Price-band ranking
Best AI models $0.50-2 / 1M tokens
As of August 9, 2026, MiniMax: MiniMax M3 (batch) is the top-quality model priced $0.50-2 / 1m tokens, scoring 45.4 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index among 31 eligible models in this price tier.
- #1 MiniMax: MiniMax M3 (batch) - Quality 45.4 · $0.52/1M
- #2 DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Pro - Quality 45.3 · $0.54/1M
- #3 MoonshotAI: Kimi K2.6 - Quality 45.1 · $1.04/1M
- #4 MoonshotAI: Kimi K2.7 Code (batch) - Quality 43 · $1.40/1M
- #5 Xiaomi: MiMo-V2.5-Pro - Quality 42.9 · $0.54/1M
- #6 Thinking Machines: Inkling (batch) - Quality 42.3 · $1.73/1M
- #7 Thinking Machines: Inkling Small - Quality 41.2 · $0.64/1M
- #8 Z.ai: GLM 5.1 - Quality 41 · $1.46/1M
Source: OpenRouter (openrouter.ai/rankings), as of August 9, 2026.
Benchmark scores: Artificial Analysis (artificialanalysis.ai) via OpenRouter (openrouter.ai/rankings).
Methodology: smophy.ai/benchmark/methodology
Token counts originate from each provider's own tokenizer and are not directly comparable across providers.
