OpenRouter Models Ranked: 20 Best for Coding, Free & Cheapest (February 2026)
2026 continues to deliver groundbreaking AI releases. Just today, OpenAI dropped GPT-5.3 Codexβtheir first self-improving modelβwhile Anthropic released Claude Opus 4.6. Combined with GPT-5.2's 400K context, Gemini 3's 1M tokens, and DeepSeek V3.2 challenging frontier models at a fraction of the cost, there are now over 500+ models available on OpenRouter. Choosing the right one is more importantβand more confusingβthan ever.
This guide cuts through the noise. We'll show you which models deliver the best value, which free options actually work, and how to build cost-effective AI workflows that save you thousands without sacrificing quality.
π What's New in 2026
Just Released Today!
GPT-5.3 Codex (self-improving, 25% faster) and Claude Opus 4.6 dropped February 5th. The frontier just moved again.
GPT-5.3 Codex Era
OpenAI's first self-improving model. 25% faster than 5.2-Codex with frontier SWE-Bench and Terminal-Bench scores.
Gemini 3 Preview
Google's 1M token context with multimodal reasoning. Game-changer for long documents.
DeepSeek Dominance
V3.2 matches frontier models at 1/100th the cost. The value king of 2026.
Agentic Models
Devstral 2, MiniMax M2.1, and specialized models built specifically for AI agents.
Free Model Explosion
NVIDIA, Xiaomi, and more offering powerful free tiers. Build without spending.
Global Competition
ByteDance Seed, Xiaomi MiMo, Z.AI GLM, Kimi K2.5 β Asian labs are now frontier-competitive.
Kimi K2.5 Agent Swarm
Moonshot's open-source multimodal model with 100 sub-agents and 1,500 parallel tool calls. New agentic paradigm.
π° The Cost Reality in 2026
Prices have dropped dramatically while capabilities soared. What cost $100/M tokens in 2024 now costs under $20βand free models can handle tasks that required GPT-4 just two years ago.
π‘ 2026 Reality Check: DeepSeek V3.2 achieves ~90% of GPT-5.1's performance at 1/50th the cost. For most tasks, you're paying a premium for marginal gains. Choose wisely.
π€ The Agentic Workflow Cost Explosion
The hidden cost of AI agents: A single Claude Code session can consume 500K+ tokens. Cursor, Windsurf, and similar tools make dozens of API calls per task. Your $20 subscription doesn't cover thisβyou pay per token. Learn how to optimize Claude Code token usage β
π₯ Real-World Agent Costs
- Claude Code session: $5-50+
- Cursor Pro usage: $20-100/day
- Custom agent pipeline: Variable
- SWE-bench task: $10-200
π‘ Smart Alternatives
- Devstral 2 (Free): 73%+ SWE-bench
- MiniMax M2.1: $0.28/$1.20 per 1M
- DeepSeek V3.2: $0.25/$0.38 per 1M
- Xiaomi MiMo: Free with hybrid thinking
β‘ Coding Agent Token Usage (Real Example)
π° Bottom Line: At Claude Opus 4 pricing ($15/$75), a complex coding task could cost $50-100. With DeepSeek V3.2 ($0.25/$0.38), the same task costs ~$0.50. That's a 100x difference.
π Best Models by Use Case (2026)
π¨βπ» Best for Coding & AI Agents
π GPT-5.3 Codex
OpenAI's first self-improving model. 25% faster than 5.2-Codex, sets new highs on SWE-Bench Pro and Terminal-Bench.
π Claude Opus 4.6
Anthropic's latest premium model. Maximum intelligence with improved agentic capabilities and reasoning depth.
Claude Opus 4.5
Previous frontier reasoning model. Still excellent for complex software engineering and agentic workflows.
Devstral 2 2512
Free / $0.05/$0.22Mistral's 123B agentic coding model. Multi-file orchestration, framework awareness, failure recovery.
MiniMax M2.1
$0.28/$1.2010B activated params, state-of-the-art coding. 72.5% SWE-Bench Multilingual at ultra-low cost.
GPT-5.1 Codex Max
$2/$8OpenAI's specialized agentic coding model. Long-running tasks, high-context development.
π― Best for General Use
GPT-5.2
$1.75/$14Latest frontier model with 400K context and adaptive reasoning. Responds fast to simple queries, thinks deep on complex ones.
Gemini 3 Flash Preview
$0.50/$3Google's 1M token beast. Near-Pro reasoning at Flash prices. Perfect for long documents and multi-turn conversations.
DeepSeek V3.2
$0.25/$0.38The value champion. Matches GPT-4o at 1/40th the cost. Strong reasoning and tool use.
Claude Sonnet 4
$3/$15The balanced choice. Intelligence meets efficiency with excellent instruction following.
π Best Free Models (Actually Good!)
Xiaomi MiMo-V2-Flash
π Free309B MoE model with hybrid thinking. Matches Claude Sonnet 4.5 on SWE-bench at 3.5% the cost. 256K context!
Devstral 2 2512
π FreeMistral's 123B agentic coder. Open source under modified MIT. Enterprise-ready performance.
NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Nano
π Free30B MoE for agentic AI. Fully open weights, datasets, recipes. 256K context window.
DeepSeek V3.1 Nex-N1
π FreePost-trained for agent autonomy and tool use. Strong coding and HTML generation.
π§ Best for Deep Reasoning
GPT-5.2 Pro
OpenAI's most advanced model. 400K context, reduced hallucination, and "think hard" prompt support.
ByteDance Seed 1.6
$0.25/$2Multimodal with adaptive deep thinking. 256K context, video understanding, competitive reasoning.
AllenAI Olmo 3.1 32B Think
$0.15/$0.50Open-source reasoning model. Apache 2.0 license with full transparency on training.
Z.AI GLM 4.7
$0.40/$1.50Enhanced programming and stable multi-step reasoning. Natural conversations and great UI aesthetics.
π Complete Model Comparison
| Model | Provider | Cost (In/Out per 1M) | Best For | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
π Grok 4.1 Fast xAI's latest with massive 2M token context window. Fastest frontier model available | xAI | $0.20/$0.50 input/output | Speed & Context | 2M |
π Qwen3.5 Plus Alibaba's newest with 1M context. Excellent reasoning at ultra-low cost | Qwen | $0.40/$2 input/output | Value Reasoning | 1M |
π Gemini 3 Pro Preview Google's latest Pro model with 1M context. Stronger reasoning than 2.5 Pro | $2/$12 input/output | Pro Reasoning | 1M | |
π GPT-5.3 Codex OpenAI's first self-improving model. 25% faster, sets new SWE-Bench Pro and Terminal-Bench records | OpenAI | $3/$12 input/output | Agentic Coding | 256K |
π Claude Opus 4.6 Anthropic's latest premium model. Maximum intelligence with improved agentic capabilities | Anthropic | input/output | Coding & Agents | 200K |
GPT-5.2 Pro OpenAI's most advanced reasoning model with 400K context, reduced hallucination, and 'think hard' support | OpenAI | input/output | Deep Reasoning | 400K |
Claude Opus 4.5 Previous frontier reasoning model, still excellent for complex software engineering | Anthropic | input/output | Coding & Agents | 200K |
π Kimi K2.5 Most powerful open-source model. Agent swarm with 100 sub-agents and 1,500 parallel tool calls | Moonshot | $0.50/$2 input/output | Agentic Swarm | 256K |
GPT-5.2 Latest frontier with 400K context and adaptive reasoning - fast on simple, deep on complex | OpenAI | $2/$14 input/output | General Purpose | 400K |
GPT-5.2 Chat Fast, lightweight GPT-5.2 variant optimized for low-latency chat with adaptive reasoning | OpenAI | $2/$14 input/output | Fast Chat | 128K |
Gemini 3 Flash Preview High-speed thinking model with 1M context, near-Pro reasoning at Flash prices | $0.50/$3 input/output | Reasoning & Speed | 1M | |
Claude Sonnet 4 Optimal balance of intelligence, cost, and speed for production use | Anthropic | input/output | General Excellence | 200K |
ByteDance Seed 1.6 Multimodal with adaptive deep thinking, 256K context, video understanding | ByteDance | $0.25/$2 input/output | Multimodal Reasoning | 256K |
ByteDance Seed 1.6 Flash Ultra-fast multimodal deep thinking model with text and visual understanding | ByteDance | $0.07/$0.30 input/output | Fast Multimodal | 256K |
MiniMax M2.1 10B activated params, 72.5% SWE-Bench Multilingual. Best value for coding | MiniMax | $0.28/$1 input/output | Coding & Agents | 196K |
GPT-5.1 Codex Max OpenAI's specialized agentic coding model for long-running development tasks | OpenAI | $2/$8 input/output | Agentic Coding | 128K |
Devstral 2 2512 123B agentic coding model with multi-file orchestration and failure recovery | Mistral | $0.05/$0.22 input/output | Agentic Coding | 256K |
Z.AI GLM 4.7 Enhanced programming and stable multi-step reasoning with natural conversations | Z.AI | $0.40/$2 input/output | Coding & Agents | 200K |
Xiaomi MiMo-V2-Flash 309B MoE with hybrid thinking. #1 open-source on SWE-bench. Matches Claude Sonnet 4.5 | Xiaomi | Free/Free input/output | Free Coding | 256K |
Devstral 2 2512 (Free) Free tier of Mistral's 123B agentic coding model. Modified MIT license | Mistral | Free/Free input/output | Free Coding | 256K |
NVIDIA Nemotron 3 Nano 30B MoE for agentic AI. Fully open weights, datasets, and recipes | NVIDIA | Free/Free input/output | Free Agents | 256K |
DeepSeek V3.1 Nex-N1 Post-trained for agent autonomy and tool use. Strong coding and HTML generation | DeepSeek | Free/Free input/output | Free Agents | 131K |
Step 3.5 Flash (Free) Free model with 256K context from StepFun. Good general performance | StepFun | Free/Free input/output | Free General | 256K |
Solar Pro 3 (Free) Korean AI lab's free 128K model with strong multilingual support | Upstage | Free/Free input/output | Free Multilingual | 128K |
Arcee Trinity Large (Free) Free 131K context model with strong reasoning from Arcee AI | Arcee AI | Free/Free input/output | Free Reasoning | 131K |
π§ Smart Cost-Saving Strategies for 2026
π― Use Routing Models
Send simple queries to cheap models, complex ones to premium. OpenRouter's auto-router does this automatically.
πΎ Context Caching
Most major providers now support context caching. Gemini offers 90% discount on cached tokens.
π Cascade Workflows
Use free/cheap models for initial drafts, then premium models only for final refinement and verification.
π€ Specialized Agents
Use Devstral for coding, MiniMax for agents, DeepSeek for general tasks. Match model strengths to task requirements.
π‘ Example: AI Coding Agent Workflow (2026)
π 2025 vs 2026: Price Evolution
π― Key Takeaways for 2026
π‘ The New Landscape
- β’ GPT-5.3 Codex is first self-improving model
- β’ Claude Opus 4.6 pushes reasoning frontier
- β’ Kimi K2.5 introduces agent swarm paradigm
- β’ Free models can handle production workloads
π Action Items
- β’ Start with MiMo or Devstral 2 for free experimentation
- β’ Use MiniMax M2.1 for cost-effective coding agents
- β’ Reserve premium models for final verification
- β’ Enable context caching everywhere possible
The AI Cost Revolution Has Arrived
2026 marks a turning point: frontier-level AI is now accessible at budget prices. Free models match last year's paid offerings. Premium models deliver capabilities that seemed impossible just months ago.
The key isn't finding the "best" modelβit's building smart workflows that use the right model for each task. Start free, scale strategically, and only pay premium prices when the task truly demands it. See our guide on building long-running AI agents for workflow architecture patterns.
Last updated: February 18, 2026 β’ Data sourced from OpenRouter API