STOP GUESSING WHICH AI MODEL TO USE

The AI Model Cheat Sheet by Trust Insights

There are hundreds of generative AI models available right now. New ones launch every week. Every vendor claims theirs is the best. You don’t have time to test them all — and picking the wrong one wastes hours of work and produces mediocre results.

The AI Model Cheat Sheet cuts through the noise. For each major media type — text, code, video, images, audio, and agentic coworking — we recommend a first choice, a second choice, and the best open-weights alternative. No hype. No affiliate links. Just what works right now, tested by practitioners.

WHAT MODELS & TOOLS TO USE FOR CREATION

Last updated May 2026

Media Type	First Choice	Second Choice	Open Weights
Text	Claude Opus 4.8	Gemini 3.1 Pro	GLM 5.1
Coding & Interactives	GPT 5.5	Claude Opus 4.7	Qwen 3.6 27B
Video	Google Veo 3.1	Seedance 2.0	LTX-2.3 Pro
Images	Google Nano Banana 2	ChatGPT Image	Flux 2 Dev
Audio (Text to Speech)	Gemini Flash 3.1 TTS	Eleven Labs	Supertonic 3 TTS
Audio (Music)	Suno	Mureka V9	ACE-Step 1.5
Audio (Speech Recognition)	NVIDIA Parakeet TDT v2	Cohere Transcribe	NVIDIA Parakeet TDT v2
Agentic Operations	GPT 5.5	MiMo V2.5 Pro	Qwen 3.6 27B
Agentic Coworking	Claude Cowork	OpenWork	OpenWork
Agentic Framework	Hermes Agent	OpenClaw	Hermes Agent

HOW TO USE THIS CHEAT SHEET

FIRST CHOICE

The model or tool that currently produces the best results in its category based on our testing. Start here unless you have a specific reason not to.

SECOND CHOICE

A strong alternative if the first choice doesn’t fit your workflow, budget, or use case. In many categories the gap between first and second is small.

OPEN WEIGHTS

The best open-weights model you can run on your own infrastructure or through third-party hosting. Choose this when data privacy, cost control, or customization matter most.

STAY UP TO DATE

AI models change fast. We update this cheat sheet regularly. Subscribe to our newsletter so you never fall behind: trustinsights.ai/newsletter

Got questions about which AI tools are right for your team? Get in touch — we’re happy to help.