# Best LLM for Document Parsing > Updated Oct 20, 2026 ยท evidence through Oct 20, 2026. Synthesized from cited community evidence and open benchmarks, not vendor marketing. Canonical page: https://modelmatchbook.com/best/extraction-documents Gemini 3.8 Flash is the provisional first pick for Document Parsing as of October 20, 2026, while independent task measurements are still limited. It ranks #2 of 75 on LMArena Vision's OCR category (Elo 1316), based on blind human preference for reading text out of images. Gemini 3.7 Flash scores within two points, so read the top two as close rather than as a measured gap. Gemini 3.7 Flash is the next-ranked alternative. Ranks #4 on LMArena's vision arena and #5 on OCR, with strong general vision capabilities but slightly behind its sibling on text extraction specifically. [1,2,3] ## 1. Gemini 3.8 Flash https://modelmatchbook.com/models/google/gemini-3.8-flash-20260902 Gemini 3.8 Flash ranks #2 of 75 on LMArena Vision's OCR category (Elo 1316), based on blind human preference for reading text out of images. **Best when:** Its strongest result for this task is on LMArena Vision OCR, which measures reading text out of images and scans. [1] ## 2. Gemini 3.7 Flash https://modelmatchbook.com/models/google/gemini-3.7-flash-20260813 Ranks #4 on LMArena's vision arena and #5 on OCR, with strong general vision capabilities but slightly behind its sibling on text extraction specifically. **Best when:** Deploy for general document understanding tasks that balance OCR with broader image comprehension, given its #4 ranking in vision arena human preference. [2] ## 3. Muse Spark 1.2 https://modelmatchbook.com/models/meta/muse-spark-1.2-20260805 Ranks #6 on both LMArena's vision arena and OCR category, showing consistent performance across visual document tasks. **Best when:** Use as a balanced option for mixed document types where both layout understanding and text extraction matter equally. [5,6] ## 4. Claude Fable 5.1 https://modelmatchbook.com/models/anthropic/claude-fable-5.1-20260831 Claude Fable 5.1 ranks #2 of 34 on LMArena's document arena (score 1513), based on blind preference for document tasks. **Best when:** Its strongest result for this task is on LMArena Document, which measures answering questions about uploaded documents. [7] ## 5. Claude Opus 5.5 https://modelmatchbook.com/models/anthropic/claude-opus-5.5-20260921 Claude Opus 5.5 ranks #6 of 81 on LMArena's vision arena (Elo 1293), based on human preference on image-understanding tasks. **Best when:** Its strongest result for this task is on LMArena Vision, which measures reading images, screenshots, and documents. [8] ## 6. GPT-6.1 Sol https://modelmatchbook.com/models/openai/gpt-6.1-sol-20260929 Ranks #5 on LMArena's vision arena but drops to #15 on OCR, suggesting stronger general image understanding than text extraction specifically. **Best when:** Use for documents with complex visual layouts, charts, or non-text elements where general vision ranking (#5) matters more than pure OCR. [9] **Watch out for:** - Verify OCR output carefully on dense text documents; its #15 OCR ranking indicates weaker performance on text extraction specifically. [10] ## 7. GLM 5.3 Flash https://modelmatchbook.com/models/z-ai/glm-5.3-flash-20260826 GLM 5.3 Flash ranks #24 of 81 on LMArena's vision arena (Elo 1271), based on human preference on image-understanding tasks. **Best when:** Its strongest result for this task is on LMArena Vision, which measures reading images, screenshots, and documents. [4] ## 8. Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite https://modelmatchbook.com/models/google/gemini-3.5-flash-lite-20260721 Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite ranks #26 of 75 on LMArena Vision's OCR category (Elo 1282), based on blind human preference for reading text out of images. **Best when:** Its strongest result for this task is on LMArena Vision OCR, which measures reading text out of images and scans. [11] ## FAQ **What is the best model for Document Parsing?** Gemini 3.8 Flash ranks first as of October 20, 2026. Gemini 3.8 Flash ranks #2 of 75 on LMArena Vision's OCR category (Elo 1316), based on blind human preference for reading text out of images. [1] **What is the best alternative to Gemini 3.8 Flash?** Gemini 3.7 Flash ranks second. Ranks #4 on LMArena's vision arena and #5 on OCR, with strong general vision capabilities but slightly behind its sibling on text extraction specifically. [2,3] **Which open-weight model ranks highest for Document Parsing?** GLM 5.3 Flash is the highest-ranked open-weight model, at #7. GLM 5.3 Flash ranks #24 of 81 on LMArena's vision arena (Elo 1271), based on human preference on image-understanding tasks. [4] ## Sources 1. "Within the 75 catalog models matched to this evaluation: Ranks #2 of 75 on LMArena Vision's OCR category (Elo 1316), based on blind human preference for reading text out of images." (LMArena Vision OCR, https://lmarena.ai/leaderboard) 2. "Within the 81 catalog models matched to this evaluation: Ranks #4 of 81 on LMArena's vision arena (Elo 1295), based on human preference on image-understanding tasks." (LMArena vision arena, https://lmarena.ai/leaderboard) 3. "Within the 75 catalog models matched to this evaluation: Ranks #5 of 75 on LMArena Vision's OCR category (Elo 1308), based on blind human preference for reading text out of images." (LMArena Vision OCR, https://lmarena.ai/leaderboard) 4. "Within the 81 catalog models matched to this evaluation: Ranks #24 of 81 on LMArena's vision arena (Elo 1271), based on human preference on image-understanding tasks." (LMArena vision arena, https://lmarena.ai/leaderboard) 5. "Within the 81 catalog models matched to this evaluation: Ranks #6 of 81 on LMArena's vision arena (Elo 1293), based on human preference on image-understanding tasks." (LMArena vision arena, https://lmarena.ai/leaderboard) 6. "Within the 75 catalog models matched to this evaluation: Ranks #6 of 75 on LMArena Vision's OCR category (Elo 1307), based on blind human preference for reading text out of images." (LMArena Vision OCR, https://lmarena.ai/leaderboard) 7. "Within the 34 catalog models matched to this evaluation: Ranks #2 of 34 on LMArena's document arena (score 1513), based on blind preference for document tasks." (LMArena document arena, https://lmarena.ai/leaderboard) 8. "Within the 81 catalog models matched to this evaluation: Ranks #6 of 81 on LMArena's vision arena (Elo 1293), based on human preference on image-understanding tasks." (LMArena vision arena, https://lmarena.ai/leaderboard) 9. "Within the 81 catalog models matched to this evaluation: Ranks #5 of 81 on LMArena's vision arena (Elo 1294), based on human preference on image-understanding tasks." (LMArena vision arena, https://lmarena.ai/leaderboard) 10. "Within the 75 catalog models matched to this evaluation: Ranks #15 of 75 on LMArena Vision's OCR category (Elo 1297), based on blind human preference for reading text out of images." (LMArena Vision OCR, https://lmarena.ai/leaderboard) 11. "Within the 75 catalog models matched to this evaluation: Ranks #26 of 75 on LMArena Vision's OCR category (Elo 1282), based on blind human preference for reading text out of images." (LMArena Vision OCR, https://lmarena.ai/leaderboard)