{"jtbdId":"frontier-chat","categoryId":null,"sort":"overall","minConfidence":"low","region":null,"asOf":"2026-10-19","freshness":{"scoreAsOfMin":"2026-09-14","scoreAsOfMax":"2026-10-19","contractAsOf":"2026-10-03","note":"asOf values come from each row's scores.asOf. They are not a live price or latency pull."},"rankContract":{"style":"editorial_weighted","notAnElo":true,"notComparableTo":["lmarena_elo","artificial_analysis_intelligence_index","openrouter_throughput_p50"],"sortMeans":"Higher catalog score first within this JTBD or category. Not cross-category comparable."},"priceSort":{"available":true,"param":"sort=price","direction":"ascending_cheapest_sourced_input_first","coverage":{"considered":9,"withSourcedInputTokenPrice":7,"excludedFromPriceSort":2,"label":"7 of 9 candidates have a matching chat_completion_input price; 2 candidates excluded from sort=price. min sourced input SKU among candidates; not quality-adjusted"}},"unavailableFilters":[{"name":"throughput","reason":"No measured tokens/sec in this catalog. Do not invent TTFT."},{"name":"context_length","reason":"No structured context-window field yet. See research/gaps.md."}],"scoring":{"scale":"0-10","lockInRisk":"higher = more lock-in / worse; overall uses 10-lockInRisk","formula":"JTBD reweight using frontier-chat weights; jtbdScores overrides win"},"results":[{"rank":1,"providerId":"anthropic","slug":"anthropic","name":"Anthropic","tagline":"Depot default for serious coding and production agents. Prefer Sonnet for cost/quality; reserve Opus for hard…","status":"active","categoryIds":["cat-inference-apis"],"regions":["global","us"],"overall":8.41,"scores":{"capabilityFit":9.7,"pricePerformance":6.8,"latencyReliability":8.7,"developerDx":9.2,"privacyPosture":9,"lockInRisk":6.5,"maturity":9.4,"overall":8.41,"kind":"curated_estimate","confidence":"high","asOf":"2026-10-19","sources":["Anthropic pricing: https://www.anthropic.com/pricing","Claude Sonnet 5: https://www.anthropic.com/news/claude-sonnet-5"],"notes":"Depot default for serious coding and production agents. Prefer Sonnet for cost/quality; reserve Opus for hard reasoning. Pair with Bedrock/Vertex if procurement demands cloud wrappers."},"isDepotPick":true,"isRunnerUp":false,"sourcedInputUsdPerMillionTokens":0.1,"priceSort":{"skuKind":"chat_completion_input","unit":"usd_per_million_input_tokens","amountUsd":0.1,"skuId":"anthropic-haiku-55-input-le-100k","sku":"Haiku 5.5 (prompts up to 100K tokens)","comparison":"min sourced input SKU among candidates; not quality-adjusted","usdPerMillionInputTokens":0.1}},{"rank":2,"providerId":"google-ai","slug":"google-ai","name":"Google AI (Gemini)","tagline":"Best value frontier stack and multimodal king. Use Flash for high-volume agent loops; Pro when quality…","status":"active","categoryIds":["cat-inference-apis","cat-media-gen"],"regions":["global"],"overall":8.22,"scores":{"capabilityFit":9.2,"pricePerformance":8.8,"latencyReliability":8.5,"developerDx":8.2,"privacyPosture":8,"lockInRisk":6,"maturity":9.6,"overall":8.22,"kind":"curated_estimate","confidence":"high","asOf":"2026-10-19","sources":["Google AI for Developers: https://ai.google.dev","Gemini API: https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api"],"notes":"Best value frontier stack and multimodal king. Use Flash for high-volume agent loops; Pro when quality matters. Prefer Vertex for enterprise compliance."},"isDepotPick":false,"isRunnerUp":true,"sourcedInputUsdPerMillionTokens":0.3,"priceSort":{"skuKind":"chat_completion_input","unit":"usd_per_million_input_tokens","amountUsd":0.3,"skuId":"google-gemini-35-flash-lite-input","sku":"gemini-3.5-flash-lite","comparison":"min sourced input SKU among candidates; not quality-adjusted","usdPerMillionInputTokens":0.3}},{"rank":3,"providerId":"openai","slug":"openai","name":"OpenAI","tagline":"Default when you want maximum capability and ecosystem glue. Multi-home critical paths behind OpenAI-compat…","status":"active","categoryIds":["cat-inference-apis","cat-media-gen"],"regions":["global","us"],"overall":8.04,"scores":{"capabilityFit":9.6,"pricePerformance":6.2,"latencyReliability":8.8,"developerDx":9.5,"privacyPosture":7.8,"lockInRisk":7.2,"maturity":9.8,"overall":8.04,"kind":"curated_estimate","confidence":"high","asOf":"2026-09-14","sources":["OpenAI GPT-5.6 announcement: https://openai.com/index/gpt-5-6/","OpenAI API: https://platform.openai.com"],"notes":"Default when you want maximum capability and ecosystem glue. Multi-home critical paths behind OpenAI-compat so Anthropic/Gemini remain exit ramps."},"isDepotPick":false,"isRunnerUp":true,"sourcedInputUsdPerMillionTokens":0.1,"priceSort":{"skuKind":"chat_completion_input","unit":"usd_per_million_input_tokens","amountUsd":0.1,"skuId":"openai-gpt-6-luna-short-input","sku":"gpt-6-luna","comparison":"min sourced input SKU among candidates; not quality-adjusted","usdPerMillionInputTokens":0.1}},{"rank":4,"providerId":"azure-openai","slug":"azure-openai","name":"Azure OpenAI","tagline":"Pick when IT already standardized on Azure and needs VNET/private endpoints. Otherwise go direct OpenAI and…","status":"active","categoryIds":["cat-inference-apis"],"regions":["global","us","eu"],"overall":7.73,"scores":{"capabilityFit":9,"pricePerformance":5.5,"latencyReliability":9,"developerDx":7,"privacyPosture":8.8,"lockInRisk":7.8,"maturity":9.5,"overall":7.73,"kind":"curated_estimate","confidence":"high","asOf":"2026-09-14","sources":["Azure OpenAI Service: https://azure.microsoft.com/products/ai-services/openai-service"],"notes":"Pick when IT already standardized on Azure and needs VNET/private endpoints. Otherwise go direct OpenAI and save the cognitive tax."},"isDepotPick":false,"isRunnerUp":false,"sourcedInputUsdPerMillionTokens":null,"priceSort":{"skuKind":"chat_completion_input","unit":null,"amountUsd":null,"skuId":null,"sku":null,"comparison":"min sourced input SKU among candidates; not quality-adjusted","usdPerMillionInputTokens":null}},{"rank":5,"providerId":"openrouter","slug":"openrouter","name":"OpenRouter","tagline":"Best multi-model router for agents that need failover and experimentation. Pin providers in production; don’t…","status":"active","categoryIds":["cat-inference-apis"],"regions":["global"],"overall":7.73,"scores":{"capabilityFit":8.8,"pricePerformance":7.8,"latencyReliability":7.6,"developerDx":9.2,"privacyPosture":6.8,"lockInRisk":4,"maturity":7.8,"overall":7.73,"kind":"curated_estimate","confidence":"high","asOf":"2026-09-14","sources":["OpenRouter: https://openrouter.ai","OpenRouter models: https://openrouter.ai/models","OpenRouter docs: https://openrouter.ai/docs"],"notes":"Best multi-model router for agents that need failover and experimentation. Pin providers in production; don’t treat OpenRouter as your only SLA."},"isDepotPick":false,"isRunnerUp":false,"sourcedInputUsdPerMillionTokens":2,"priceSort":{"skuKind":"chat_completion_input","unit":"usd_per_million_input_tokens","amountUsd":2,"skuId":"openrouter-claude-sonnet-55-input","sku":"anthropic/claude-sonnet-5.5","comparison":"min sourced input SKU among candidates; not quality-adjusted","usdPerMillionInputTokens":2}},{"rank":6,"providerId":"dashscope","slug":"dashscope","name":"Alibaba Cloud Model Studio (DashScope)","tagline":"Catalog dashscope for Alibaba Model Studio / DashScope international Qwen. Complements Moonshot/MiniMax/Z.AI…","status":"active","categoryIds":["cat-inference-apis","cat-media-gen"],"regions":["global","sg","cn","eu","us","jp"],"overall":7.61,"scores":{"capabilityFit":8.6,"pricePerformance":8.2,"latencyReliability":8.4,"developerDx":7.2,"privacyPosture":7,"lockInRisk":5.5,"maturity":8.8,"overall":7.61,"kind":"curated_estimate","confidence":"high","asOf":"2026-09-14","sources":["Model Studio model pricing: https://www.alibabacloud.com/help/en/model-studio/model-pricing","Model Studio overview: https://docs.modelstudio.console.alibabacloud.com/en/model-studio/what-is-model-studio","List models API: https://docs.modelstudio.console.alibabacloud.com/en/model-studio/list-models"],"notes":"Catalog dashscope for Alibaba Model Studio / DashScope international Qwen. Complements Moonshot/MiniMax/Z.AI for CN-origin models with indie-usable intl SKUs. Open-model hosts (Fireworks/Together) still win pure open-weight ops."},"isDepotPick":false,"isRunnerUp":true,"sourcedInputUsdPerMillionTokens":null,"priceSort":{"skuKind":"chat_completion_input","unit":null,"amountUsd":null,"skuId":null,"sku":null,"comparison":"min sourced input SKU among candidates; not quality-adjusted","usdPerMillionInputTokens":null}},{"rank":7,"providerId":"minimax","slug":"minimax","name":"MiniMax","tagline":"Primary indie-usable Chinese multimodal API alongside Moonshot. Prefer Anthropic/OpenAI for coding agents…","status":"active","categoryIds":["cat-inference-apis","cat-media-gen"],"regions":["global","cn","us"],"overall":7.43,"scores":{"capabilityFit":8.4,"pricePerformance":8.8,"latencyReliability":7.8,"developerDx":8.2,"privacyPosture":6.2,"lockInRisk":4.8,"maturity":7.6,"overall":7.43,"kind":"curated_estimate","confidence":"high","asOf":"2026-09-14","sources":["MiniMax PAYG pricing: https://platform.minimax.io/docs/guides/pricing-paygo","MiniMax Token Plan: https://platform.minimax.io/docs/guides/pricing-token-plan","MiniMax platform: https://platform.minimax.io"],"notes":"Primary indie-usable Chinese multimodal API alongside Moonshot. Prefer Anthropic/OpenAI for coding agents; MiniMax when you want one vendor for M3 + cheap TTS/video on intl endpoints."},"isDepotPick":false,"isRunnerUp":true,"sourcedInputUsdPerMillionTokens":0.15,"priceSort":{"skuKind":"chat_completion_input","unit":"usd_per_million_input_tokens","amountUsd":0.15,"skuId":"minimax-minimax-m3-1-flash-in","sku":"MiniMax-M3.1-Flash","comparison":"min sourced input SKU among candidates; not quality-adjusted","usdPerMillionInputTokens":0.15}},{"rank":8,"providerId":"xai","slug":"xai","name":"xAI","tagline":"Durable public rate card — worth A/B vs OpenAI/Anthropic on general chat. X Search now bills per…","status":"active","categoryIds":["cat-inference-apis"],"regions":["us","global"],"overall":7.4,"scores":{"capabilityFit":8.8,"pricePerformance":8,"latencyReliability":7.8,"developerDx":7.8,"privacyPosture":6.8,"lockInRisk":5.5,"maturity":7,"overall":7.4,"kind":"curated_estimate","confidence":"high","asOf":"2026-09-14","sources":["xAI API pricing: https://docs.x.ai/developers/pricing","xAI API docs: https://docs.x.ai","xAI console: https://console.x.ai"],"notes":"Durable public rate card — worth A/B vs OpenAI/Anthropic on general chat. X Search now bills per posts/profiles (live since 2026-09-21 12:00 PT) — model cost against agent search peers carefully. Not the boring default for regulated agents."},"isDepotPick":false,"isRunnerUp":true,"sourcedInputUsdPerMillionTokens":1.25,"priceSort":{"skuKind":"chat_completion_input","unit":"usd_per_million_input_tokens","amountUsd":1.25,"skuId":"xai-grok-43-short-input","sku":"grok-4.3","comparison":"min sourced input SKU among candidates; not quality-adjusted","usdPerMillionInputTokens":1.25}},{"rank":9,"providerId":"zai","slug":"zai","name":"Z.AI (Zhipu GLM)","tagline":"International GLM via z.ai — catalog zai, not a second Zhipu mainland-only SKU. Strong cheap/coding runner…","status":"active","categoryIds":["cat-inference-apis","cat-media-gen"],"regions":["global","cn"],"overall":7.38,"scores":{"capabilityFit":8.2,"pricePerformance":9,"latencyReliability":7.6,"developerDx":8,"privacyPosture":6,"lockInRisk":4.6,"maturity":8,"overall":7.38,"kind":"curated_estimate","confidence":"high","asOf":"2026-09-14","sources":["Z.AI pricing: https://docs.z.ai/guides/overview/pricing","Z.AI docs: https://docs.z.ai","Z.AI: https://z.ai"],"notes":"International GLM via z.ai — catalog zai, not a second Zhipu mainland-only SKU. Strong cheap/coding runner beside DeepSeek/Moonshot; Depot coding pick stays Anthropic."},"isDepotPick":false,"isRunnerUp":true,"sourcedInputUsdPerMillionTokens":0.04,"priceSort":{"skuKind":"chat_completion_input","unit":"usd_per_million_input_tokens","amountUsd":0.04,"skuId":"zai-glm-4-6v-flashx-in","sku":"GLM-4.6V-FlashX","comparison":"min sourced input SKU among candidates; not quality-adjusted","usdPerMillionInputTokens":0.04}}],"quote":"/api/quote?jtbd=frontier-chat","editorialPriorAsOf":"2026-09-14","pricingLastVerifiedAt":"2026-10-27","jtbd":"frontier-chat","jtbdAssumed":false,"assumptionNote":null,"defaultJtbd":"coding-agent","crossCategory":false,"note":"JTBD-scoped board for frontier-chat"}