From single dominance to specialist competition

In 2026 AI has shifted from one general-purpose model to a 'pick the model for the task' paradigm. Every niche has its specialist; multi-model routing is now the enterprise standard architecture.

02

GPT-5.5 and Claude Opus 4.7 — the dual frontier

Released April 16 and April 23, 2026 respectively, the two now define the cutting edge. GPT-5.5 wins on agentic coding and terminal use; Claude wins on code review and refactoring.

03

1M context becomes the new standard

From 128K to 1M tokens — Gemini 3.1 Pro, Claude Opus 4.7, and GPT-5.5 all now support 1M+ context, making whole-repository analysis possible.

04

Open source catches up fast

Llama 4, DeepSeek V3.2, and Qwen3 now match closed-source on several benchmarks at 1/10 of the price or less.

05

Domestic Chinese models break through globally

Seedance 2.0 (video), Qwen3 (open source), Kling 3.0 (video), and Qwen-VL (vision) have all entered the global top three in their respective domains.

06

API prices keep falling

LLM API prices have dropped roughly 80% in 2025-2026. Gemini 2.0 Flash at $0.10 / 1M tokens has dramatically lowered the barrier to AI applications.

Sources
  1. [01]
  2. [02]
    LMArena Leaderboardcommunity leaderboard
  3. [03]
  4. [04]
    OpenAI Changelogofficial changelog
  5. [05]
    Anthropic Newsofficial changelog
  6. [06]
    Google DeepMind Blogofficial changelog