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Coding · benchmark vs real usage

Best AI model for coding: benchmarks vs. what developers use

On coding benchmarks, Claude Opus 5 (batch) leads with a coding index of 78. But in real production traffic across file I/O, debugging, code review, and code generation tasks, DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0423 handles the largest share at 27.4%- measured directly from OpenRouter's task-classified traffic, not a benchmark opinion.

  1. #1 DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0423 - 27.4% of coding traffic · coding index 69.1
  2. #2 Z.ai: GLM 5.2 (batch) - 13.7% of coding traffic · coding index 68.8
  3. #3 Xiaomi: MiMo-V2.5 - 13.2% of coding traffic · coding index 56.8
  4. #4 OpenAI: GPT-5.6 Luna (batch) - 11.1% of coding traffic · coding index 71.4
  5. #5 Tencent: Hy3 - 9.4% of coding traffic
  6. #6 DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Pro - 9.4% of coding traffic · coding index 59.4
  7. #7 Google: Gemini 3.6 Flash (batch) - 4.3% of coding traffic · coding index 69.2
  8. #8 Poolside: Laguna S 2.1 (free) - 3.6% of coding traffic
  9. #9 NVIDIA: Nemotron 3 Ultra (free) - 2.2% of coding traffic · coding index 49.3
  10. #10 StepFun: Step 3.7 Flash - 1.7% of coding traffic · coding index 39.6
  11. #11 Claude Opus 5 (batch) - 1.2% of coding traffic · coding index 78
  12. #12 MiniMax: MiniMax M3 (batch) - 1.0% of coding traffic · coding index 58.6
  13. #13 Anthropic: Claude Opus 4.7 (batch) - 0.6% of coding traffic · coding index 73.6
  14. #14 MoonshotAI: Kimi K3 - 0.4% of coding traffic · coding index 76.2
  15. #15 Anthropic: Claude Sonnet 5 (batch) - 0.3% of coding traffic · coding index 71.5
Ranked by real coding-task usage share
#ModelCoding traffic shareCoding index
01DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 042327.4%69.1
02Z.ai: GLM 5.2 (batch)13.7%68.8
03Xiaomi: MiMo-V2.513.2%56.8
04OpenAI: GPT-5.6 Luna (batch)11.1%71.4
05Tencent: Hy39.4%-
06DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Pro9.4%59.4
07Google: Gemini 3.6 Flash (batch)4.3%69.2
08Poolside: Laguna S 2.1 (free)3.6%-
09NVIDIA: Nemotron 3 Ultra (free)2.2%49.3
10StepFun: Step 3.7 Flash1.7%39.6
11Claude Opus 5 (batch)1.2%78
12MiniMax: MiniMax M3 (batch)1.0%58.6
13Anthropic: Claude Opus 4.7 (batch)0.6%73.6
14MoonshotAI: Kimi K30.4%76.2
15Anthropic: Claude Sonnet 5 (batch)0.3%71.5
16OpenAI: GPT-5.6 Terra (batch)0.3%76.7
17Z.ai: GLM 50.2%-
18Anthropic: Claude Haiku 4.5 (batch)0.1%43.9

Coding traffic share is a weighted rollup of OpenRouter's real classified traffic across nine coding-task categories (file I/O, repo scanning, frontend/UI, DevOps config, shell execution, SQL/database, debugging, code review, code generation), weighted by each category's own share of total classified traffic.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best AI model for coding?

On benchmarks, Claude Opus 5 (batch) leads coding tasks with a coding index of 78. In real usage, DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0423 handles the largest share of actual coding traffic (27%).

What model do developers actually use for coding?

DeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0423 handles 27.4% of real coding-task traffic on OpenRouter, measured across file I/O, debugging, code review, and code generation tasks.