Methodology
How TokensBench computes its numbers, what counts as evidence, and where the data comes from — including the parts that are still thin.
How we compute the numbers
Robust stats or nothing — thin or noisy cells do not get published.
- n ≥ 5 to publish. A cell only appears once at least five reports back it, and every cell always displays its n and verified share alongside the numbers.
- Median, IQR, and p90 — never a mean. All user-facing stats are robust to outliers: median plus the interquartile range (p25–p75) and p90. Means never appear on the site.
- Outliers are flagged, not dropped. A modified z-score (MAD) check flags unusual reports for the moderation queue; nothing is silently excluded from the data.
- Verified reports get their own median. Once a cell has three or more verified reports, we show a verified-only median alongside the all-data median.
Role budgets follow the same rule: 15 of the 15 roles in the taxonomy are currently seeded from published references, pending community reports that cross n ≥ 5.
Freshness
Old-model data does not quietly leak into current-gen answers.
The default view windows to reports from the last 180 days on current-generation models only. Older or superseded-model data is still there — behind a toggle, and grayed so it reads as historical, not current.
Every reference row (benchmark or pricing) carries a staleness label; several respected sources run months behind, and we say so on the row rather than pass off a stale number as live. The reference snapshot behind this build was retrieved 2026-09-15.
The fallback ladder
Answer pages disclose exactly which rung of the ladder produced the numbers shown.
Moderation & verification
Nothing about trust here is automatic.
Submissions are anonymous-first, but every one passes a honeypot field and an IP-hash rate limit before it can even reach the queue. Nothing publishes without moderation approval — the write path fails closed, not open.
Reports carry a verification tier: none by default, or receipt once a submitter pastes a machine-readable usage export (Phase 2). Receipts are parsed in memory for aggregate numbers only — raw payloads are never persisted. Verification is an opt-in badge and a weighting signal, never a submission gate: requiring receipts on day one would kill cold-start volume.
A separate, later org-verified tier (Phase 3) will use admin-gated APIs from providers and tools — authoritative, but never a requirement for individual submitters.
Data & privacy
What TokensBench collects, what it never does, and what happens after you hit send.
- Anonymous by default. Submitting a report needs no account, no email, and no name.
- Your network address is hashed, not stored. We keep a salted, one-way hash of it solely to enforce the rate limit — never the address itself.
- Free text renders as plain text. Nothing written in a report is ever interpreted as HTML or code.
- Approved reports are published. They join the open aggregates TokensBench publishes — medians, percentiles, and technique notes. Include nothing in a report you do not want public.
- Nothing publishes without a human. Every submission sits in the moderation queue until a moderator approves it.
- Receipts are never stored raw. Once receipt parsing ships (Phase 2), a pasted receipt is parsed in memory for numeric totals only — the raw payload is never persisted.
Sources
Actively-updated sources first; stale or dormant ones grouped below, collapsed until you want them.
| Source | What we take | Status |
|---|---|---|
| LiteLLM model_prices*.json | $/tok pricing including cache rates, 300+ models | Fresh |
| Epoch AI Benchmarking Hub | Tokens-per-eval and cost-per-eval | Fresh |
| Google Gemini pricing page | Official list prices | Stable |
| OpenRouter /api/v1/models | Live $/tok pricing | Fresh |
| Artificial Analysis | Intelligence Index scores + blended list prices, via their Data API | Fresh |
Stale or dormant sources (5) — kept for the record, labeled on every row we display
| Source | What we take | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Aider polyglot leaderboard | Total $ per 225-exercise suite run | Stale |
| SWE-bench leaderboards.json | instance_cost, sparse (Verified split, 45 of 180 entries) | Stale |
| SWE-rebench | Cost/Problem and Tokens/Problem, live | Pending |
| HAL (Princeton) | Cost-controlled agent eval results | Dormant |
| vals.ai / METR | Cost-per-test charts, narrow cost ratios | Pending |
Anthropic and OpenAI official pricing pages are hand-maintained fixtures, spot-checked against LiteLLM rather than scraped. We also evaluated LMArena, LiveBench, and llm-stats and chose not to ingest them: no real per-task cost data, hostile scraping terms, or a direct competitive conflict.
Currently live
The rows below are the actual reference snapshot this build shipped with, retrieved 2026-09-15. Current rows first; rows from stale sources are grouped and collapsed.
Harness archived 2026-07-01; leaderboard winding down — snapshot reference As of 2026-07-01. Source · none stated — displayed as cited fact with attribution; not redistributed in bulk.
Epoch AI Benchmarking Hub is actively maintained (weekly-ish updates); not a stale snapshot As of 2026-02-19. Source · CC-BY 4.0 (Epoch-run benchmarks; externally-sourced benchmarks retain original licenses).
Epoch AI Benchmarking Hub is actively maintained (weekly-ish updates); not a stale snapshot As of 2026-07-09. Source · CC-BY 4.0 (Epoch-run benchmarks; externally-sourced benchmarks retain original licenses).
Epoch AI Benchmarking Hub is actively maintained (weekly-ish updates); not a stale snapshot As of 2026-07-09. Source · CC-BY 4.0 (Epoch-run benchmarks; externally-sourced benchmarks retain original licenses).
Epoch AI Benchmarking Hub is actively maintained (weekly-ish updates); not a stale snapshot As of 2026-09-01. Source · CC-BY 4.0 (Epoch-run benchmarks; externally-sourced benchmarks retain original licenses).
Epoch AI Benchmarking Hub is actively maintained (weekly-ish updates); not a stale snapshot As of 2026-09-01. Source · CC-BY 4.0 (Epoch-run benchmarks; externally-sourced benchmarks retain original licenses).
Epoch AI Benchmarking Hub is actively maintained (weekly-ish updates); not a stale snapshot As of 2026-08-12. Source · CC-BY 4.0 (Epoch-run benchmarks; externally-sourced benchmarks retain original licenses).
Epoch AI Benchmarking Hub is actively maintained (weekly-ish updates); not a stale snapshot As of 2026-07-26. Source · CC-BY 4.0 (Epoch-run benchmarks; externally-sourced benchmarks retain original licenses).
Epoch AI Benchmarking Hub is actively maintained (weekly-ish updates); not a stale snapshot As of 2026-06-10. Source · CC-BY 4.0 (Epoch-run benchmarks; externally-sourced benchmarks retain original licenses).
Epoch AI Benchmarking Hub is actively maintained (weekly-ish updates); not a stale snapshot As of 2026-05-30. Source · CC-BY 4.0 (Epoch-run benchmarks; externally-sourced benchmarks retain original licenses).
Epoch AI Benchmarking Hub is actively maintained (weekly-ish updates); not a stale snapshot As of 2026-04-16. Source · CC-BY 4.0 (Epoch-run benchmarks; externally-sourced benchmarks retain original licenses).
Epoch AI Benchmarking Hub is actively maintained (weekly-ish updates); not a stale snapshot As of 2026-04-23. Source · CC-BY 4.0 (Epoch-run benchmarks; externally-sourced benchmarks retain original licenses).
Epoch AI Benchmarking Hub is actively maintained (weekly-ish updates); not a stale snapshot As of 2026-02-17. Source · CC-BY 4.0 (Epoch-run benchmarks; externally-sourced benchmarks retain original licenses).
Epoch AI Benchmarking Hub is actively maintained (weekly-ish updates); not a stale snapshot As of 2026-09-01. Source · CC-BY 4.0 (Epoch-run benchmarks; externally-sourced benchmarks retain original licenses).
Epoch AI Benchmarking Hub is actively maintained (weekly-ish updates); not a stale snapshot As of 2026-09-03. Source · CC-BY 4.0 (Epoch-run benchmarks; externally-sourced benchmarks retain original licenses).
Epoch AI Benchmarking Hub is actively maintained (weekly-ish updates); not a stale snapshot As of 2026-09-01. Source · CC-BY 4.0 (Epoch-run benchmarks; externally-sourced benchmarks retain original licenses).
Live via the Artificial Analysis Data API As of 2026-09-14. Source · Displayed with attribution per AA Data API terms (free tier) — byline required; redistribution requires agreement.
Live via the Artificial Analysis Data API As of 2026-09-14. Source · Displayed with attribution per AA Data API terms (free tier) — byline required; redistribution requires agreement.
Live via the Artificial Analysis Data API As of 2026-09-14. Source · Displayed with attribution per AA Data API terms (free tier) — byline required; redistribution requires agreement.
Live via the Artificial Analysis Data API As of 2026-09-14. Source · Displayed with attribution per AA Data API terms (free tier) — byline required; redistribution requires agreement.
Live via the Artificial Analysis Data API As of 2026-09-14. Source · Displayed with attribution per AA Data API terms (free tier) — byline required; redistribution requires agreement.
Live via the Artificial Analysis Data API As of 2026-09-14. Source · Displayed with attribution per AA Data API terms (free tier) — byline required; redistribution requires agreement.
Live via the Artificial Analysis Data API As of 2026-09-14. Source · Displayed with attribution per AA Data API terms (free tier) — byline required; redistribution requires agreement.
Live via the Artificial Analysis Data API As of 2026-09-14. Source · Displayed with attribution per AA Data API terms (free tier) — byline required; redistribution requires agreement.
Live via the Artificial Analysis Data API As of 2026-09-14. Source · Displayed with attribution per AA Data API terms (free tier) — byline required; redistribution requires agreement.
Live via the Artificial Analysis Data API As of 2026-09-14. Source · Displayed with attribution per AA Data API terms (free tier) — byline required; redistribution requires agreement.
Live via the Artificial Analysis Data API As of 2026-09-14. Source · Displayed with attribution per AA Data API terms (free tier) — byline required; redistribution requires agreement.
Live via the Artificial Analysis Data API As of 2026-09-14. Source · Displayed with attribution per AA Data API terms (free tier) — byline required; redistribution requires agreement.
Live via the Artificial Analysis Data API As of 2026-09-14. Source · Displayed with attribution per AA Data API terms (free tier) — byline required; redistribution requires agreement.
Live via the Artificial Analysis Data API As of 2026-09-14. Source · Displayed with attribution per AA Data API terms (free tier) — byline required; redistribution requires agreement.
Live via the Artificial Analysis Data API As of 2026-09-14. Source · Displayed with attribution per AA Data API terms (free tier) — byline required; redistribution requires agreement.
Live via the Artificial Analysis Data API As of 2026-09-14. Source · Displayed with attribution per AA Data API terms (free tier) — byline required; redistribution requires agreement.
Live via the Artificial Analysis Data API As of 2026-09-14. Source · Displayed with attribution per AA Data API terms (free tier) — byline required; redistribution requires agreement.
Live via the Artificial Analysis Data API As of 2026-09-14. Source · Displayed with attribution per AA Data API terms (free tier) — byline required; redistribution requires agreement.
Live via the Artificial Analysis Data API As of 2026-09-14. Source · Displayed with attribution per AA Data API terms (free tier) — byline required; redistribution requires agreement.
Live via the Artificial Analysis Data API As of 2026-09-14. Source · Displayed with attribution per AA Data API terms (free tier) — byline required; redistribution requires agreement.
43 rows from stale sources
Upstream data last updated 2025-10; historical reference As of 2025-08-23. Source · Apache-2.0.
Upstream data last updated 2025-10; historical reference As of 2025-08-25. Source · Apache-2.0.
Upstream data last updated 2025-10; historical reference As of 2025-06-28. Source · Apache-2.0.
Upstream data last updated 2025-10; historical reference As of 2025-06-06. Source · Apache-2.0.
Upstream data last updated 2025-10; historical reference As of 2025-06-25. Source · Apache-2.0.
Upstream data last updated 2025-10; historical reference As of 2025-08-25. Source · Apache-2.0.
Upstream data last updated 2025-10; historical reference As of 2025-07-11. Source · Apache-2.0.
Upstream data last updated 2025-10; historical reference As of 2025-06-06. Source · Apache-2.0.
Upstream data last updated 2025-10; historical reference As of 2025-06-27. Source · Apache-2.0.
Upstream data last updated 2025-10; historical reference As of 2025-05-07. Source · Apache-2.0.
Upstream data last updated 2025-10; historical reference As of 2025-06-25. Source · Apache-2.0.
Upstream data last updated 2025-10; historical reference As of 2025-10-03. Source · Apache-2.0.
Upstream data last updated 2025-10; historical reference As of 2025-04-16. Source · Apache-2.0.
Upstream data last updated 2025-10; historical reference As of 2025-05-25. Source · Apache-2.0.
Upstream data last updated 2025-10; historical reference As of 2025-06-06. Source · Apache-2.0.
Leaderboard updates limited since 2025-11 policy change; CC BY-NC — display with attribution, no commercial use As of 2026-02-17. Source · CC BY-NC 4.0.
Leaderboard updates limited since 2025-11 policy change; CC BY-NC — display with attribution, no commercial use As of 2026-02-17. Source · CC BY-NC 4.0.
Leaderboard updates limited since 2025-11 policy change; CC BY-NC — display with attribution, no commercial use As of 2026-02-17. Source · CC BY-NC 4.0.
Leaderboard updates limited since 2025-11 policy change; CC BY-NC — display with attribution, no commercial use As of 2026-02-17. Source · CC BY-NC 4.0.
Leaderboard updates limited since 2025-11 policy change; CC BY-NC — display with attribution, no commercial use As of 2025-11-24. Source · CC BY-NC 4.0.
Leaderboard updates limited since 2025-11 policy change; CC BY-NC — display with attribution, no commercial use As of 2025-11-18. Source · CC BY-NC 4.0.
Leaderboard updates limited since 2025-11 policy change; CC BY-NC — display with attribution, no commercial use As of 2026-02-17. Source · CC BY-NC 4.0.
Leaderboard updates limited since 2025-11 policy change; CC BY-NC — display with attribution, no commercial use As of 2026-02-17. Source · CC BY-NC 4.0.
Leaderboard updates limited since 2025-11 policy change; CC BY-NC — display with attribution, no commercial use As of 2026-02-19. Source · CC BY-NC 4.0.
Leaderboard updates limited since 2025-11 policy change; CC BY-NC — display with attribution, no commercial use As of 2025-12-11. Source · CC BY-NC 4.0.
Leaderboard updates limited since 2025-11 policy change; CC BY-NC — display with attribution, no commercial use As of 2026-02-17. Source · CC BY-NC 4.0.
Leaderboard updates limited since 2025-11 policy change; CC BY-NC — display with attribution, no commercial use As of 2026-02-17. Source · CC BY-NC 4.0.
Leaderboard updates limited since 2025-11 policy change; CC BY-NC — display with attribution, no commercial use As of 2025-09-29. Source · CC BY-NC 4.0.
Leaderboard updates limited since 2025-11 policy change; CC BY-NC — display with attribution, no commercial use As of 2026-02-17. Source · CC BY-NC 4.0.
Leaderboard updates limited since 2025-11 policy change; CC BY-NC — display with attribution, no commercial use As of 2026-02-26. Source · CC BY-NC 4.0.
Leaderboard updates limited since 2025-11 policy change; CC BY-NC — display with attribution, no commercial use As of 2026-02-13. Source · CC BY-NC 4.0.
Leaderboard updates limited since 2025-11 policy change; CC BY-NC — display with attribution, no commercial use As of 2026-02-13. Source · CC BY-NC 4.0.
Leaderboard updates limited since 2025-11 policy change; CC BY-NC — display with attribution, no commercial use As of 2026-02-13. Source · CC BY-NC 4.0.
Leaderboard updates limited since 2025-11 policy change; CC BY-NC — display with attribution, no commercial use As of 2026-02-13. Source · CC BY-NC 4.0.
Leaderboard updates limited since 2025-11 policy change; CC BY-NC — display with attribution, no commercial use As of 2026-02-13. Source · CC BY-NC 4.0.
Leaderboard updates limited since 2025-11 policy change; CC BY-NC — display with attribution, no commercial use As of 2026-02-16. Source · CC BY-NC 4.0.
Leaderboard updates limited since 2025-11 policy change; CC BY-NC — display with attribution, no commercial use As of 2026-02-13. Source · CC BY-NC 4.0.
Leaderboard updates limited since 2025-11 policy change; CC BY-NC — display with attribution, no commercial use As of 2026-02-13. Source · CC BY-NC 4.0.
Leaderboard updates limited since 2025-11 policy change; CC BY-NC — display with attribution, no commercial use As of 2026-02-13. Source · CC BY-NC 4.0.
Leaderboard updates limited since 2025-11 policy change; CC BY-NC — display with attribution, no commercial use As of 2026-02-20. Source · CC BY-NC 4.0.
Leaderboard updates limited since 2025-11 policy change; CC BY-NC — display with attribution, no commercial use As of 2026-02-13. Source · CC BY-NC 4.0.
Leaderboard updates limited since 2025-11 policy change; CC BY-NC — display with attribution, no commercial use As of 2026-02-13. Source · CC BY-NC 4.0.
Leaderboard updates limited since 2025-11 policy change; CC BY-NC — display with attribution, no commercial use As of 2026-02-13. Source · CC BY-NC 4.0.
What this does not guarantee
- Self-reported data is directional, not audited. We publish n, verified share, and dispersion — not certainty.
- Benchmark cost-per-task ≠ your cost: harness, repo size, and prompting style dominate.
- We are not a price-comparison or procurement site; reference prices can lag same-day changes.
- Thin cells fall back to broader categories and say so on the page.
- Old-model data is not silently blended into current-gen answers.
Calibration, not a leaderboard
High token spend correlates with churn and defect rework, not higher productivity — tokens are not a productivity proxy. Every task report captures outcome (succeeded first try, succeeded with iteration, partial, or abandoned) as a first-class field, quality caveats are first-class copy, and TokensBench never ranks individuals by spend. This is a calibration tool, not a scoreboard.