Compare AI models: which one should you use?
Claude, Gemini, Llama, Mistral, DeepSeek, GPT-OSS, Amazon Nova — every month brings a new leaderboard, and every leaderboard disagrees. Here is the honest version: each model is best at something. This guide tells you which to reach for by task, what it will cost, and how to prove it on your own prompts instead of trusting a benchmark.
The short answer, by job
| You want to… | Reach for | Why | Also good |
|---|---|---|---|
| Writing emails, proposals, long documents | Claude Sonnet / Haiku | Keeps your voice, follows detailed instructions, rarely bluffs. | Mistral Large for multilingual copy |
| Research on current events | Gemini (with web grounding) | Grounds answers in live search results and handles very long inputs. | Claude for synthesis once you have sources |
| Maths, logic, tricky debugging | DeepSeek R1 | A 'thinking' model that reasons step by step before answering. | Claude Sonnet 4.5 or GPT-OSS 120B |
| Coding help & code review | Claude Sonnet 4.5 | Strong at reading large codebases and explaining changes. | GPT-OSS 120B, DeepSeek V3 |
| High-volume, low-cost automation | Amazon Nova Micro / Llama 3.3 | Cents per million tokens; fast; good enough for classification and drafts. | Gemini Flash Lite, GPT-OSS 20B |
| Multilingual customer support | Mistral Large | Excellent European-language quality and concise structured answers. | Claude, Gemini |
| Product images, posters, art | Stable Image Core / SD 3.5 Large | Fast Core tier; SD 3.5 for fidelity and image-to-image restyling. | — |
| Short marketing videos | Luma Ray 2 / Amazon Nova Reel | Cinematic motion (Luma) or fast, affordable clips (Nova Reel) — then edit layer by layer. | — |
How the leading models differ
Claude (Anthropic)
The writer's model. Sonnet 4.5 and Haiku 4.5 follow long, detailed instructions and hold a consistent voice across an entire report. Claude reads images and long files. Costlier per token than open models — worth it when the text is customer-facing. Details →
Gemini (Google)
Long context plus live web grounding. Gemini Flash is fast and cheap for everyday assistant traffic; Gemini Pro is the heavyweight. Best pick when the answer depends on this week's news or a 200-page PDF. Details →
Llama 3.3 (Meta)
Open-weight, fast and inexpensive. A very capable generalist for quick answers, brainstorming and first drafts; not the pick for delicate prose or the hardest reasoning. Details →
Mistral Large
Concise, structured, and excellent across European languages. A strong choice for multilingual support content and extraction into tables/JSON. Details →
DeepSeek V3 & R1
V3 is a low-cost generalist; R1 is a reasoning model that thinks step by step — the one to use for maths, logic and algorithmic bugs, at the cost of a slower first token. Details →
GPT-OSS 120B / 20B (OpenAI)
OpenAI's open-weight releases: GPT-quality reasoning and coding at open-model prices, in two sizes so you can trade cost for capability. Details →
Amazon Nova
Nova Pro/Lite/Micro are the cheapest tier for high-volume prompts and extraction; Nova Reel generates short video clips. Details →
How to compare models properly (5 minutes)
- Use a real task, not a riddle. Paste the actual email, brief or bug you have today.
- Run it through 3–4 models at once. In Kryotta's Compare arena every model gets the identical prompt and files.
- Judge on three things: did it follow the instructions, is it correct, and how much did it cost/how fast was it? Kryotta shows speed and relative cost next to each answer.
- Keep the winner as your default for that job — or leave Auto on and let it route each prompt for you.
Frequently asked questions
Which AI model is the best overall?
There is no single best model. Claude leads for careful writing and instruction following, Gemini for long context and live web research, DeepSeek R1 for step-by-step reasoning, Llama and Nova for cost, Mistral for multilingual work. The right answer depends on the job — which is why Kryotta lets you run the same prompt through several models side by side.
Is Claude better than Gemini?
For polished writing, editing and following complex instructions, Claude is usually preferred; for questions that depend on current web facts or very long documents, Gemini's grounding and context window give it the edge. Test both on your own prompt in the Compare arena.
What is the cheapest good AI model?
Amazon Nova Micro, Llama 3.3 70B, Gemini Flash Lite and GPT-OSS 20B cost a fraction of frontier models and are more than enough for quick answers, drafts and classification. Kryotta's Auto routing sends easy prompts to these automatically.
How do I compare AI models on my own data?
In Kryotta, open Compare, pick two to four models, paste your prompt (or upload files) and run once. You see each answer, response time and relative cost next to each other and can keep the best one.
Do I need separate subscriptions for each AI model?
No. Kryotta bundles every model into one workspace with one pooled usage allowance and one bill — Free to start, with Starter, Pro and Enterprise plans.
Compare them on your own prompt — free
Every model above is inside Kryotta. One login, one bill, side-by-side answers.
Open the Compare arena →