Top AI models for complex reasoning, logic puzzles, scientific thinking, and multi-step problem solving. Ranked by reasoning benchmarks and analytical capability.
| # | Model | Score | Benchmarks | Input $/M | Output $/M | Speed | TTFT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GPT-5.2 (xhigh) OpenAI | 95 | 100 | $1.75 | $14.00 | 85 | 121.19s |
| 2 | 94 | 98 | $0.50 | $3.00 | 209 | 5.83s | |
| 3 | 94 | 98 | $2.00 | $12.00 | — | — | |
| 4 | GPT-5 (high) OpenAI | 93 | 98 | $1.25 | $10.00 | 103 | 79.99s |
| 5 | Grok 4 SpaceXAI | 92 | 97 | $5.50 | $27.50 | — | — |
| 6 | GPT-5 (medium) OpenAI | 91 | 95 | $1.25 | $10.00 | 88 | 50.95s |
| 7 | GPT-5 Codex (high) OpenAI | 90 | 94 | $1.25 | $10.00 | 169 | 7.83s |
| 8 | GPT-5.2 (medium) OpenAI | 89 | 93 | $1.75 | $14.00 | — | — |
| 9 | 89 | 93 | $10.00 | $50.00 | 67 | 63.44s | |
| 10 | GPT-5.1 (high) OpenAI | 89 | 93 | $1.25 | $10.00 | 89 | 31.09s |
| 11 | GPT-5.1 Codex (high) OpenAI | 88 | 92 | $1.25 | $10.00 | 201 | 4.71s |
| 12 | o3 OpenAI | 88 | 92 | $2.00 | $8.00 | 126 | 6.56s |
| 13 | Claude Opus 4.5 (Reasoning) Anthropic | 88 | 92 | $5.00 | $25.00 | 68 | 10.72s |
| 14 | 88 | 92 | $0.60 | $2.20 | 103 | 0.62s | |
| 15 | Gemini 2.5 Pro Google | 88 | 91 | $1.25 | $10.00 | 142 | 18.86s |
Models are scored using a weighted combination of benchmarks, pricing, and speed metrics relevant to this use case.
Models specifically designed for reasoning (like OpenAI o-series and DeepSeek R1) typically score highest on benchmarks like GPQA, AIME, and HLE. Check the rankings above for the latest results.
For tasks requiring genuine multi-step logic — math proofs, complex analysis, scientific research — yes. For simpler tasks, general-purpose models are more cost-effective.
Chain-of-thought (CoT) is when a model shows its step-by-step thinking process. Some models do this internally (hidden tokens), while others expose it. CoT generally improves accuracy on complex problems but increases token usage.