Find the best AI models for chatbots, customer support, and conversational AI. Ranked by response quality, speed, cost-effectiveness, and latency.
| # | Model | Score | Benchmarks | Input $/M | Output $/M | Speed | TTFT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mercury 2 Inception | 87 | 65 | $0.25 | $0.75 | 907 | 3.76s |
| 2 | 82 | 98 | $0.50 | $3.00 | 180 | 6.33s | |
| 3 | GPT-5 Codex (high) OpenAI | 81 | 94 | $1.25 | $10.00 | 216 | 12.05s |
| 4 | gpt-oss-120B (high) OpenAI | 79 | 82 | $0.15 | $0.60 | 253 | 0.49s |
| 5 | 79 | 87 | $2.00 | $6.00 | 238 | 10.94s | |
| 6 | GPT-5.1 Codex (high) OpenAI | 78 | 90 | $1.25 | $10.00 | 139 | 7.13s |
| 7 | GPT-5.4 mini (xhigh) OpenAI | 78 | 83 | $0.75 | $4.50 | 219 | 3.82s |
| 8 | 78 | 85 | $0.25 | $2.00 | 186 | 6.58s | |
| 9 | Kimi K2 Thinking Kimi | 78 | 88 | $0.60 | $2.50 | 103 | 0.66s |
| 10 | 78 | 89 | $0.60 | $2.20 | 80 | 0.72s | |
| 11 | 77 | 85 | $0.10 | $0.30 | 128 | 1.49s | |
| 12 | gpt-oss-20B (high) OpenAI | 77 | 72 | $0.06 | $0.20 | 316 | 0.41s |
| 13 | 77 | 68 | $0.30 | $0.75 | 370 | 0.55s | |
| 14 | 77 | 88 | $1.25 | $10.00 | 144 | 14.17s | |
| 15 | GPT-5.2 (medium) OpenAI | 77 | 91 | $1.75 | $14.00 | — | — |
Models are scored using a weighted combination of benchmarks, pricing, and speed metrics relevant to this use case.
Look for models with the lowest TTFT (Time to First Token). Smaller, faster models typically respond in under 0.5 seconds, while larger models may take 1-3 seconds.
A typical customer support chatbot handling 1,000 conversations/day at ~2K tokens each costs roughly $5-50/day depending on the model. Cheaper models like DeepSeek can significantly reduce costs.
For simple Q&A and FAQ-style chat, fast cheap models work great. For complex support issues requiring reasoning, use a smarter model or implement a routing system that escalates complex queries.