Which LLM model is best for fine-tuning?

    Asked "Which LLM model is best for fine-tuning?", ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, Google AI Mode and Perplexity named 18 distinct names across 5 answers on September 8, 2026, and 4 of them in two or more answers, and the engines did not agree; the closest to a consensus, Qwen, was named by only 3 of 5.

    Measured acrossChatGPTCopilotGeminiGoogle AI ModePerplexity

    4 of 18 names confirmed · named in 2 or more of 5 answers · asked September 8, 2026 · 5 engines

    The best LLM model for fine-tuning depends on your specific goals, data size, budget, and deployment constraints. Models like Qwen, Llama, and Mistral are popular choices for fine-tuning, with Qwen offering strong coding and multilingual abilities, Llama providing excellent quality and a huge ecosystem, and Mistral having commercial-friendly licensing. Ultimately, the right model for you will depend on your particular use case and requirements.

    • 1Qwennamed in 3 of 5 answersGemini logoCopilot logo
    • 2Llamanamed in 2 of 5 answersGemini logoCopilot logo
    • 3Mistralnamed in 2 of 5 answersGemini logoCopilot logo
    • 4Unslothnamed in 2 of 5 answersGemini logoCopilot logo
    • 5Llama 3.xnamed in 1 of 5 answersone answerGemini logoCopilot logo
    • 6OpenAI GPT-5.2named in 1 of 5 answersone answerGemini logoCopilot logo
    • 7Qwen Familynamed in 1 of 5 answersone answerGemini logoCopilot logo
    • 8Google Gemini 3.1 Pronamed in 1 of 5 answersone answerGemini logoCopilot logo
    • 9Llama Familynamed in 1 of 5 answersone answerGemini logoCopilot logo
    • 10Anthropic Claude Opus 4.6named in 1 of 5 answersone answerGemini logoCopilot logo
    • 11Axolotlnamed in 1 of 5 answersone answerGemini logoCopilot logo
    • 12DeepSeeknamed in 1 of 5 answersone answerGemini logoCopilot logo
    • 13Llama Factorynamed in 1 of 5 answersone answerGemini logoCopilot logo
    • 14Meta Llama 4named in 1 of 5 answersone answerGemini logoCopilot logo
    • 15DeepSeek V3.1 Terminusnamed in 1 of 5 answersone answerGemini logoCopilot logo
    • 16Alibaba Qwen3named in 1 of 5 answersone answerGemini logoCopilot logo
    • 17Mistral Large 2named in 1 of 5 answersone answerGemini logoCopilot logo
    • 18Microsoft Phi-3 Mediumnamed in 1 of 5 answersone answerGemini logoCopilot logo
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    The full measurement

    • The position each of the 5 engines gave all 18 names.
    • How many of the 5 answers named each of them.
    • 23 sampled observations behind this ranking, and where the engines disagree.
    • Fan-out — the query each engine actually searched.
    • Every citation, and the sources nobody cited.
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