Explore the models

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FlagshipWorkhorseLightIn my stack
16 of 16 models
Claude Fable 5
Anthropic
flagshipIn my stack

The deepest reasoning I have access to. Slow, expensive, and worth it when the output has to survive scrutiny.

Fast and cheapDeep and slow
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Best for
  • Governance and risk modelling
  • Proposals that face objections
  • Complex multi-step architecture
This is the model behind Nodel, my AI governance tool that maps where humans, AI, and data touch inside a business.
Watch out for

Overkill for everyday drafting, and you will feel the latency.

Claude Opus 5
Anthropic
flagshipIn my stack

Broad, reliable heavyweight reasoning with a calmer tone than most flagships.

Fast and cheapDeep and slow
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Best for
  • Long document analysis
  • Hard refactors
  • Strategy work
My backup when Fable is busy or rate limited.
Watch out for

Cost adds up fast if you route routine work here.

GPT-5.6 Soul
OpenAI
flagshipIn my stack

The best taste of any model I use. Give it an interface and it comes back looking designed.

Fast and cheapDeep and slow
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Best for
  • Front-end and UI generation
  • Landing page copy with voice
  • Creative direction
It owns the interface on VendoPlus builds, then I hand the logic back to Claude.
Watch out for

Confident on business logic even when it is wrong. Review the reasoning, not just the look.

Gemini 3.1 Pro
Google
flagshipIn my stack

The strongest multimodal model: video, audio, and huge context in one place.

Fast and cheapDeep and slow
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Best for
  • Watching recorded meetings
  • Massive context dumps
  • Spreadsheet and data review
What I reach for when a client sends a recording instead of a written brief.
Watch out for

Writing voice is flatter than Claude or GPT. Fine for analysis, weak for final copy.

Grok 5
xAI
flagship

Fast flagship with live access to public social conversation.

Fast and cheapDeep and slow
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Best for
  • Real-time trend checks
  • Blunt second opinions
Watch out for

Tone needs editing before anything client-facing.

Claude Sonnet 5
Anthropic
workhorseIn my stack

The best balance on the market right now: near-flagship quality at working speed.

Fast and cheapDeep and slow
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Best for
  • Daily writing and client comms
  • Everyday coding
  • Prompt and agent building
Where most of my day runs: ClickUp tasks, client chatbot prompts, TikTok scripts, and newsletter drafts.
Watch out for

Will happily go long. Ask for tighter output.

GPT-5.6
OpenAI
workhorse

The default general assistant with the widest tool and connector ecosystem.

Fast and cheapDeep and slow
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Best for
  • Research with browsing
  • Data analysis in chat
  • Mixed everyday tasks
Watch out for

Personality drifts between updates, so saved prompts can degrade.

Gemini 3.1 Flash
Google
workhorse

Very fast, very cheap, and surprisingly capable on structured work.

Fast and cheapDeep and slow
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Best for
  • High volume summarisation
  • Automation steps
  • Classification
Watch out for

Loses nuance on ambiguous instructions.

Mistral Large 3
Mistral
workhorse

Solid European option with strong multilingual output and EU hosting.

Fast and cheapDeep and slow
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Best for
  • EU data residency requirements
  • Multilingual drafting
Watch out for

Behind the leaders on hard reasoning.

Claude Haiku 4.5
Anthropic
lightIn my stack

Small, quick, and cheap enough to run constantly in the background.

Fast and cheapDeep and slow
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Best for
  • Sub-agents
  • Batch transcript processing
  • Audit logging
Logs every action Nodel takes, and chewed through a 109-call review for a client voice bot before I read the summary.
Watch out for

Do not hand it work that needs judgement.

GPT-5 Mini
OpenAI
light

Cheap workhorse for high-frequency API calls inside automations.

Fast and cheapDeep and slow
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Best for
  • Tagging and routing
  • Short extractions
  • Webhook handlers
Watch out for

Needs tight, example-heavy prompts.

Gemini Flash Lite
Google
light

About as cheap as inference gets while still being usable.

Fast and cheapDeep and slow
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Best for
  • Bulk cleanup
  • Simple rewrites at scale
Watch out for

Quality drops sharply on anything nuanced.

ChatGPT Image (GPT Image 2)
OpenAI
workhorseIn my stack

The most controllable image model for text-in-image and layout work.

Fast and cheapDeep and slow
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Best for
  • Thumbnails
  • Social graphics
  • Mockups with legible text
Where most of the early AI Solopreneur thumbnails came from, before the brand moved to its own illustration style.
Watch out for

Style consistency across a series takes reference images.

Seedance
ByteDance
workhorseIn my stack

Image to video that keeps the product recognisable while adding motion.

Fast and cheapDeep and slow
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Best for
  • Short vertical ad clips
  • Product motion from one still
My pick for turning a single product or client shot into scroll-stopping TikTok clips.
Watch out for

Short clip lengths, so plan the cut before you generate.

ElevenLabs
ElevenLabs
workhorseIn my stack

Still the benchmark for natural voice and real-time voice agents.

Fast and cheapDeep and slow
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Best for
  • Voice agents
  • Narration
  • Character voices
Every character voice on my kids podcast, Say What?!, plus voice agents for hospitality and coaching clients.
Watch out for

Costs scale with usage, so cap your agent minutes.

Suno
Suno
workhorseIn my stack

Full songs and production music from a prompt, fast enough to iterate live.

Fast and cheapDeep and slow
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Best for
  • Podcast themes
  • Background beds
  • Jingles
The theme and production music behind Say What?!, the same process a breakdown of mine picked up 274k views showing.
Watch out for

Check licensing terms before commercial use.