The AI landscape in late 2025 has reached a fever pitch. With Google's Gemini 3.0 release on November 18, 2025, the battle for AI supremacy has intensified against OpenAI's GPT-5.1, Anthropic's Claude Sonnet 4.5, and xAI's Grok 4.1. This comprehensive benchmark comparison reveals which model truly dominates across reasoning, coding, multimodal understanding, and real-world utility.
Executive Summary: The New Pecking Order
Gemini 3.0 Pro doesn't just lead—it dominates. Across 20 major benchmarks compared to top-tier models, Google claims 19 first-place finishes (95% dominance) . But benchmarks can be noisy. The real story lies in specific breakthrough categories where Gemini 3.0 achieves genuinely surprising margins.
Graph 1: Overall Benchmark Performance Overview
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┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ AI MODEL BENCHMARK DOMINANCE (2025) │ │ │ │ Gemini 3.0 Pro ████████████████████████████████████████████████ 95% wins │ │ GPT-5.1 ████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ 15% wins │ │ Claude 4.5 ██████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ 20% wins │ │ Grok 4.1 ███████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ 12% wins │ │ │ │ (Based on 20 major AI benchmarks) │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Figure 1: Google Gemini 3.0 Pro's unprecedented 95% win rate across comprehensive benchmark suites. Data source: Google AI/Algorithmic Bridge
Category 1: High-Level Reasoning & Expert Knowledge
The Standout: Humanity's Last Exam
This PhD-level benchmark tests advanced reasoning across 2,500+ expert questions:TableCopy
| Model | Score | Deep Think Mode | Margin vs. GPT-5.1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gemini 3.0 Pro | 37.5% | 41.0% | +11-15 points |
| GPT-5.1 | 26.5% | ~31.6% | Baseline |
| Claude Sonnet 4.5 | Mid-20% | N/A | ~-5 points |
Key Insight: Gemini 3 Deep Think's 41% represents an 11 percentage point jump over GPT-5.1, demonstrating superior reasoning depth .
GPQA Diamond (Graduate-Level Science)
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| Model | Score | Deep Think | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gemini 3.0 Pro | 91.9% | 93.8% | Approaching saturation |
| Claude Sonnet 4.5 | ~77.2% | N/A | Strong second place |
| GPT-5.1 | ~74.9% | N/A | Competitive |
Analysis: At 91.9%, Gemini 3.0 is bumping against the theoretical maximum, suggesting this benchmark may soon be obsolete .
Graph 2: ARC-AGI-2 Performance (The "Oh Wow" Chart)
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┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ ARC-AGI-2: Novel Intelligence Test │ │ (Higher is better - measures true reasoning) │ │ │ │ 50% │ │ │ │ ╔═══════════════════╗│ │ │ ║ Gemini 3 Deep ║│ │ 40% │ ║ Think: 45.1% ║│ │ │ ╚═══════════════════╝│ │ 30% │ ╔═══════════════════╗ │ │ │ ║ Gemini 3 Pro: ║ │ │ │ ║ 31.1% ║ │ │ 20% │ ╔═════════════╗╚═══════════════════╝ │ │ │ │ GPT-5.1: │ │ │ │ │ 17.6% │ │ │ 10% │╔═════╝ │ │ │ │║ Others cluster │ │ │ │║ 0-15% │ │ │ 0% └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────│ │ 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 │ │ Performance % │ │ │ │ Note: 3x gap between Gemini 3 Deep Think and nearest competitor │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Figure 2: ARC-AGI-2 reveals a staggering gap. While competing models cluster between 0-17%, Gemini 3 Deep Think hits 45.1%—a 3x leap that represents years of progress compressed into one release .
Category 2: Mathematics & Algorithmic Reasoning
AIME 2025 (American Invitational Mathematics Examination)
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| Model | Score | With Tools | Real-World Implication |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gemini 3.0 Pro | 95% | 100% | Near-perfect math reasoning |
| GPT-5.1 | ~92% | ~98% | Strong but trailing |
| Claude 4.5 | ~88% | ~95% | Competent |
Breakthrough: Achieving 100% with code execution demonstrates Gemini 3.0's ability to combine reasoning with tool use .
MathArena Apex (Extremely Hard Problems)
- Gemini 3.0 Pro: 23.4% (new state-of-the-art)
- Others: <10% (this benchmark remains highly challenging)
Category 3: Coding & Software Development
SWE-bench Verified (Real-World Bug Fixing)
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| Model | Score | Specialization |
|---|---|---|
| Claude Sonnet 4.5 | 77.2% | Best for debugging |
| Gemini 3.0 Pro | 76.2% | Strong agentic coding |
| GPT-5.1 | ~74.9% | Competitive |
Note: Claude leads narrowly here, but Gemini 3.0's integrated ecosystem gives it an edge in practical deployment .
WebDev Arena (Frontend Development)
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┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ WebDev Arena Elo Ratings │ │ │ │ Gemini 3.0 Pro █████████████████████████████ 1487 │ │ GPT-5.1 ████████████████████████████ 1445 │ │ Claude Sonnet 4.5 ███████████████████████████ 1420 │ │ Grok 4.1 ████████████████████████ 1360 │ │ │ │ (Higher Elo = Better frontend code generation) │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Figure 3: Gemini 3.0 Pro's 1487 Elo rating makes it the top choice for "vibe coding"—transforming natural language into functional applications .
Terminal-Bench 2.0 (Computer Control)
- Gemini 3.0 Pro: 54.2% (operating via terminal)
- Demonstrates superior agentic capabilities for autonomous task completion.
Category 4: Multimodal & Visual Reasoning
MMMU-Pro (Multimodal Understanding)
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| Model | Score | Video Understanding | Chart Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gemini 3.0 Pro | 81.0% | 87.6% | 81.4% |
| GPT-5.1 | ~68% | ~72% | ~70% |
| Claude 4.5 | ~65% | N/A | N/A |
Advantage: Gemini's native multimodality (not bolted-on) shows in video and chart comprehension .
ScreenSpot-Pro (UI Understanding)
- Gemini 3.0 Pro: 72.7% (state-of-the-art)
- Critical for agentic AI that needs to interact with computer interfaces.
Graph 3: Price vs. Performance Intelligence Index
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Cost per Million Tokens (USD)
↑
$15│
│ Claude 4.5 (Expensive, High Performance) ●
$12│ ● GPT-5.1
│
$9 │
│ ● Gemini 3.0 Pro (Sweet Spot)
$6 │
│
$3 │ ● Grok 4.1 (Premium Pricing)
│
$0 └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────→
60 70 80 90 100
Intelligence Index Score
(Higher = Better)
● Model Position = Price vs. Capability
● Ideal Zone = High Score, Low Cost (Bottom-Right)
Figure 4: Price-performance analysis. Gemini 3.0 Pro delivers top-tier performance at $2/$12 per million tokens, significantly undercutting Claude 4.5 ($3/$15) while outperforming it on most benchmarks .
Category 5: Factual Accuracy & Hallucination Reduction
SimpleQA Verified
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| Model | Score | Gap vs. Gemini |
|---|---|---|
| Gemini 3.0 Pro | 72.1% | Baseline |
| GPT-5.1 | ~32% | -40% gap |
| Claude 4.5 | ~35% | -37% gap |
Critical: This 40% gap in factuality is Gemini 3.0's most impressive surprise—it's not just smarter, but more trustworthy .
Category 6: Long-Context & Agentic Capabilities
Context Window Comparison
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| Model | Max Tokens | Output Tokens | Real-World Use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gemini 3.0 Pro | 2M (1M std) | 64K | Full book analysis, codebases |
| GPT-5.1 | 196K | 32K | Large documents |
| Claude 4.5 | 200K | 32K | Competitive |
| Grok 4.1 | 2M | 64K | Similar to Gemini |
Vending-Bench 2 (Long-Horizon Business Planning)
- Gemini 3.0 Pro: ~$5,478 net worth (272% higher than GPT-5.1)
- Claude Sonnet 4.5: ~$3,839
- GPT-5.1: ~$2,000
This measures consistent tool usage and decision-making over a simulated year—Gemini's agentic capabilities are unmatched .
Model-by-Model 2025 AI Comparison
Google Gemini 3.0 Pro
Best For: General-purpose AI, multimodal tasks, factual accuracy, agentic workflows
- Pros: Leads 19/20 benchmarks, best-in-class reasoning, 40% better factuality, superior video understanding, competitive pricing
- Cons: Slightly behind Claude in SWE-bench (76.2% vs 77.2%)
- Price: $2/million input, $12/million output tokens
- Free Tier: Yes (Google AI Studio)
OpenAI GPT-5.1
Best For: Chat applications, cost-sensitive projects
- Pros: Lowest cost ($1.25/$10), strong overall performance, established ecosystem
- Cons: Lagging in factuality (-40%), moderate reasoning scores, smaller context window
- Price: $1.25/million input, $10/million output tokens
Anthropic Claude Sonnet 4.5
Best For: Debugging, safety-critical applications
- Pros: Best SWE-bench score (77.2%), strong safety alignment
- Cons: Highest cost ($3/$15), lagging multimodal capabilities, lowest factuality
- Price: $3/million input, $15/million output tokens
xAI Grok 4.1
Best For: Emotional intelligence, social media integration
- Pros: Highest EQ Bench (1,586 Elo), 2M context window, strong empathy
- Cons: Moderate benchmark scores, premium pricing, limited enterprise features
- Price: $3/million input, $15/million output tokens
Real-World Use Case Recommendations (2025)
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| Use Case | Top Choice | Runner-Up | Reasoning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Enterprise Knowledge Base | Gemini 3.0 Pro | Claude 4.5 | 2M context + 72.1% factuality |
| Full-Stack Development | Gemini 3.0 Pro | Claude 4.5 | 1487 Elo WebDev + agentic coding |
| Scientific Research | Gemini 3 Deep Think | GPT-5.1 | 45.1% ARC-AGI-2, 93.8% GPQA |
| Customer Service Chat | Grok 4.1 | GPT-5.1 | 1,586 Elo empathy score |
| Video Analysis | Gemini 3.0 Pro | GPT-5.1 | 87.6% Video-MMMU |
| Budget-Conscious | GPT-5.1 | Gemini 3.0 | $10/M out vs $12/M out |
Pricing & Accessibility: 2025 Market Reality
Cost Per Million Tokens (Prompts ≤200K)
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Input Token Cost (Lower is Better) ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ GPT-5.1 $1.25 ████████ │ │ Gemini 3.0 Pro $2.00 ██████████████ │ │ Claude 4.5 $3.00 ████████████████████ │ │ Grok 4.1 $3.00 ████████████████████ │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Output Token Cost (Lower is Better) ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ GPT-5.1 $10.00 ████████████ │ │ Gemini 3.0 Pro $12.00 ██████████████ │ │ Claude 4.5 $15.00 ████████████████ │ │ Grok 4.1 $15.00 ████████████████ │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Figure 5: Token pricing comparison as of November 2025. Gemini 3.0 Pro offers the best performance-per-dollar ratio, while GPT-5.1 is the budget option .
Free Access Tiers
- Gemini 3.0: Available via Google AI Studio (rate-limited)
- GPT-5.1: Limited free tier through OpenAI Playground
- Claude 4.5: No free tier (API only)
- Grok 4.1: Free with X Premium subscription
The Verdict: 2025 AI Hierarchy
Tier 1: The All-Rounder
🥇 Google Gemini 3.0 Pro – Dominates benchmarks, best multimodal, highest factuality, competitive pricing. The clear winner for most applications.
Tier 2: The Specialists
🥈 Claude Sonnet 4.5 – Best for debugging and safety-first enterprises 🥉 GPT-5.1 – Best for cost-conscious developers and chat applications
Tier 3: The Niche Player
Grok 4.1 – Best for social media and empathy-driven interactions
Emergent Capability: The ARC-AGI-2 Signal
The 45.1% score on ARC-AGI-2 for Gemini 3 Deep Think isn't just a number—it's a paradigm shift. While other models cluster at 0-17%, Gemini's 3x leap suggests fundamental advances in abstract reasoning .
"There are years of progress piled up between 0% and 15%. And then, there comes Google, reaching 45%. That's just crazy; you don't see a 3x leap in percentage points in an AI benchmark these days." – The Algorithmic Bridge
This gap indicates Gemini 3.0 may be approaching a different class of intelligence, particularly in novel problem-solving scenarios that don't rely on memorized training data.
Final Recommendations for 2025-2026
For Enterprises: Adopt Gemini 3.0 Pro for its reliability (72.1% factuality) and massive context window. The 40% reduction in hallucinations alone justifies migration.For Developers: Use Gemini 3.0 for agentic coding (76.2% SWE-bench) and Claude 4.5 for debugging (77.2% SWE-bench). Budget projects should start with GPT-5.1.For Researchers: Gemini 3 Deep Think is unmatched for scientific reasoning (93.8% GPQA Diamond, 45.1% ARC-AGI-2).For Startups: GPT-5.1 offers the lowest cost entry point, but Gemini 3.0's free tier and superior performance per dollar make it the smarter long-term choice.
Data Sources & Methodology
All benchmark data sourced from:
- Google AI Official Blog
- Google Model Card & Technical Reports
- Max Productive AI Analysis
- Vellum AI Benchmark Explanations
- Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index
- Clarifai Model Comparison
Benchmark Limitations: Scores are proxies. Real-world testing with your specific use case is essential. Prices and performance may change as models are updated.Last Updated: December 2025
Next Steps: Try Them Yourself
- Gemini 3.0: Visit Google AI Studio (free tier available)
- GPT-5.1: Access via OpenAI API or ChatGPT
- Claude 4.5: Available through Anthropic API
- Grok 4.1: Integrated with X platform
The benchmark numbers are clear, but the best AI for you is the one that solves your specific problem. Run your own evaluation—Gemini 3.0's free tier makes it the logical starting point.