OpenAIFrontier
GPT-6 Astra
Complex reasoning, coding, and sustained professional work
- API list price
- $10 in · $50 out
- Get access
- OpenAI API
The useful AI field guide
Make AI
actually useful.
Choose the right AI, understand the cost, and finish a useful first project. Start with what you want to do.
Need help choosing? Ask LLM.how →
Use the cloud whenYou want the frontier now
Run local whenControl matters more
Current frontier snapshot
A short list you can act on.
These are sensible starting points—not permanent winners. Test the best two candidates on work you actually care about.
AnthropicFrontier
Claude Fable 5.1
Long-running agents and difficult reasoning
- API list price
- $10 in · $50 out
- Get access
- Anthropic API
GoogleFrontier
Gemini 3.8 Flash
Fast multimodal work and grounded research
- API list price
- $0.75 in · $3.75 out
- Get access
- Google API
xAIFrontier
Grok 4.6
Coding, agents, and current web/X research
- API list price
- $2 in · $6 out
- Get access
- xAI API
Per 1M text tokens, standard short-context API rates reviewed September 7, 2026. Gemini Flash includes a dated promotion. See the comparison for long-context tiers, promotion dates, and additional charges.
Compare a workload and calculate its cost →Cloud or local?
Use both.
Give each the right job.
Cloud models win when you need the newest intelligence, managed tools, and no hardware maintenance. Local models win when your data should stay close, use is frequent, or you need deep control over the stack.
Compare local setups →Choose cloud first
- You use AI occasionally
- You need the strongest models
- You want web, files, and tools already connected
- You do not want to manage drivers or model files
Choose local first
- You work with sensitive source material
- You generate enough media to resent per-use fees
- You need repeatable, inspectable workflows
- You enjoy owning the system
Follow a complete tutorial
Start with a result you can check.
A sourced research brief
Sample evidence, a decision memo, and a claim-by-claim check.
25–35 minutes →A private knowledge desk
Download a local model and ask questions about three sample files.
35–60 minutes →Meeting notes into action
Extract decisions and owners without inventing a deadline.
Follow the walkthrough →Real things to do
Projects that earn their keep.
The best first project is useful even when the model is imperfect, small enough to inspect, and based on information you understand.
Research brief
Give it a question, a source list, and a claim table. Require citations and a section named ‘What is still uncertain?’
Private document search
Run an open model locally over contracts, notes, manuals, or journals without uploading the originals to a consumer chatbot.
Coding partner
Ask for a plan, a test that reproduces the problem, the smallest fix, and a final review—not just a block of code.
Creative production line
Turn a brief into keyframes, generate variations in ComfyUI, animate the approved frames, then create music and effects.
Meeting to action
Transcribe audio, separate decisions from discussion, draft the follow-up, and route tasks to the right owner.
Personal operating manual
Build a searchable record of your preferences, recurring decisions, checklists, and examples of work you consider good.