293 streaming-capable models ranked for chatbot use cases. Scored with bonuses for function calling, JSON mode, web search, and affordable pricing — the capabilities that matter most for production chatbots.
| # | Model | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | GPT-5.4 ProOpenAI | 91 |
| 2 | GPT-5.2 ProOpenAI | 90 |
| 3 | GPT-5 ProOpenAI | 90 |
| 4 | o3 ProOpenAI | 82 |
| 5 | Claude Opus 4.1Anthropic | 81 |
| 6 | o3 Deep ResearchOpenAI | 74 |
| 7 | Claude Opus 4Anthropic | 76 |
| 8 | Qwen3 VL 30B A3B ThinkingAlibaba | 69 |
| 9 | Qwen3 VL 235B A22B ThinkingAlibaba | 69 |
| 10 | Claude Opus 4.6Anthropic | 71 |
| 11 | Claude Opus 4.5Anthropic | 70 |
| 12 | GPT-5.4OpenAI | 70 |
| 13 | Claude Sonnet 4.5Anthropic | 69 |
| 14 | GPT-5.2OpenAI | 68 |
| 15 | Claude Sonnet 4.6Anthropic | 68 |
| 16 | GPT-5.1OpenAI | 67 |
| 17 | GPT-5.3-CodexOpenAI | 67 |
| 18 | GPT-5.2-CodexOpenAI | 67 |
| 19 | GPT-5OpenAI | 67 |
| 20 | GPT-5 NanoOpenAI | 64 |
| 21 | o1-proOpenAI | 77 |
| 22 | Grok 4.1 FastxAI | 64 |
| 23 | o4 Mini Deep ResearchOpenAI | 66 |
| 24 | Grok 4 FastxAI | 64 |
| 25 | GPT-5.1-Codex-MaxOpenAI | 66 |
| 26 | Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview Custom ToolsGoogle | 68 |
| 27 | Gemini 3.1 Pro PreviewGoogle | 68 |
| 28 | Gemini 3 Pro PreviewGoogle | 68 |
| 29 | GPT-5 MiniOpenAI | 65 |
| 30 | Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite Preview 09-2025Google | 65 |
Streaming shows the AI's response word-by-word, creating a natural "typing" effect. This is essential for chatbots — users expect to see responses appear in real-time, not after a long delay.
Turn your chatbot from a conversational toy into a useful tool. Function calling lets the AI book appointments, look up orders, process payments, and interact with your backend systems.
A chatbot handling 10K conversations/day generates 50-100M tokens/month. At $15/1M tokens that costs $750-1500/month. Budget models under $1/1M bring that down to $50-100/month.
Models with web search can answer questions about current events, look up product information, and provide up-to-date answers — keeping your chatbot accurate without constant knowledge base updates.