Best AI for Research & Analysis
Identify the most capable models for deep research, literature review, and complex analysis. Ranked by reasoning benchmarks and context window size for handling dense material.
What to Look For
- Exceptional reasoning and analytical capabilities
- Very large context window (100K+ tokens)
- Strong performance on knowledge benchmarks
- Ability to synthesize information from multiple sources
- Accurate citation and reference handling
Top Recommended Models
Gemini 3.1 Pro
$2.00/M in · $12.00/M out
o3-pro
OpenAI
$20.00/M in · $80.00/M out
GPT-5.2
OpenAI
$8.00/M in · $24.00/M out
| # | Model | Avg Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gemini 3.1 Pro | 93.5 |
| 2 | o3-pro OpenAI | 93.3 |
| 3 | GPT-5.2 OpenAI | 92.9 |
| 4 | Claude Opus 4.6 Anthropic | 92.7 |
| 5 | Kimi K2.5 Moonshot AI | 92.3 |
| 6 | o3 OpenAI | 91.5 |
| 7 | Gemini 3 Pro | 91.3 |
| 8 | GPT-5 OpenAI | 91.0 |
| 9 | Claude Sonnet 4.6 Anthropic | 91.0 |
| 10 | Gemini 3 Deep Think | 89.9 |
| 11 | Claude Opus 4.5 Anthropic | 89.9 |
| 12 | GPT-5.3-Codex OpenAI | 88.9 |
| 13 | DeepSeek V4 DeepSeek | 88.6 |
| 14 | Claude Opus 4 Anthropic | 88.5 |
| 15 | Gemini 2.5 Pro | 88.4 |
| 16 | o1 OpenAI | 88.0 |
| 17 | DeepSeek-V3.2 DeepSeek | 86.4 |
| 18 | GPT-4.5 Preview OpenAI | 86.3 |
| 19 | Qwen3.5 397B Alibaba/Qwen | 86.0 |
| 20 | Qwen3.5 Plus Alibaba/Qwen | 86.0 |
How We Ranked These
Models are ranked by their average benchmark score across all available benchmarks in the relevant categories. For “Research”, we filter models that match specific criteria (such as modality, tier, or benchmark category) and then sort by aggregate performance.
Benchmark data comes from official sources and is updated regularly. Pricing reflects the latest published API rates. We do not accept payment for rankings — placement is determined entirely by benchmark performance.
Why It Matters
Research and analysis tasks demand the most intellectually capable AI models available. Whether you are synthesizing findings from dozens of academic papers, analyzing market trends, or building a comprehensive literature review, you need a model that can reason carefully, cross-reference information, and draw well-supported conclusions. Frontier-tier models consistently outperform others on these demanding tasks.
The most important factor for research use cases is reasoning ability. Models with high scores on reasoning and knowledge benchmarks can follow multi-step logical arguments, identify gaps in evidence, and generate insights that go beyond simple summarization. They can also handle ambiguous or contradictory information gracefully, flagging uncertainties rather than confidently presenting incorrect conclusions.
Context window size is especially critical for research workflows. Analyzing a full research paper, comparing multiple studies, or working through a lengthy dataset requires the model to hold large amounts of information in context simultaneously. Models with 100K+ token context windows allow you to feed in entire documents rather than breaking them into fragments, which improves coherence and reduces the risk of missing important connections between sections.
Compare the top research models side by side
See how Gemini 3.1 Pro, o3-pro, GPT-5.2 stack up against each other across benchmarks, pricing, and capabilities.
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See Top ModelsFrequently Asked Questions
What is the best AI for research?
Based on our benchmark analysis, Gemini 3.1 Pro by Google is currently the top-ranked AI model for research, with an average benchmark score of 93.5. o3-pro and GPT-5.2 are also strong contenders.
How do you rank AI models for research?
We rank models using a combination of benchmark scores, pricing data, and capability analysis. For research, we prioritize exceptional reasoning and analytical capabilities and very large context window (100k+ tokens). Models are sorted by their average benchmark score across relevant categories.
Are open-source models good for research?
Open-source models have improved significantly and can be excellent for research, especially when budget or data privacy are concerns. Among our ranked models, DeepSeek V4 and DeepSeek-V3.2 are strong open-source options.