Part of Best LLM for Chat & Roleplay
Best LLM for a General Assistant
Gemini 4 Argon ranks first for a General Assistant as of October 20, 2026.[1][2][3][4][5][6] Ranks #1 on LMArena's overall text arena (Elo 1524), instruction-following (Elo 1536), and factuality (Elo 1511), with 76% accuracy on SimpleQA Verified and 78.6% on FACTS Grounding. Gemini 3.8 Flash is the next-ranked alternative. It scores 81.41% on LiveBench Instruction Following (#1 of 59), including paraphrasing, simplifying, story generation, and summarization.
About this recommendation
- Updated
- Evidence through
- Sources
- 12
- Revision
- v111
Decision audit
Why this result
Inspect the inputs and the computed order behind the recommendation.
Models screened
24
live candidates
Evaluation feeds
6
task-weighted
Winner coverage
59%
intended feed weight
Largest provider share
3 of 8
Google: Gemini 4 Argon leads the measured task comparison with 2 independent evaluation families. Community volume, release age and usage popularity add no ranking points.
Real-world track record is still developing. The recommendation can lead on independent measurements while practitioner reports accumulate.
Sources evaluated
These are the weights used in scoring. Missing measurements are omitted from each model’s average. A feed with no result for any model released in the last 60 days is stale and does not score until it catches up.
| Evaluation feed | Weight | Winner result | Field measured |
|---|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction FollowingObserved 2026-10-15 · evaluation date not supplied · high effort | 27% | #1 | 24/24 |
| LiveBench Reasoningfailing; last successful check 2026-10-18 | 23% | not measured | 21/24 |
| LiveBench Instruction Followingfailing; last successful check 2026-10-18 | 18% | not measured | 21/24 |
| LMArena TextObserved 2026-10-15 · evaluation date not supplied · high effort | 14% | #1 | 24/24 |
| SimpleQA Verified (Epoch AI)Observed 2026-10-13 · evaluated 2026-10-13 · high effort · standard error 1.40 | 9% | #1 | 23/24 |
| LMArena Text FactualityObserved 2026-10-15 · evaluation date not supplied · high effort | 9% | #1 | 24/24 |
Provider concentration
Each exact model is scored separately; provider identity is not a ranking input.
- Google3 models
- Anthropic2 models
- OpenAI2 models
- Meta1 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.
Google · coverage 59%
#1 SimpleQA Verified (Epoch AI) · #1 LMArena Instruction Following
Google · coverage 100%
#1 LiveBench Instruction Following · #8 SimpleQA Verified (Epoch AI)
Anthropic · coverage 100%
#3 LMArena Text Factuality · #4 LiveBench Reasoning
Meta · coverage 91%
#4 LiveBench Instruction Following · #9 LMArena Text
Google · coverage 100%
#2 LiveBench Instruction Following · #10 SimpleQA Verified (Epoch AI)
Anthropic · coverage 100%
#1 LMArena Instruction Following · #2 LMArena Text Factuality
OpenAI · coverage 100%
#1 LiveBench Reasoning · #2 SimpleQA Verified (Epoch AI)
OpenAI · coverage 100%
#2 LiveBench Reasoning · #3 SimpleQA Verified (Epoch AI)
Task score averages the available, task-weighted measurements. Benchmark positions compare models matched to our catalog. Models measured by at least two independent evaluator families are considered first. Missing tests, practitioner report counts, popularity and release age add no points. Coverage describes evidence breadth, not a probability of correctness. Scores within two points are shown as close under this policy; this is not a statistical confidence interval. When the leading scores are that close, the model measured by more evaluator families ranks first.
- 01
Gemini 4 ArgonGoogle · $2 in / $10 out per M tokens · 1.0M context
Ranks #1 on LMArena's overall text arena (Elo 1524), instruction-following (Elo 1536), and factuality (Elo 1511), with 76% accuracy on SimpleQA Verified and 78.6% on FACTS Grounding.
Best when: Use for everyday factual queries where verified accuracy matters, as it leads SimpleQA Verified at 76% correct.More tips
- Deploy when you need strong instruction adherence across diverse tasks, ranking #1 on LMArena's instruction-following category.
No practitioner reports are linked yet, so no cautions are listed. Absence of reports is not evidence of reliability.
- 02
Gemini 3.8 FlashGoogle · $0.83 in / $4.13 out per M tokens · 1.0M context
Gemini 3.8 Flash scores 81.41% on LiveBench Instruction Following (#1 of 59), including paraphrasing, simplifying, story generation, and summarization.
Best when: Its strongest result for this task is on LiveBench Instruction Following, which measures following detailed instructions exactly. - 03
Claude Fable 5.1Anthropic · $10 in / $50 out per M tokens · 1M context
Claude Fable 5.1 ranks #3 of 111 on LMArena's factuality text view (Elo 1498), where answers are judged for factual accuracy in blind comparison.
Best when: Its strongest result for this task is on LMArena factuality, which measures answering accurately when judged for facts. - 04
Muse Spark 1.3Meta · $1.25 in / $4.25 out per M tokens · 1.0M context
Muse Spark 1.3 scores 78% on LiveBench Instruction Following (#4 of 59), including paraphrasing, simplifying, story generation, and summarization.
Best when: Its strongest result for this task is on LiveBench Instruction Following, which measures following detailed instructions exactly. - 05
Gemini 3.7 FlashGoogle · $0.75 in / $3.75 out per M tokens · 1.0M context
Gemini 3.7 Flash scores 79.93% on LiveBench Instruction Following (#2 of 59), including paraphrasing, simplifying, story generation, and summarization.
Best when: Its strongest result for this task is on LiveBench Instruction Following, which measures following detailed instructions exactly.No practitioner reports are linked yet, so no cautions are listed. Absence of reports is not evidence of reliability.
- 06
Claude Opus 5.5Anthropic · $4 in / $20 out per M tokens · 1M context
Claude Opus 5.5 ranks #1 of 152 on LMArena's instruction-following category (Elo 1536), based on blind human preference votes.
Best when: Its strongest result for this task is on LMArena Instruction Following, which measures following instructions as people judge them. - 07
GPT-6 AstraOpenAI · $10 in / $50 out per M tokens · 1.1M context
GPT-6 Astra scores 92.65% on LiveBench Reasoning (#1 of 59), an objective, ground-truth-scored evaluation refreshed with new questions.
Best when: Its strongest result for this task is on LiveBench Reasoning, which measures multi-step reasoning. - 08
GPT-6.1 SolOpenAI · $2 in / $10 out per M tokens · 1.1M context
GPT-6.1 Sol scores 92.63% on LiveBench Reasoning (#2 of 59), an objective, ground-truth-scored evaluation refreshed with new questions.
Best when: Its strongest result for this task is on LiveBench Reasoning, which measures multi-step reasoning.
Frequently asked
- What is the best model for a General Assistant?
- Gemini 4 Argon ranks first as of October 20, 2026. Ranks #1 on LMArena's overall text arena (Elo 1524), instruction-following (Elo 1536), and factuality (Elo 1511), with 76% accuracy on SimpleQA Verified and 78.6% on FACTS Grounding.[1][2][3][4][5]
- What is the best alternative to Gemini 4 Argon?
- Gemini 3.8 Flash ranks second. Gemini 3.8 Flash scores 81.41% on LiveBench Instruction Following (#1 of 59), including paraphrasing, simplifying, story generation, and summarization.[6]
Sources
- 1
“Within the 152 catalog models matched to this evaluation: Ranks #1 of 152 on LMArena's overall text arena (Elo 1524), based on blind human preference votes.”
LMArena text arena · Benchmark · Oct 15, 2026 - 2
“Within the 152 catalog models matched to this evaluation: Ranks #1 of 152 on LMArena's instruction-following category (Elo 1536), based on blind human preference votes.”
LMArena instruction-following category · Benchmark · Oct 15, 2026 - 3
“Within the 111 catalog models matched to this evaluation: Ranks #1 of 111 on LMArena's factuality text view (Elo 1511), where answers are judged for factual accuracy in blind comparison.”
LMArena text factuality · Benchmark · Oct 15, 2026 - 4
“Within the 69 catalog models matched to this evaluation: Answers 76% of SimpleQA Verified correctly in Epoch AI's independent run (#1 of 69), short factual questions with a single verified answer.”
SimpleQA Verified (Epoch AI) · Benchmark · Oct 13, 2026 - 5
“Within the 44 catalog models matched to this evaluation: Scores 78.6% on FACTS Grounding (#6 of 44), measuring factual support against supplied source material.”
FACTS Grounding · Benchmark · Oct 12, 2026 - 6
“Within the 59 catalog models matched to this evaluation: Scores 81.41% on LiveBench Instruction Following (#1 of 59), including paraphrasing, simplifying, story generation, and summarization.”
LiveBench Instruction Following · Benchmark · Oct 18, 2026 - 7
“Within the 111 catalog models matched to this evaluation: Ranks #3 of 111 on LMArena's factuality text view (Elo 1498), where answers are judged for factual accuracy in blind comparison.”
LMArena text factuality · Benchmark · Oct 15, 2026 - 8
“Within the 59 catalog models matched to this evaluation: Scores 78% on LiveBench Instruction Following (#4 of 59), including paraphrasing, simplifying, story generation, and summarization.”
LiveBench Instruction Following · Benchmark · Oct 18, 2026 - 9
“Within the 59 catalog models matched to this evaluation: Scores 79.93% on LiveBench Instruction Following (#2 of 59), including paraphrasing, simplifying, story generation, and summarization.”
LiveBench Instruction Following · Benchmark · Oct 18, 2026 - 10
“Within the 152 catalog models matched to this evaluation: Ranks #1 of 152 on LMArena's instruction-following category (Elo 1536), based on blind human preference votes.”
LMArena instruction-following category · Benchmark · Oct 15, 2026 - 11
“Within the 59 catalog models matched to this evaluation: Scores 92.65% on LiveBench Reasoning (#1 of 59), an objective, ground-truth-scored evaluation refreshed with new questions.”
LiveBench Reasoning · Benchmark · Oct 18, 2026 - 12
“Within the 59 catalog models matched to this evaluation: Scores 92.63% on LiveBench Reasoning (#2 of 59), an objective, ground-truth-scored evaluation refreshed with new questions.”
LiveBench Reasoning · Benchmark · Oct 18, 2026
Rankings synthesized from community evidence and open benchmarks. See methodology. Not driven by vendor marketing.