The best open-source large language models (LLMs)

This blog post evaluates eight leading open-source language models (LLMs)—DeepSeek V4 Pro, Gemma 4, GLM 5.1, GPT OSS 120B, Kimi K2.6, MiniMax M3, Nemotron 3 Ultra, and Qwen 3.6—highlighting their strengths for various use cases like agentic coding, long context reasoning, and cost-efficiency. DeepSeek V4 Pro is notable for its innovative attention mechanisms and large context window, making it ideal for complex STEM and agentic coding tasks, while Gemma 4 excels in enterprise fine-tuning and multimodal reasoning with its attention strategies. GLM 5.1 is designed for long-duration coding tasks using a Mixture of Experts architecture to enhance computational efficiency, and GPT OSS 120B offers fast, cost-efficient text generation. Kimi K2.6 is praised for its reliability in coding and multimodal input capability, MiniMax M3 stands out for frontend and UI-related tasks, and Nemotron 3 Ultra is optimized for long-running agentic workflows with a unique Mamba-Transformer structure. Lastly, Qwen 3.6 provides advanced agentic coding and repo-level reasoning with strong multimodal support, showing improved performance over its predecessor. These models are currently deployed in production at Baseten, with each offering unique features that cater to specific AI applications and workload requirements.

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