benchr
Release Timeline · Updated July 13, 2026
AI model release timeline
Every major frontier and open-weight model release, newest first. Dates, pricing, and the key thing that changed. Updated same-day when new models ship.
2026
July 9, 2026
Meta Muse Spark 1.1
Preview
Meta
Public preview through Meta Model API. Meta describes a 1M-token multimodal model for creative and long-context workflows. No official public API price was posted at launch, so benchr records the release in model-figures.json but does not rank it in the pricing tool yet.
July 8, 2026
Grok 4.5
Frontier
xAI · Pricing →
xAI API model
grok-4.5. $2 input, $6 output, and $0.50 cached input per 1M tokens; 500K context. xAI has not published benchmark tables or max-output limits for this model yet.
July 1, 2026
GPT-5.6 — Sol, Terra, Luna
Frontier
OpenAI · Coverage →
Generally available since July 9, 2026. OpenAI lists Sol, Terra, and Luna in the API changelog, models page, and pricing page. Sol: $5/$30 per 1M, 1.05M context, 128K output, API
gpt-5.6-sol. Terra is $2.50/$15 and Luna is $1/$6; both now list the same 1.05M context and 128K max output.
July 1, 2026
Claude Sonnet 5
Frontier
Anthropic · Coverage →
$2/$10 per 1M through August 31, 2026, then $3/$15 from September 1 (cached $0.20 intro / $0.30 standard; batch at 50% off). 1M context, 128K output — double Sonnet 4.6's 64K. Second Mythos-class-architecture model; adaptive thinking always on; safety classifiers fall back to Opus 4.8 on cyber/bio/distillation requests. SWE-bench Verified 89.4% edges out Opus 4.8's 88.6%; GPQA Diamond 92.0% (Opus 4.8 still leads at 93.6%). API:
claude-sonnet-5.
July 1, 2026
Claude Fable 5 — restored
Anthropic · Coverage →
The US export-control suspension in place since June 12 was lifted for all customers; AWS restored Bedrock access the same day — the same day Anthropic launched Claude Sonnet 5. Pricing and specs unchanged: $10/$50 per 1M, 1M context, 128K output. Mythos 5 remains Project-Glasswing-only, unaffected by this restoration.
June 30, 2026
Gemini Omni Flash Preview & Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image
Google
Omni Flash Preview adds text/image/video/audio input plus short video output with a 1,048,576-token context window. Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Image is a GA image model with 65,536-token context and 4,096-token max output. Both are tracked in model-figures.json; media pricing is kept outside the ranked chat/coding model table.
June 26, 2026 (preview)
GPT-5.6 — Sol, Terra, Luna
Frontier
OpenAI · Coverage →
Announced $5/$30 (Sol), $2.50/$15 (Terra), $1/$6 (Luna) per 1M during a limited preview to about 20 government-approved partners. The model family became generally available on July 9, 2026; see the July entry above for live API pricing and specs.
June 16, 2026
GLM-5.2
Z.AI · Pricing →
1M-token context, 128K max output. Standard API pricing is $1.40 input, $4.40 output, and $0.26 cache-hit input per 1M tokens. Added to the ranked pricing and comparison data.
June 9, 2026
Claude Fable 5 & Claude Mythos 5
Frontier
Anthropic · Coverage →
$10/$50 per 1M tokens. 1M context, 128K output. First Mythos-class model in general availability; safety classifiers fall back to Opus 4.8 on cyber/bio/distillation requests. Mythos 5 is Glasswing-only. API:
claude-fable-5. Suspended for all customers June 12, 2026 under a US export-control order; restored July 1, 2026 — see entry above.
June 1, 2026
MiniMax M3
MiniMax · Pricing →
1M-context hosted text model. Standard tier is $0.30 input, $1.20 output, and $0.06 cache-hit input per 1M tokens, with long-context and priority tiers priced separately.
May 28, 2026
Claude Opus 4.8
Frontier
Anthropic · Review →
$5/$25 per 1M tokens standard; $10/$50 Fast Mode. SWE-Bench Pro 69.2% (up from 64.3% on 4.7). Major alignment and honesty improvements. API:
claude-opus-4-8.
May 19, 2026 (GA)
Gemini 3.5 Flash
Frontier
Google · Review →
$1.50/$9.00 per 1M; free API tier. 1M token context, 64K output. 289 tok/s throughput — one of the fastest frontier models. Announced at Google I/O 2026.
April 2026
Claude Opus 4.7
Frontier
Anthropic · Review →
$5/$25 per 1M. SWE-Bench Pro 64.3%. Now superseded by 4.8 but still fully supported.
April 24, 2026
GPT-5.5
Frontier
OpenAI · Review →
$5/$30 per 1M standard; $2.50/$15 batch. 1.05M context, 128K output. Built for agentic coding and computer use. Successor to GPT-5.
April 24, 2026
DeepSeek V4-Pro & V4-Flash
Open (MIT)
DeepSeek · Review →
V4-Pro: $0.435/$0.87 per 1M; cache hit $0.003625. V4-Flash: $0.14/$0.28 — cheapest commercial API. 1M context, 384K output. MIT license. Self-hosted or API.
April 22, 2026
Qwen 3.6
Open (Apache 2.0)
Alibaba · Review →
Apache 2.0. Dense 27B and MoE 35B-A3B variants. 262K native context (~1M extended). Strong multilingual. Self-hosted — no verified per-token API price.
April 20, 2026
Kimi K2.6
Open (Modified MIT)
Moonshot AI · Review →
$0.95/$4.00 per 1M; cached $0.16. 256K context. 1T total / 32B active MoE. Good multilingual performance.
April 2026
Grok 4.3
Frontier
xAI · Review →
$1.25/$2.50 per 1M; cached $0.20. 1M context. Real-time data via X. Very cheap output tokens for agentic loops.
April 2026
Mistral Medium 3.5
Open (Modified MIT)
Mistral
$1.50/$7.50 per 1M. Public preview. 256K context. Multimodal + reasoning. Self-host on 4 GPUs.
March 10, 2026
Grok 4.20
Frontier
xAI
$2/$6 per 1M. 2M context — the largest of any flagship at release. Public beta from February 17; exited beta mid-March with Auto/Fast/Expert/Heavy modes. Superseded by Grok 4.3 in April.
March 5, 2026
GPT-5.4
Frontier
OpenAI
$2.50/$15 per 1M; cached $0.25. Context up to 1M, 128K output. Built-in computer use (OSWorld-Verified 75%); tuned for finance work and launched alongside ChatGPT for Excel. Thinking + Pro first, mini and nano on March 17. Superseded as flagship by GPT-5.5.
March 3, 2026
GPT-5.3 Instant
OpenAI
ChatGPT default model from March 3 to May 5, 2026, when GPT-5.5 Instant replaced it. Paid users keep it roughly three months from that date.
February 2026
Gemini 3.1 Pro
Frontier
Google · Review →
$2/$12 per 1M (above 200K: $4/$18). 1M context, 64K output. Deepest reasoning in the Gemini family. Replaced Gemini 3 Pro.
February 16, 2026
Qwen 3.5
Open
Alibaba
Flagship 397B MoE, 17B active; family of nine sizes, most Apache 2.0. Native 262K context. Superseded by Qwen3.6 in April.
February 5, 2026
Claude Opus 4.6
Frontier
Anthropic
$5/$25 per 1M. First Opus with the 1M-token context window (beta at launch), 128K output. Superseded by Opus 4.7 in April, then 4.8 in May; still available as a legacy model.
2025
December 2, 2025
Mistral Large 3
Open (Apache 2.0)
Mistral · Review →
$0.50/$1.50 per 1M. Apache 2.0 — true open commercial license. 675B total / 41B active MoE. 256K context. API id: mistral-large-2512.
November 2025
Claude Haiku 4.5
Small
Anthropic · Review →
$1/$5 per 1M. 200K context. 145 tok/s. High-volume routing and classification tier.
September 2025
Claude Sonnet 4.6
Mid
Anthropic · Review →
$3/$15 per 1M. 200K context. 95 tok/s. The production daily-driver between Haiku and Opus.
August 7, 2025
GPT-5
Frontier
OpenAI · Review →
$1.25/$10 per 1M. 1.05M context, 128K output. The everyday OpenAI production pick at a rational price point.
April 5, 2025
Llama 4 Scout & Maverick
Open (Community)
Meta · Review →
Free under Meta's Community License. Scout: 10M token context, 17B/109B; Maverick: 1M context, 17B/400B, 128 experts. Self-hosted at no API cost.
January 2025
Phi-4
Small
Microsoft
MIT license. 14B parameter dense model. 16K context. Built for edge/local inference. Punches above its weight on MMLU and math.
Frequently asked questions
What is the newest AI model in 2026?
"acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "As of July 13, 2026, the most recent confirmed releases include OpenAI GPT-5.6 general availability on July 9, Anthropic Claude Sonnet 5 on July 1, and the restoration of Claude Fable 5 on July 1. Gemini 3.5 Pro has not been released." }Which AI models were released in 2026?
In 2026 (through July 13): GPT-5.6 general availability (July 9), Claude Sonnet 5 and Claude Fable 5 restoration (July 1), GPT-5.6 preview (June 26), Qwen-AgentWorld (June 24), Mistral OCR 4 (June 23), Claude Fable 5 and Mythos 5 (June 9), Claude Opus 4.8 (May 28), Gemini 3.5 Flash (May 19), GPT-5.5 (April 24), DeepSeek V4-Pro and Flash (April 24), and the earlier spring releases listed above.