Best LLMs for Math (2026)
Large language models best suited for mathematical reasoning, equation solving, proof writing, and quantitative analysis — ranked on MATH, AMC, and AIME benchmarks.
Quick Answer
The best LLM for math in 2026 is o3 — it achieves a gold-medal level score on IMO 2024 problems and leads AIME 2024 at 96.7%, making it the first LLM to genuinely surpass competition math. DeepSeek R1 is the best open-weight alternative: it matches o3-mini on MATH-500 (97.3%) at a fraction of the cost, and is MIT-licensed for self-hosting.
Why o3 is Best for Math
o3 leads our math rankings with gold-medal level performance on competition math benchmarks including AIME and IMO-level problems. Its reasoning chain approach — thinking through problems step by step before committing to an answer — dramatically reduces arithmetic errors and logical mistakes compared to standard auto-regressive generation. This makes it the strongest choice for any quantitative task requiring multi-step reasoning.
Cost Estimate
For a typical math reasoning workload (~20M tokens/month, 70% input / 30% output), the cheapest qualifying model (DeepSeek R1) costs approximately $24.80/month. The most capable model may cost more but delivers higher quality results.
Price vs Quality for Math
Top 5 Models Compared
| Rank | Model | Provider | Input $/M | Output $/M | Arena ELO | Speed (tok/s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | o3 | OpenAI | $10.00 | $40.00 | 1340 | 15 |
| #2 | o4-mini | OpenAI | $1.10 | $4.40 | 1260 | 105 |
| #3 | DeepSeek R1 | DeepSeek | $0.700 | $2.50 | 1310 | 45 |
| #4 | Gemini 2.5 Pro | $1.25 | $10.00 | 1430 | 70 | |
| #5 | Claude Opus 4 | Anthropic | $5.00 | $25.00 | 1504 | 50 |
Last updated April 13, 2026
Best LLM for Math — Side-by-Side (2026)
Six models compared on MATH-500 pass rate, AIME 2024, GPQA science reasoning, native code execution for numerical work, and API price.
| Model | MATH-500 | AIME 2024 | GPQA | Code Exec | Input / Output $/M |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| o3 | ~96% | 96.7% | 94% | Via tools | $10 / $40 |
| o4-mini | ~93% | ~93% | 60% | Via tools | $1.10 / $4.40 |
| DeepSeek R1 | 97.3% | ~79.8% | 72% | No | $0.55 / $2.19 |
| Gemini 2.5 Pro | ~90.5% | ~85% | 74% | Native | $1.25 / $10 |
| Claude Opus 4 | ~83% | ~70% | 83.1% | Via tools | $15 / $75 |
| GPT-4o | 76.6% | ~40% | 53.6% | Native | $2.50 / $10 |
Benchmark scores current as of April 13, 2026. MATH-500 is a 500-problem subset of the Hendrycks MATH benchmark.
The Right Math LLM for Your Use Case
Best for Competition Math (AIME/Olympiad)
o3
Gold-medal level performance on IMO 2024 problems and 96.7% on AIME 2024 — the first LLM to solve competition math at the level of elite human competitors.
Best Budget Math LLM
DeepSeek R1
97.3% on MATH-500 at $0.55/$2.19 per million tokens — the most math performance per dollar of any model. MIT-licensed for self-hosting on a single H100.
Best for Applied Math + Code
Gemini 2.5 Pro
Strong MATH benchmark scores combined with native code execution — the best combination for numerical analysis, optimization problems, and applied statistics where you need to run the computation.
Best Cost-Efficient Reasoning
o4-mini
~93% on MATH-500 at $1.10/$4.40 per million tokens — significantly cheaper than o3 with only slightly lower math performance. The sweet spot for high-volume math applications.
Best for Graduate-Level STEM
Claude Opus 4
Leads GPQA at 83.1% — the graduate-level science reasoning benchmark covering physics, chemistry, and biology. Better at multi-disciplinary STEM reasoning than pure math-focused models.
Frequently Asked — Best LLM for Math
- Which LLM is best for math in 2026?
- o3 is the best LLM for math in 2026 — it achieves a gold-medal level performance on IMO 2024 problems and leads AIME 2024 at 96.7%, marking the first time an LLM has genuinely surpassed competition math. DeepSeek R1 is the best open-weight alternative: it matches o3-mini on MATH-500 (97.3%) at a fraction of the cost and is MIT-licensed for self-hosting.
- Can ChatGPT solve math problems?
- GPT-4o solves most undergraduate-level math problems reliably, scoring 76.6% on the MATH benchmark (competition-level problems). For basic calculus, algebra, statistics, and probability, GPT-4o is more than sufficient. For competition math (AMC, AIME, Olympiad level), you need a reasoning model: o3, o4-mini, or DeepSeek R1. For applied math and numerical computation, GPT-4o with Code Interpreter is the strongest because it can run Python/numpy and verify results.
- What is the MATH benchmark and which LLM leads?
- The MATH benchmark (Hendrycks et al.) contains 12,500 competition mathematics problems across 7 difficulty levels — from basic algebra to Olympiad-level proofs. MATH-500 is a 500-problem subset used for faster evaluation. As of 2026: o3 leads at ~96%, DeepSeek R1 at 97.3% on MATH-500, o4-mini at ~93%, and Gemini 2.5 Pro at ~90.5%. GPT-4o scores 76.6% — strong for its class but below reasoning-specialist models.
- What is the best LLM for calculus?
- For symbolic calculus (derivatives, integrals, series), o3 and o4-mini are the strongest — they reason through multi-step problems reliably. For applied calculus with numerical computation, GPT-4o with Code Interpreter is the best choice because it can run SymPy, SciPy, and verify answers computationally. DeepSeek R1 is the best budget option for calculus at $0.55/$2.19/M tokens.
- What is AIME and which LLM scores best?
- AIME (American Invitational Mathematics Examination) is a 15-problem competition for top US high school students. It's widely used as a difficult LLM math benchmark because problems require chained multi-step reasoning without multiple-choice guessing. AIME 2024 scores: o3 at 96.7%, DeepSeek R1 at ~79.8%, o4-mini at ~93%, Gemini 2.5 Pro at ~85%. GPT-4o scores around 40%, which is why reasoning models (o-series, R1) matter for hard math.
- Is DeepSeek R1 better than GPT-4 at math?
- Yes — DeepSeek R1 significantly outperforms GPT-4o on math benchmarks. DeepSeek R1 scores 97.3% on MATH-500 vs GPT-4o's ~78%. It matches or beats o3-mini on most math tasks at a fraction of the cost ($0.55/$2.19 vs $1.10/$4.40 for o4-mini). The key advantage of o3 and o4-mini over DeepSeek R1 is reliability and consistency — DeepSeek R1 can fail on problems it should solve, while o3 is more stable.
- Which LLM is best for statistics and probability?
- For applied statistics and probability theory, GPT-4o with Code Interpreter is the most complete option — it runs Python, fits distributions, performs hypothesis tests, and interprets results in plain language. For pure theoretical statistics (proofs, derivations), o3 or o4-mini is stronger. Claude Sonnet 4 writes the clearest statistical explanations and is best for turning analysis results into interpretable reports.
See Also
Head-to-Head Comparisons