Best AI model for web research
The best AI model for web research on current benchmarks is GPT-6 Astra (OpenAI): as of October 19, 2026 it has the highest BrowseComp score TensorFeed tracks, 91.5% (vendor-reported), 0.3 points ahead of Kimi K3 (91.2%, vendor-reported), among 13 models scored. The top four sit within 1.1 points of each other, and every BrowseComp figure is self-reported, so treat that as a near tie. On Humanity's Last Exam (tools), Claude Opus 5.5 leads (67.7%, vendor-reported). Claude Opus 5.5, Claude Sonnet 5.5 and Claude Fable 5.1 have no BrowseComp score yet, so they are not ranked here.
Ranked on BrowseComp. Benchmark data as of October 19, 2026; prices as of October 19, 2026.
BrowseComp: 87.5% (vendor-reported). $2.00 / $12.00 per 1M tokens.
Ranking on BrowseComp
Each score links to its source; vendor-reported and independent figures are labeled and are not interchangeable.
| # | Model | Provider | BrowseComp | Price in / out | TFII | Humanity's Last Exam (tools) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GPT-6 Astra | OpenAI | 91.5%vendor | $10.00 / $50.00 | 83.3 | 57.2% |
| 2 | Kimi K3 | Moonshot AI | 91.2%vendor | $3.00 / $15.00 | 65.1 | 56% |
| 3 | Claude Opus 5 | Anthropic | 90.8%vendor | $5.00 / $25.00 | 83.9 | 63.6% |
| 4 | GPT-5.6 Sol | OpenAI | 90.4%vendor | $4.00 / $20.00 | 74.5 | - |
| 5 | GPT-5.6 Terra | OpenAI | 87.5%vendor | $2.00 / $12.00 | 60.9 | - |
| 6 | Claude Fable 5 | Anthropic | 87.4% | $10.00 / $50.00 | 81.6 | 63.9% |
| 7 | Claude Sonnet 5 | Anthropic | 84.7%vendor | $2.00 / $10.00 | 59.2 | 57.4% |
| 8 | Claude Opus 4.8 | Anthropic | 84.3% | $5.00 / $25.00 | 67.9 | 57.9% |
| 9 | MiniMax M3 | MiniMax | 83.5%vendor | $0.30 / $1.20 | 29.8 | - |
| 10 | GPT-5.6 Luna | OpenAI | 83.3%vendor | $0.20 / $1.20 | 53.2 | - |
| 11 | LongCat-2.0 | Meituan | 79.9%vendor | $0.75 / $2.95 | - | - |
| 12 | Inkling | Thinking Machines | 77.1%vendor | - | 35.7 | 46% |
| 13 | Nemotron 3.5 Lightning | NVIDIA | 36.97%vendor | $0.08 / $0.20 | 56.7 2024 set | - |
Prices are list prices per 1M input / output tokens. TFII is the headline TensorFeed Intelligence Index score; scores marked 2024 set come from older benchmarks and are not comparable with the rest.
Not ranked here yet
These models lead the TensorFeed Intelligence Index but have no published BrowseComp score, so they cannot be placed in this ranking. A missing score is not a low one.
- Claude Opus 5.5 (Anthropic): TFII #1, 97.1
- Claude Sonnet 5.5 (Anthropic): TFII #2, 93.7
- Claude Fable 5.1 (Anthropic): TFII #3, 89.9
How this is ranked
BrowseComp is 1,266 questions with short, checkable answers that are hard to find, so an agent has to chase entangled facts across many pages rather than retrieve one. It is the standard reference for deep-research and agentic-search products.
Every BrowseComp figure is self-reported by the lab that made the model, and scores shift with context strategy (single agent, multi-agent, compaction). A score ranks a whole system, the model plus its tools and context policy, not the bare model.
The full board, scoring notes and score ranges are on the BrowseComp leaderboard. The same scores are free as JSON at /api/benchmarks.
Questions
What is the best AI model for web research?
The best AI model for web research on current benchmarks is GPT-6 Astra (OpenAI): as of October 19, 2026 it has the highest BrowseComp score TensorFeed tracks, 91.5% (vendor-reported), 0.3 points ahead of Kimi K3 (91.2%, vendor-reported), among 13 models scored. The top four sit within 1.1 points of each other, and every BrowseComp figure is self-reported, so treat that as a near tie. On Humanity's Last Exam (tools), Claude Opus 5.5 leads (67.7%, vendor-reported). Claude Opus 5.5, Claude Sonnet 5.5 and Claude Fable 5.1 have no BrowseComp score yet, so they are not ranked here.
Which of the top AI models for web research is cheapest?
Of the five highest BrowseComp scores TensorFeed tracks, the lowest-priced model with a list price is GPT-5.6 Terra (87.5%, vendor-reported), at $2.00 input and $12.00 output per 1M tokens as of October 19, 2026.
Why rank AI models for web research on BrowseComp?
BrowseComp is 1,266 questions with short, checkable answers that are hard to find, so an agent has to chase entangled facts across many pages rather than retrieve one. It is the standard reference for deep-research and agentic-search products.
Why is Claude Opus 5.5 not ranked for web research?
Claude Opus 5.5 has no published BrowseComp score in TensorFeed's data yet, so it cannot be ranked here; a missing score is not a low one. It is 1st on the TensorFeed Intelligence Index's 2026 benchmark set (as of October 19, 2026), and it appears on this page once a BrowseComp score is published.