Best LLM for coding (October 2026)
As of 12 Oct 2026, the best LLM for coding on independent benchmarks is Claude Opus 5.5 (max) by Anthropic (coding score 82.9), ahead of Claude Fable 5.1 (max) (coding score 75.3) and GPT-6 Astra (max) (coding score 74.4).
Ranked on the coding category of the BenchLeader Index: SWE-bench Verified, SWE-Bench Pro, LiveCodeBench, Aider Polyglot and the other coding boards that feed the index, combined. Models need results on at least two coding benchmarks.
158 models qualify · data as of 12 Oct 2026 · rebuilt once a day (the run starts at 22:03 UTC)
Claude Opus 5.5 max#1 here: coding score 82.9Best value
Step 5 Preview most index points per dollar among the top 15 (62.4 at $1.43/M)Best open weights
Kimi K3 maxhighest-ranked model here you can run yourself (#13)Fastest of the top 15
Muse Spark 1.1 202 output tokens per second| # | Model | Coding score | Index | Price $/M | Speed tok/s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Claude Opus 5.5maxAnthropic | 82.9 | 72.0 | $8.00 | 96 |
| 2 | Claude Fable 5.1maxAnthropic | 75.3 | 70.8 | $20.00 | 70 |
| 3 |  GPT-6 AstramaxOpenAI | 74.4 | 70.2 | $20.00 | 47 |
| 4 | Claude Fable 5maxAnthropic | 74.1 | 69.1 | $20.00 | 65 |
| 5 | GPT-6.1 SolmaxOpenAI | 72.4 | 69.3 | $4.00 | 56 |
| 6 |  Gemini 4 ArgonhighGoogle | 72.1 | 70.0 | $4.00 | – |
| 7 | Claude Opus 5highAnthropic | 69.2 | 68.3 | $10.00 | 54 |
| 8 | GPT-6 SolmaxOpenAI | 67.6 | 65.6 | $4.00 | 86 |
| 9 | Muse Spark 1.1Meta | 66.6 | 63.1 | $2.00 | 202 |
| 10 | GPT-5.6 SolmaxOpenAI | 65.8 | 67.5 | $8.00 | 74 |
| 11 | Step 5 PreviewStepFun | 65.6 | 62.4 | $1.43 | 87 |
| 12 | Muse SparkMeta | 65.3 | 64.6 | – | – |
| 13 | Kimi K3maxMoonshot AI | 64.7 | 65.5 | $6.00 | 41 |
| 14 | GPT-5.4xhighOpenAI | 64.7 | 64.2 | $5.63 | 91 |
| 15 | GPT-5.6 TerramaxOpenAI | 64.7 | 63.7 | $4.50 | 108 |
Full ranked list (158 models) · Claude Opus 5.5 vs Claude Fable 5.1 · Best for coding agents, with the weighting stated · Methodology
Best LLM for coding: questions
- What is the best LLM for coding in October 2026?
- As of 12 Oct 2026, the best LLM for coding on independent benchmarks is Claude Opus 5.5 (max) by Anthropic (coding score 82.9), ahead of Claude Fable 5.1 (max) (coding score 75.3) and GPT-6 Astra (max) (coding score 74.4). BenchLeader reconciles 210 benchmarks from 42 benchmark publishers and rebuilds the ranking once a day (the run starts at 22:03 UTC).
- Which is the best value?
- Step 5 Preview gives the most BenchLeader Index points per dollar among the top 15 here: 62.4 at $1.43 per million tokens blended, against $8.00 for Claude Opus 5.5.
- What is the best open-weights option?
- Kimi K3 (max) by Moonshot AI is the highest-ranked open-weights model on this list, at #13.
- How is this ranked?
- Ranked on the coding category of the BenchLeader Index: SWE-bench Verified, SWE-Bench Pro, LiveCodeBench, Aider Polyglot and the other coding boards that feed the index, combined. Models need results on at least two coding benchmarks. Every score comes from an independent publisher and links to its source on the model page; self-reported launch numbers are excluded.
Cite as: BenchLeader, “Best LLM for coding (October 2026)”, https://www.benchleader.com/best/llm-for-coding, data as of 12 Oct 2026.