Best LLM APIs
Our shortlist of the strongest current language models on SandBase, from Claude, GPT, Gemini, DeepSeek, Qwen, Kimi, GLM, Grok and MiniMax.
All Best LLM APIs
Preview the output style, compare capabilities, then open any model for full specs, pricing, and a live Playground.
Claude Opus 5.5
Claude Opus 5.5 is the most powerful model in the Claude 5 family from Anthropic. It excels at complex reasoning, analysis, and creative tasks with superior accuracy and nuance. It supports text, imag...
Claude Opus 5
Claude Opus 5 is the most powerful model in the Claude 5 family from Anthropic. It excels at complex reasoning, analysis, and creative tasks with superior accuracy and nuance. It supports text, image,...
Claude Sonnet 5.5
Claude Sonnet 5.5 is Anthropic's Sonnet-class model for well-scoped everyday work, succeeding Claude Sonnet 5 as a direct upgrade. It is especially strong at building features and fixing bugs, with a ...
GPT-6.1 Sol
GPT-6.1 Sol is OpenAI's upgrade to GPT-6 Sol, introduced at DevDay 2026 and positioned between GPT-6 Astra and GPT-6 Luna, with text and image input. OpenAI says it delivers near-Astra performance for...
GPT-6 Astra
GPT-6 Astra is OpenAI's flagship GPT-6 reasoning model, described by OpenAI as its most capable model for the most demanding work, with text and image input. OpenAI recommends it for complex reasoning...
GPT-5.6 Luna
GPT-5.6 Luna is the smallest, fastest tier of OpenAI's GPT-5.6 reasoning family, with text and image input; OpenAI says it roughly corresponds to the nano tier of earlier GPT-5 families. It is designe...
Gemini 4 Argon
Gemini 4 Argon is Google's flagship reasoning model and the first model of the Gemini 4 generation, generally available since October 13, 2026. Google trained it to keep context and precision across l...
Gemini 3.8 Flash
Gemini 3.8 Flash is a Flash-tier reasoning model in Google's Gemini 3 series, released in September 2026 and described by Google as its most intelligent Flash model as of release. Google positions it ...
DeepSeek V4 Pro
DeepSeek V4 Pro is the large tier of DeepSeek's V4 family, a 1.6T-parameter mixture-of-experts model with 49B active parameters, introduced as an open-weight preview in April 2026 with a 1M-token cont...
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash is the smallest model in DeepSeek's V4.1 architecture family, released in September 2026 with native visual understanding. It is a 552B-parameter mixture-of-experts model using a C...
Qwen3.8 Max
Qwen3.8 Max is Alibaba's flagship Qwen3.8 model, a 2.4-trillion-parameter Mixture-of-Experts reasoning model with native vision understanding, released in August 2026. Alibaba positions it for long-ho...
Kimi K3.1 Pro
Kimi K3.1 Pro is Moonshot AI's flagship open-weight multimodal reasoning model, a post-trained successor to Kimi K3 with a 1M-token context window. It accepts text, image and video input and is built ...
GLM 5.3
GLM-5.3 is Z.ai's flagship text model for complex software engineering and long-horizon agent work, built on the same base model as GLM-5.2 with all gains coming from expanded post-training. Z.ai high...
Grok 4.7
Grok 4.7 is xAI's flagship reasoning model for coding, agentic tasks and knowledge work, released on the xAI API in September 2026 as the successor to Grok 4.6. xAI says it uses a larger base model an...
MiniMax M3
MiniMax-M3 is MiniMax's flagship multimodal foundation model, which MiniMax describes as open-weight. It is built on MiniMax Sparse Attention, which selects key-value blocks to cut long-context comput...
Model lineup
Context window and positioning from each provider.
| Model | Context | Positioning |
|---|---|---|
| GPT-5.6 Luna | 1050K | GPT-5.6 Luna is the smallest, fastest tier of OpenAI's GPT-5.6 reasoning family, with text and image input; OpenAI says it roughly corresponds to… |
| DeepSeek V4 Pro | 1049K | DeepSeek V4 Pro is the large tier of DeepSeek's V4 family, a 1.6T-parameter mixture-of-experts model with 49B active parameters, introduced as an… |
| GPT-6 Astra | 1050K | GPT-6 Astra is OpenAI's flagship GPT-6 reasoning model, described by OpenAI as its most capable model for the most demanding work, with text and… |
| Claude Opus 5 | 1000K | Claude Opus 5 is the most powerful model in the Claude 5 family from Anthropic |
| GPT-6.1 Sol | 1050K | GPT-6.1 Sol is OpenAI's upgrade to GPT-6 Sol, introduced at DevDay 2026 and positioned between GPT-6 Astra and GPT-6 Luna, with text and image input |
| Gemini 3.8 Flash | 1049K | Gemini 3.8 Flash is a Flash-tier reasoning model in Google's Gemini 3 series, released in September 2026 and described by Google as its most… |
| GLM 5.3 | 1049K | GLM-5.3 is Z.ai's flagship text model for complex software engineering and long-horizon agent work, built on the same base model as GLM-5.2 with all… |
| MiniMax M3 | 1000K | MiniMax-M3 is MiniMax's flagship multimodal foundation model, which MiniMax describes as open-weight |
| Qwen3.8 Max | 1000K | Qwen3.8 Max is Alibaba's flagship Qwen3.8 model, a 2.4-trillion-parameter Mixture-of-Experts reasoning model with native vision understanding,… |
| Claude Opus 5.5 | 1000K | Claude Opus 5.5 is the most powerful model in the Claude 5 family from Anthropic |
| DeepSeek V4.1 Flash | 1049K | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash is the smallest model in DeepSeek's V4.1 architecture family, released in September 2026 with native visual understanding |
| Grok 4.7 | 500K | Grok 4.7 is xAI's flagship reasoning model for coding, agentic tasks and knowledge work, released on the xAI API in September 2026 as the successor… |
Frontier and value models, side by side
This list covers the latest two or three generations of each major model family. Every model uses the same OpenAI-compatible POST /v1/chat/completions, so you can compare them by changing only the model field.
Shortcuts
- For coding and agents: Best LLMs for Coding.
- For volume and latency: Cheap & Fast LLMs.
- For open weights: Open-Source LLMs.
- From Chinese labs: Chinese LLM APIs.
Start using Best LLM APIs on SandBase
Switch models by changing one field.
- 01
Create an API key
Sign in to the SandBase Console and create a key on the API Keys page. Keep it in an environment variable and never commit it to source control.
TERMINALexport SANDBASE_API_KEY="YOUR_SANDBASE_API_KEY" - 02
Send a chat request
Call the OpenAI-compatible Chat Completions API with model anthropic/claude-opus-5.5. Any OpenAI SDK works with base URL https://api.sandbase.ai/v1.
TERMINALcurl https://api.sandbase.ai/v1/chat/completions \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $SANDBASE_API_KEY" \ -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{"model": "anthropic/claude-opus-5.5", "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Explain vector databases in two sentences."}]}' - 03
Connect your AI tools
Use the same key in Claude Code, Codex, Cursor and other clients. See Use in AI tools for setup.
Questions, answered
How is this list chosen?
The current flagship and recent tiers of each major family, weighted by usage on SandBase. It is updated as new versions ship.
Can I switch models without code changes?
Yes. All models share the OpenAI-compatible chat completions API; change the model value.
Which LLM is the most used on SandBase?
GPT-5.6 Luna, followed by Claude Opus 4.6 and GPT-4o.
How am I billed?
Per token, at each model’s input and output price, from one SandBase balance.
Build with Best LLM APIs.
One key, consistent APIs, and usage-based pricing across every model on this page.