Best LLM for coding (October 2026)
As of 21 Oct 2026, the best LLM for coding on independent benchmarks is Claude Opus 5.5 (max) by Anthropic (coding score 82.2), ahead of Claude Fable 5.1 (max) (coding score 75.0) and GPT-6 Astra (max) (coding score 74.0).
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.
161 models qualify · data as of 21 Oct 2026 · rebuilt once a day (the run starts at 22:03 UTC)
Claude Opus 5.5 max#1 here: coding score 82.2Best value
Muse Spark 1.1 most index points per dollar among the top 15 (62.9 at $2.00/M)Best open weights
Kimi K3 maxhighest-ranked model here you can run yourself (#15)Fastest of the top 15 Muse Spark 1.1 236 output tokens per secondHead to head: Claude Opus 5.5 vs Claude Fable 5.1 (#1 vs #2) · Claude Opus 5.5 vs GPT-6 Astra (#1 vs #3) · Claude Fable 5.1 vs GPT-6 Astra (#2 vs #3)
| # | Model | Coding score | Index | Price $/M | Speed tok/s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Claude Opus 5.5maxAnthropic | 82.2 | 72.7 | $8.00 | 95 |
| 2 | Claude Fable 5.1maxAnthropic | 75.0 | 70.6 | $20.00 | 69 |
| 3 |  GPT-6 AstramaxOpenAI | 74.0 | 70.6 | $20.00 | 64 |
| 4 | Claude Fable 5maxAnthropic | 73.8 | 69.4 | $20.00 | 67 |
| 5 | GPT-6.1 SolmaxOpenAI | 72.3 | 70.0 | $4.00 | 55 |
| 6 |  Gemini 4 ArgonhighGoogle | 72.2 | 71.0 | $4.00 | 83 |
| 7 | Muse Wonder FullmaxMeta | 72.2 | 70.7 | – | – |
| 8 | Claude Opus 5maxAnthropic | 70.3 | 68.9 | $10.00 | 54 |
| 9 | GPT-6 SolmaxOpenAI | 67.3 | 66.6 | $4.00 | 118 |
| 10 | Muse Spark 1.1Meta | 66.4 | 62.9 | $2.00 | 236 |
| 11 | Muse WondermaxMeta | 66.2 | 67.5 | $8.00 | 161 |
| 12 | GPT-5.6 SolmaxOpenAI | 65.9 | 68.0 | $8.00 | 84 |
| 13 | Muse SparkMeta | 65.1 | 64.4 | – | – |
| 14 | GPT-5.6 TerramaxOpenAI | 65.0 | 64.4 | $4.50 | 133 |
| 15 | Kimi K3maxMoonshot AI | 64.6 | 64.9 | $6.00 | 42 |
Full ranked list (161 models) · Claude Opus 5.5 vs Claude Fable 5.1 · Best for coding agents, with the weighting stated · Methodology · the LLM benchmarks behind this ranking
Best LLM for coding: questions
- What is the best LLM for coding in October 2026?
- As of 21 Oct 2026, the best LLM for coding on independent benchmarks is Claude Opus 5.5 (max) by Anthropic (coding score 82.2), ahead of Claude Fable 5.1 (max) (coding score 75.0) and GPT-6 Astra (max) (coding score 74.0). BenchLeader reconciles 229 benchmarks from 43 benchmark publishers and rebuilds the ranking once a day (the run starts at 22:03 UTC).
- Which is the best value?
- Muse Spark 1.1 gives the most BenchLeader Index points per dollar among the top 15 here: 62.9 at $2.00 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 #15.
- 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 21 Oct 2026.