Recommendation for OpenHands

OpenHands

Our top recommendation for OpenHands, based on the public evidence we track, is OpenAI: GPT-5.6 Sol.[1] Anthropic: Claude Fable 5 is the next-ranked alternative. Use for repository-level bug fixing where SWE-rebench results predict success: it resolves 64.5% of issues, the highest among all candidates.

About this recommendation

Updated
Sep 6, 2026
Evidence through
Sep 6, 2026
Sources
4
Revision
v50

Decision audit

Why this result

Inspect the inputs and the computed order behind the recommendation.

Models screened

20

live candidates

Evaluation feeds

6

task-weighted

Winner coverage

79%

intended feed weight

Largest provider share

3 of 4

Anthropic

Provisional source breadth. 2 citation families and 0 practitioner families support the top result; 0 cautionary threads is retained. The largest citation family contributes 80%.

Sources evaluated

The task sets these weights before any model is scored.

winner: GPT-5.6 Sol
Evaluation feedWeightWinner resultField measured
Berkeley Function Calling
32%
not measured3/20
LMArena Agent
23%
#317/20
price weight
15%
99/10020/20
Terminal-Bench 2.1
15%
#1411/20
SWE-rebench
10%
#415/20
OpenRouter usage
5%
97/10020/20

Provider concentration

Each exact model is scored separately; provider identity is not a ranking input.

Anthropic75%
  • Anthropic3 models
  • OpenAI1 model

Decision table

Every published model is shown in computed order. Practitioner sources are distinct community threads, not the citations repeated in the prose below.

RankModelRelative scoreCoveragePractitioner evidenceStrongest measured reason
01GPT-5.6 SolOpenAI
73
79%no linked practitioner threads#3 LMArena Agent · #4 SWE-rebench
02Claude Fable 5Anthropic
72
79%no linked practitioner threads#1 SWE-rebench · #2 LMArena Agent
03Claude Opus 4.6Anthropic
66
73%no linked practitioner threads#15 LMArena Agent · #16 SWE-rebench
04Claude Sonnet 4.6Anthropic
65
73%no linked practitioner threads#13 SWE-rebench · #21 LMArena Agent

Relative score combines normalized benchmark quality and signal coverage; independent practitioner evidence and freshness are bounded tie-breakers. It is an ordering score, not an absolute quality percentage. The writing model receives this order and cannot change it.

  1. OpenAI: GPT-5.6 Sol ranks #3 of 47 on LMArena's agentic arena (score 9.3), measuring tool-use and multi-step task performance from human preference.

    Best when: Consider only after reviewing the cited caution.

  2. Leads on SWE-rebench with 64.5% resolution rate and ranks second in human preference for agentic tool use.

    Best when: Use for repository-level bug fixing where SWE-rebench results predict success: it resolves 64.5% of issues, the highest among all candidates.

    Tips

    • Use for repository-level bug fixing where SWE-rebench results predict success: it resolves 64.5% of issues, the highest among all candidates.
      Source 1
      Resolves 64.5045045045045% ± 1.4130078505728048 on SWE-rebench (#1 of 13) using tools, a continuously refreshed repository-issue evaluation with configuration recorded separately from the model.
    • Deploy when human-rated agentic performance matters: it scores 10.2 on LMArena's agentic arena, second only across 47 models.
      Source 2
      Ranks #2 of 47 on LMArena's agentic arena (score 10.2), measuring tool-use and multi-step task performance from human preference.
      LMArena agentic arenaOpen original ↗
  3. Mid-tier agentic preference scores without accompanying SWE-rebench data to confirm code execution capabilities.

    Best when: Consider for tool-use tasks where ranking 16th of 47 on LMArena's agentic arena suffices.

    Tips

    • Consider for tool-use tasks where ranking 16th of 47 on LMArena's agentic arena suffices.
      Source 3
      Ranks #16 of 47 on LMArena's agentic arena (score 4.6), measuring tool-use and multi-step task performance from human preference.
      LMArena agentic arenaOpen original ↗

    Watch out for

    • Lack SWE-rebench verification: no evidence confirms repository-issue resolution performance, unlike top-ranked alternatives.
      Source 3
      Ranks #16 of 47 on LMArena's agentic arena (score 4.6), measuring tool-use and multi-step task performance from human preference.
      LMArena agentic arenaOpen original ↗
  4. Lowest-ranked on LMArena's agentic arena with no SWE-rebench data to assess actual code execution performance.

    Best when: Consider only after reviewing the cited caution.

    Watch out for

    • Avoid for agentic coding: it ranks 23rd of 47 on LMArena's agentic arena with the lowest score (0.5) among all candidates.
      Source 4
      Ranks #23 of 47 on LMArena's agentic arena (score 0.5), measuring tool-use and multi-step task performance from human preference.
      LMArena agentic arenaOpen original ↗

Frequently asked

What is an alternative to OpenAI: GPT-5.6 Sol?
Anthropic: Claude Fable 5 is the next-ranked option. Use for repository-level bug fixing where SWE-rebench results predict success: it resolves 64.5% of issues, the highest among all candidates.[1]

Sources

  1. 1

    Resolves 64.5045045045045% ± 1.4130078505728048 on SWE-rebench (#1 of 13) using tools, a continuously refreshed repository-issue evaluation with configuration recorded separately from the model.

    SWE-rebench · Benchmark · Jul 1, 2026
  2. 2

    Ranks #2 of 47 on LMArena's agentic arena (score 10.2), measuring tool-use and multi-step task performance from human preference.

    LMArena agentic arena · Benchmark · Sep 5, 2026
  3. 3

    Ranks #16 of 47 on LMArena's agentic arena (score 4.6), measuring tool-use and multi-step task performance from human preference.

    LMArena agentic arena · Benchmark · Sep 5, 2026
  4. 4

    Ranks #23 of 47 on LMArena's agentic arena (score 0.5), measuring tool-use and multi-step task performance from human preference.

    LMArena agentic arena · Benchmark · Sep 5, 2026

Rankings synthesized from community evidence and open benchmarks. See methodology. Not driven by vendor marketing.