Gemini 3.1 Pro vs GPT-5.2 vs Claude Opus 4.6: (February 2026)
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Overview
February 2026 marks the most competitive period in AI history, with three frontier models released within weeks of each other. This guide covers everything you need to know about Google Gemini 3.1 Pro, OpenAI GPT-5.2, and Anthropic Claude Opus 4.6 — their capabilities, benchmarks, pricing, and ideal use cases.
1. Gemini 3.1 Pro (Google DeepMind)
Release & Status
Released: February 19, 2026 (Preview)
Developer: Google DeepMind
Model ID:
gemini-3.1-pro-previewStatus: Public Preview (GA timing TBD)
Knowledge Cutoff: January 2025
Core Specifications
Spec | Details |
|---|---|
Context Window | 1,048,576 tokens (1M) |
Max Output | 65,536 tokens (64K) |
Input Modalities | Text, Image, Video, Audio, PDF |
Output Modalities | Text |
Pricing (Input) | ~\(2 / 1M tokens |
Pricing (Output) | ~\)12 / 1M tokens |
Key Capabilities
Abstract Reasoning Champion: 77.1% on ARC-AGI-2 (verified) — more than double Gemini 3 Pro's 31.1%. This is the standout result, testing novel pattern recognition rather than memorized knowledge.
Scientific Knowledge: 94.3% on GPQA Diamond, demonstrating strong graduate-level science performance.
Coding: 80.6% on SWE-Bench Verified, near-tied with Opus 4.6 for real-world software engineering.
Agentic Tasks: 33.5% on APEX-Agents (vs 18.4% for Gemini 3 Pro), nearly doubling autonomous task completion.
Native Multimodal: True first-class support for video and audio inputs — processes up to ~8.4 hours of audio or 900 images per prompt.
Token Efficiency: More efficient thinking with fewer output tokens while delivering reliable results.
New Features
Thinking Level Control:
thinking_levelparameter (lo, medium, high) replacesthinking_budgetfor controlling reasoning depth.Media Resolution Control:
media_resolutionparameter for managing vision processing cost/quality tradeoffs.Animated SVG Generation: Can generate website-ready, animated SVGs directly from text descriptions.
Multimodal Function Responses: Function responses can now include images and PDFs.
Streaming Function Calling: Stream partial function call arguments during tool use.
Availability
Gemini App (Pro & Ultra plans)
Google AI Studio & Gemini API
Vertex AI & Gemini Enterprise
Gemini CLI, Google Antigravity, Android Studio
NotebookLM (Pro & Ultra users)
Best For
Abstract reasoning and scientific analysis
Native multimodal processing (video, audio, images)
High-volume API workloads (cost-efficient)
Large-context document analysis
Agentic workflows and autonomous coding
2. GPT-5.2 (OpenAI)
Release & Status
Released: December 11, 2025
Developer: OpenAI
Three Variants: GPT-5.2 Instant, GPT-5.2 Thinking, GPT-5.2 Pro
Specialized Variant: GPT-5.2-Codex (released January 14, 2026)
Status: Generally Available
Knowledge Cutoff: August 2025
Core Specifications
Spec | Details |
|---|---|
Context Window | 400,000 tokens (400K) |
Max Output | 128,000 tokens (128K) |
Input Modalities | Text, Image, Code |
Output Modalities | Text |
Pricing (Input) | \(1.75 / 1M tokens |
Pricing (Output) | \)14 / 1M tokens |
Cached Input | $0.175 / 1M tokens |
Three Operating Modes
GPT-5.2 Instant — Fast, efficient workhorse for everyday tasks. Improved info-seeking, how-tos, technical writing, and translation with a warm conversational tone.
GPT-5.2 Thinking — Deeper reasoning for harder work tasks. Standard and Extended thinking levels. Excels at spreadsheets, financial modeling, and presentations.
GPT-5.2 Pro — Maximum intelligence for difficult questions. Fewest major errors and strongest complex domain performance. Worth the wait for high-quality answers.
Key Capabilities
Mathematics: 100% on AIME 2025, perfect score on competition-level math.
Scientific Reasoning: 93.2% on GPQA Diamond (Pro variant).
Expert-Level Work: Beats or ties human experts on 70.9% of GDPval tasks across 44 occupations.
Coding: 80% on SWE-Bench Verified, competitive across coding benchmarks.
Reduced Errors: 30% fewer response-level errors than GPT-5.1 Thinking.
Tool Accuracy: 98.7% accuracy on telecom tool-use tasks (Tau2-bench).
Agentic Coding: GPT-5.2-Codex optimized for long-horizon coding with context compaction and cybersecurity capabilities.
New Features
Reasoning Effort Control:
reasoning_effortparameter includingxhighfor maximum reasoning.Context Compaction: For sustained agentic coding sessions.
GPT-5.2-Codex: Specialized variant with strongest cybersecurity capabilities, Windows environment support, and large codebase handling.
GUI Understanding: 86.3% on ScreenSpot-Pro (up from 64.2% in GPT-5.1).
Task Horizon
- According to METR, GPT-5.2 (high) has a 50%-time horizon of 6 hours 34 minutes — the longest until Claude Opus 4.6 surpassed it on February 20, 2026.
Availability
ChatGPT (all paid plans)
OpenAI API
Azure OpenAI Service
Codex CLI and IDE Extension
Best For
Mathematical and abstract reasoning
Professional knowledge work (spreadsheets, presentations)
Agentic coding with Codex variant
Cost-effective cached-input workflows ($0.175/1M tokens)
Cybersecurity applications
3. Claude Opus 4.6 (Anthropic)
Release & Status
Released: February 5, 2026
Developer: Anthropic
Model ID:
claude-opus-4-6Status: Generally Available
Knowledge Cutoff: End of May 2025
Core Specifications
Spec | Details |
|---|---|
Context Window | 200K (1M in beta) |
Max Output | 128,000 tokens (128K) |
Input Modalities | Text, Image, PDF |
Output Modalities | Text |
Pricing (Input) | \(5 / 1M tokens |
Pricing (Output) | \)25 / 1M tokens |
Prompt Caching | Up to 90% savings |
Batch Processing | 50% savings |
Key Capabilities
Agentic Coding Leader: 65.4% on Terminal-Bench 2.0 — highest score at launch. 80.8% on SWE-Bench Verified.
Enterprise Knowledge Work: 1,606 Elo on GDPval-AA — 144 points ahead of GPT-5.2 and 190 points ahead of Opus 4.5. Outperforms GPT-5.2 about 70% of the time on economically valuable tasks.
Deep Search: Best on BrowseComp for locating hard-to-find information online.
Multidisciplinary Reasoning: Leads on Humanity's Last Exam (with tools) at 53.1%.
Computer Use: 72.7% on OSWorld — best computer-using model.
Legal Reasoning: 90.2% on BigLaw Bench with 40% perfect scores.
Cybersecurity: Won 38 out of 40 blind-ranked cybersecurity investigations against Claude 4.5 models.
Financial Analysis: Top spot on Finance Agent benchmark.
New Features
Agent Teams: Multiple agents work in parallel, each owning its piece and coordinating autonomously. Research preview in Claude Code.
Adaptive Thinking:
thinking: {type: "adaptive"}— model dynamically decides when and how much to think. Recommended mode for Opus 4.6.Effort Control: Four levels (low, medium, high, max) now GA without beta headers.
Compaction API: Server-side context summarization for infinite conversations and longer-running tasks.
Fast Mode: Beta feature for faster output token generation.
128K Max Output: Doubled from previous 64K limit.
Data Residency:
inference_geoparameter for US-only inference.Claude in Excel: Plans before acting, infers structure from unstructured data, multi-step transformations.
Claude in PowerPoint: Research preview — reads layouts, fonts, slide masters for on-brand deck generation.
Availability
claude.ai (Pro, Max, Team, Enterprise)
Claude API (Developer Platform)
Amazon Bedrock
Google Cloud Vertex AI
Microsoft Foundry (Azure)
Claude Code (CLI)
Best For
Complex agentic coding and code review
Enterprise knowledge work (finance, legal, consulting)
Long-running autonomous tasks
Deep research and information retrieval
Multi-agent coordination workflows
Computer use and GUI automation
Head-to-Head Benchmark Comparison
Benchmark | Gemini 3.1 Pro | GPT-5.2 | Claude Opus 4.6 | What It Tests |
|---|---|---|---|---|
ARC-AGI-2 | 77.1% | 52.9% | 68.8% | Novel pattern reasoning |
GPQA Diamond | 94.3% | 93.2% (Pro) | ~92% | Graduate-level science |
SWE-Bench Verified | 80.6% | 80.0% | 80.8% | Real-world software engineering |
Terminal-Bench 2.0 | 68.5% | 64.7% | 65.4% | Agentic coding (CLI) |
Humanity's Last Exam (w/ tools) | 51.4% | — | 53.1% | Complex multidisciplinary reasoning |
GDPval-AA Elo | 1,317 | 1,462 | 1,606 | Professional knowledge work |
APEX-Agents | 33.5% | 23.0% | 29.8% | Autonomous multi-step tasks |
AIME 2025 | — | 100% | — | Competition-level mathematics |
BrowseComp | — | — | #1 | Agentic search / info retrieval |
OSWorld | — | — | 72.7% | Computer use |
BigLaw Bench | — | — | 90.2% | Legal reasoning |
Note: Benchmarks are reported by each company and may use different configurations. Independent verification is ongoing for preview models.
Pricing Comparison
Model | Input (per 1M tokens) | Output (per 1M tokens) | Context Window |
|---|---|---|---|
Gemini 3.1 Pro | \(2 | \)12 | 1M |
GPT-5.2 | \(1.75 | \)14 | 400K |
GPT-5.2 (cached) | \(0.175 | \)14 | 400K |
Claude Opus 4.6 | $5 ($15 w/ caching) | $25 ($75 w/ caching) | 200K (1M beta) |
Claude Opus 4.6 (batch) | \(2.50 | \)12.50 | 200K |
Gemini 3.1 Pro is 7.5x cheaper than Claude Opus 4.6 on standard input pricing. GPT-5.2's cached input pricing ($0.175) is extremely cost-effective for repeated-context agent loops.
Decision Guide: Which Model to Choose
Choose Gemini 3.1 Pro when:
Abstract reasoning and scientific analysis are your priority
You need native multimodal support (video, audio, images)
Cost efficiency matters — best price-to-performance ratio
You want the full 1M context window in stable form
You're building within the Google ecosystem
Choose GPT-5.2 when:
Mathematical reasoning is critical (perfect AIME score)
You need specialized agentic coding (Codex variant)
Cached input pricing fits your workflow ($0.175/1M)
You want the most mature API ecosystem
Cybersecurity applications are a priority
Choose Claude Opus 4.6 when:
Output quality matters most (leads human evaluator preferences)
Enterprise knowledge work in finance, legal, or consulting
Complex multi-agent coordination is needed
Computer use and GUI automation are required
Long-running autonomous tasks with sustained quality
Safety and alignment are critical considerations
The Smart Approach: Model Routing
The emerging best practice in 2026 is using model routing — selecting the optimal model per task. This blended approach can reduce costs by 70-80% while maintaining quality:
Claude for coding-critical and expert enterprise tasks
GPT-5.2 for mathematical reasoning and cached-context workflows
Gemini for multimodal processing and high-volume queries
Timeline Summary
Date | Event |
|---|---|
Dec 11, 2025 | GPT-5.2 released (Instant, Thinking, Pro) |
Jan 14, 2026 | GPT-5.2-Codex released |
Feb 5, 2026 | Claude Opus 4.6 released |
Feb 13, 2026 | Six older OpenAI models retired from ChatGPT |
Feb 19, 2026 | Gemini 3.1 Pro released (Preview) |
Feb 20, 2026 | Claude Opus 4.6 overtakes GPT-5.2 on METR time horizon |
Last updated: February 26, 2026 Sources: Official announcements from Google DeepMind, OpenAI, and Anthropic; independent analyses from Artificial Analysis, DataCamp, TechCrunch, CNBC, and others.
