Cheaper alternatives to Command R+ (08-2024)
Cohere LMArena 1229 $4.38/M on a balanced workload prices as of 2026-08-28
107 models are both better and cheaper, giving up nothing.
Of the 132 models carrying both an independent score and a published price at the same delivery mode, 115 score at least as high as Command R+ (08-2024) and cost no more under at least one workload. 107 match or beat it on every capability we hold — context, maximum output, input modes, tool use and extended reasoning. 8 do not, and every row names what it drops.
Dominance is not a property of a model. It is a property of a model, a capability lens and a workload, and all three are named on every row. Scores are LMArena Elo, used under CC BY 4.0 from the official dataset; prices are blended per million tokens. A higher score is not a drop-in replacement.
This page is built from that comparison and nothing else. When no model is both better and cheaper than Command R+ (08-2024), it is not generated.
Where it holds
| Workload | Command R+ (08-2024) $/M | Better and cheaper | With a trade |
|---|---|---|---|
| Balanced | $4.38 | 99 | 8 |
| Summarise | $2.88 | 107 | 8 |
| Chat | $5.50 | 101 | 8 |
| Code gen | $7.00 | 99 | 8 |
| Agentic | $3.63 | 107 | 8 |
Workload mixes are defined on the methodology page. Cached input is priced at the cached rate, and reasoning tokens at the worse of the reasoning and output rates.
What you would be replacing
| Intelligence | 1229 |
|---|---|
| Context window | 128K |
| Max output | 4K |
| Input modes | text |
| Tool use | yes |
| Extended reasoning | no |
A replacement has to clear every line above, not just the score. Full record for Command R+ (08-2024).
Better and cheaper, nothing given up 107
Each of these matches or beats Command R+ (08-2024) on context, maximum output, input modes, tool use and reasoning, scores at least as high, and costs no more.
| # | Model | Intelligence | $/M | Holds under |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gemini 3.7 Flash Google | 1490.2 +261.2 | $0.750 |
|
| 2 | Qwen3.8 Max Qwen | 1481.9 +252.9 | $3.00 |
|
| 3 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Google | 1482.6 +253.6 | $3.38 |
|
| 4 | Muse Spark 1.1 Meta | 1478.3 +249.3 | $2.00 |
|
| 5 | Gemini 3.6 Flash Google | 1476.5 +247.5 | $1.50 |
|
| 6 | GLM 5.3 Z.ai | 1476.9 +247.9 | $2.15 |
|
| 7 | MiMo-V2.5-Pro Xiaomi | 1465 +236 | $0.544 |
|
| 8 | GLM 5.2 Z.ai | 1465.4 +236.4 | $1.83 |
|
| 9 | GLM 5.1 Z.ai | 1464.1 +235.1 | $1.94 |
|
| 10 | Qwen3.7 Plus Qwen | 1456.2 +227.2 | $0.560 |
|
| 11 | Kimi K2.6 Moonshot AI | 1455 +226 | $1.71 |
|
| 12 | Gemini 2.5 Pro Google | 1457.3 +228.3 | $3.44 |
|
| 13 | Grok 4.5 xAI | 1452.3 +223.3 | $3.00 |
|
| 14 | GPT-5.6 Sol OpenAI | 1454.2 +225.2 | $4.00 |
|
| 15 | Kimi K2.5 Moonshot AI | 1445.2 +216.2 | $0.900 |
|
| 16 | GLM 5 Z.ai | 1445.2 +216.2 | $0.930 |
|
| 17 | Gemma 4 31B Google | 1441.7 +212.7 | $0.152 |
|
| 18 | Qwen3.6 Max Preview Qwen | 1446.3 +217.3 | $2.31 |
|
| 19 | Hy3 Tencent | 1441.2 +212.2 | $0.144 |
|
| 20 | Qwen3.8 27B Qwen | 1440.8 +211.8 | $0.956 |
|
| 21 | GLM 4.6 Z.ai | 1439.8 +210.8 | $0.875 |
|
| 22 | Grok 4.6 xAI | 1443.7 +214.7 | $3.00 |
|
| 23 | DeepSeek V4 Pro 0423 DeepSeek | 1439.2 +210.2 | $1.09 |
|
| 24 | Qwen3.5 397B A17B Qwen | 1438.3 +209.3 | $0.877 |
|
| 25 | Inkling Thinking Machines | 1439.2 +210.2 | $1.73 |
|
| 26 | Qwen3.6 Plus Qwen | 1436.8 +207.8 | $0.731 |
|
| 27 | Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite Google | 1436.5 +207.5 | $0.850 |
|
| 28 | Gemma 4 26B A4B Google | 1434.6 +205.6 | $0.138 |
|
| 29 | GLM 4.7 Z.ai | 1435.3 +206.3 | $0.738 |
|
| 30 | MiniMax M3 MiniMax | 1434.8 +205.8 | $0.525 |
|
| 31 | GPT-5.1 OpenAI | 1441.4 +212.4 | $3.44 |
|
| 32 | Claude Sonnet 5 Anthropic | 1442.3 +213.3 | $4.00 |
|
| 33 | GLM 5V Turbo Z.ai | 1436.8 +207.8 | $1.90 |
|
| 34 | DeepSeek V4 Flash 0423 DeepSeek | 1431.6 +202.6 | $0.101 |
|
| 35 | GPT-5.6 Luna OpenAI | 1428.5 +199.5 | $0.450 |
|
| 36 | GLM 4.5 Z.ai | 1429.4 +200.4 | $1.00 |
|
| 37 | MiMo-V2.5 Xiaomi | 1427.3 +198.3 | $0.175 |
|
| 38 | R1 0528 DeepSeek | 1427.9 +198.9 | $0.912 |
|
| 39 | DeepSeek V3.2 DeepSeek | 1424.6 +195.6 | $0.290 |
|
| 40 | DeepSeek V3.2 Exp DeepSeek | 1424.4 +195.4 | $0.305 |
|
| 41 | Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Instruct Qwen | 1420.9 +191.9 | $0.632 |
|
| 42 | Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507 Qwen | 1419.3 +190.3 | $0.205 |
|
| 43 | DeepSeek V3.1 Terminus DeepSeek | 1419.6 +190.6 | $0.453 |
|
| 44 | Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Instruct Qwen | 1418.6 +189.6 | $0.350 |
|
| 45 | DeepSeek V3.1 DeepSeek | 1419.1 +190.1 | $0.825 |
|
| 46 | Qwen3.5-122B-A10B Qwen | 1417.9 +188.9 | $0.715 |
|
| 47 | Gemini 2.5 Flash Google | 1417.3 +188.3 | $0.850 |
|
| 48 | Mistral Medium 3.5 Mistral | 1420.9 +191.9 | $3.00 |
|
| 49 | Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite Preview Google | 1414.8 +185.8 | $0.563 |
|
| 50 | Qwen3 235B A22B Thinking 2507 Qwen | 1413.8 +184.8 | $0.748 |
|
| 51 | Inkling Small Thinking Machines | 1411.7 +182.7 | $0.637 |
|
| 52 | Qwen3 Max Qwen | 1412.7 +183.7 | $1.56 |
|
| 53 | GPT-5.4 Mini OpenAI | 1412.1 +183.1 | $1.69 |
|
| 54 | Qwen3.5-27B Qwen | 1407.9 +178.9 | $0.536 |
|
| 55 | MiniMax M2.7 MiniMax | 1405.3 +176.3 | $0.525 |
|
| 56 | Step 3.5 Flash StepFun | 1403.8 +174.8 | $0.150 |
|
| 57 | o3 OpenAI | 1409.2 +180.2 | $3.50 |
|
| 58 | GPT-5 OpenAI | 1405.6 +176.6 | $3.44 |
|
| 59 | Qwen3 VL 235B A22B Thinking Qwen | 1400.6 +171.6 | $1.30 |
|
| 60 | Qwen3.5-Flash Qwen | 1397.6 +168.6 | $0.114 |
|
| 61 | Qwen3.5-35B-A3B Qwen | 1395.6 +166.6 | $0.500 |
|
| 62 | Grok 4.3 xAI | 1397.5 +168.5 | $1.56 |
|
| 63 | Claude Haiku 4.5 Anthropic | 1394.9 +165.9 | $2.00 |
|
| 64 | Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 Qwen | 1384.3 +155.3 | $0.084 |
|
| 65 | GLM 4.5 Air Z.ai | 1382.8 +153.8 | $0.310 |
|
| 66 | Solar Pro 4 Upstage | 1376.2 +147.2 | $0.052 |
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| 67 | GPT-4.1 OpenAI | 1382.3 +153.3 | $3.50 |
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| 68 | DeepSeek V3 0324 DeepSeek | 1375 +146 | $0.438 |
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| 69 | GLM 4.6V Z.ai | 1374.7 +145.7 | $0.450 |
|
| 70 | GPT-5 Mini OpenAI | 1373.4 +144.4 | $0.688 |
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| 71 | GPT-5.4 Nano OpenAI | 1372.8 +143.8 | $0.463 |
|
| 72 | Qwen3 Next 80B A3B Thinking Qwen | 1367.5 +138.5 | $0.412 |
|
| 73 | gpt-oss-120b OpenAI | 1365.6 +136.6 | $0.070 |
|
| 74 | Qwen3 235B A22B Qwen | 1366 +137 | $0.796 |
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| 75 | Nova 2 Lite Amazon | 1362.2 +133.2 | $0.850 |
|
| 76 | MiniMax M2.5 MiniMax | 1359 +130 | $0.472 |
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| 77 | Gemma 3 27B Google | 1358.3 +129.3 | $0.172 |
|
| 78 | Mercury 2 Inception | 1357.8 +128.8 | $0.375 |
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| 79 | GLM 4.7 Flash Z.ai | 1352.9 +123.9 | $0.145 |
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| 80 | o4 Mini OpenAI | 1352.5 +123.5 | $1.93 |
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| 81 | MiniMax M2 MiniMax | 1342.1 +113.1 | $0.446 |
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| 82 | Trinity Large Thinking Arcee | 1341.9 +112.9 | $0.378 |
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| 83 | Qwen3 32B Qwen | 1340.1 +111.1 | $0.130 |
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| 84 | MiniMax M1 MiniMax | 1341.9 +112.9 | $0.963 |
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| 85 | GPT-4.1 Mini OpenAI | 1340.5 +111.5 | $0.700 |
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| 86 | Gemma 3 12B Google | 1334.2 +105.2 | $0.075 |
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| 87 | o3 Mini High OpenAI | 1336.6 +107.6 | $1.93 |
|
| 88 | DeepSeek V3 DeepSeek | 1332.6 +103.6 | $0.450 |
|
| 89 | GPT-5 Nano OpenAI | 1320.3 +91.3 | $0.138 |
|
| 90 | Qwen3 30B A3B Qwen | 1316.9 +87.9 | $0.215 |
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| 91 | o3 Mini OpenAI | 1319.2 +90.2 | $1.93 |
|
| 92 | Granite 4.1 8B IBM | 1291.6 +62.6 | $0.063 |
|
| 93 | gpt-oss-20b OpenAI | 1287.8 +58.8 | $0.055 |
|
| 94 | GPT-4o-mini (2024-07-18) OpenAI | 1286.6 +57.6 | $0.263 |
|
| 95 | GPT-4.1 Nano OpenAI | 1284.8 +55.8 | $0.175 |
|
| 96 | Llama 3.3 70B Instruct Meta | 1274.9 +45.9 | $0.710 |
|
| 97 | GPT-4o (2024-08-06) OpenAI | 1282.7 +53.7 | $4.38 |
|
| 98 | Llama 3.1 70B Instruct Meta | 1261 +32 | $0.400 |
|
| 99 | Mistral Large 2407 Mistral | 1266.3 +37.3 | $3.00 |
|
| 100 | Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Google | 1479.5 +250.5 | $1.99 summarise |
|
| 101 | Kimi K3 Moonshot AI | 1476.3 +247.3 | $2.83 summarise |
|
| 102 | GPT-5.4 OpenAI | 1469.6 +240.6 | $2.48 summarise |
|
| 103 | Claude Sonnet 4.6 Anthropic | 1457.6 +228.6 | $2.83 summarise |
|
| 104 | GPT-5.6 Terra OpenAI | 1446 +217 | $1.99 summarise |
|
| 105 | Claude Sonnet 4.5 Anthropic | 1438 +209 | $2.83 summarise |
|
| 106 | GPT-5.2 OpenAI | 1416.5 +187.5 | $1.91 summarise |
|
| 107 | Claude Sonnet 4 Anthropic | 1338.2 +109.2 | $2.83 summarise |
|
Cheaper and higher-scoring, but you give something up 8
These score at least as high and cost no more on the two plotted axes, and lose something that is not on them. Read the last column before switching.
| Model | Intelligence | $/M | Holds under | What you give up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R1 DeepSeek | 1372.7 +143.7 | $1.15 |
|
|
| GLM 4.5V Z.ai | 1333.6 +104.6 | $0.900 |
|
|
| Olmo 3 32B Think Allen AI | 1298.5 +69.5 | $0.237 |
|
|
| Gemma 3 4B Google | 1290.8 +61.8 | $0.063 |
|
|
| Qwen2.5 72B Instruct Qwen | 1269.1 +40.1 | $0.370 |
|
|
| Mistral Small 3 Mistral | 1233.6 tie | $0.058 |
|
|
| Gemma 2 27B Google | 1231.5 tie | $0.650 |
|
|
| Qwen2.5 Coder 32B Instruct Qwen | 1230.2 tie | $0.745 |
|
|
What this compares, and what it leaves out
- Quality is LMArena Elo, used under CC BY 4.0 from the official dataset. The 95% confidence interval on a difference between two scores is about ±10.68 points, so a gap smaller than that is marked tie rather than an improvement — see significance bands.
- 188 further models at this delivery mode carry a price but no independent score. They are absent from the comparison in both directions — unrated is not a zero, and an unmeasured model is neither an alternative nor a worse buy.
- Retired models are never offered as an alternative, and a model only competes against its own delivery mode: batch trades latency for price, so it is not a like-for-like swap.
- Nothing here measures latency, throughput, rate limits or how a model behaves on your prompts. Two models with the same index score are not interchangeable.
- The models that nothing beats on both axes are on the value frontier, and every other model something cheaper beats is listed here.