Skip to content
AI Assistants & LLMs

LMArena

Free site where you compare AI models side by side and see which ones people rate best.

Free

Quick take

  • The fastest way to see which AI model handles your kind of work best: same prompt, two answers, you pick.
  • Completely free, and often the first place to try new or unreleased models.
  • The leaderboard reflects which answers people prefer, which favours style and length. Treat it as a rough guide.
  • Don't paste anything private. Conversations are collected, partly shared with the companies whose models you test and used in public datasets.

What is LMArena?

LMArena, now called Arena, is a free website where you type a prompt and get answers from two anonymous AI models side by side. You vote for the better one, and only then see which models they were. Millions of these votes make up its public leaderboards for text, coding, web design, images, video, search and agents. You can also pick two named models to compare, or chat with one directly.

Use it to answer "which AI is best for this?" with your own prompts before paying for a subscription, or to check the leaderboard when a new model launches. It's also a free way to try top models you don't have a plan for, often including unreleased ones under code names.

Treat the leaderboard as a popularity vote. It rewards answers people like the look of, and a 2025 study found big labs could test many private versions and publish only the best. Keep private and client work out of it too: conversations are collected, some go back to the model makers and some end up in public research datasets.

Who's using it, and who it's for

  • AI enthusiasts
  • Developers
  • Product teams
  • Journalists

Anyone choosing between AI tools, and people who want to know which model is leading right now.

Key features

  • Battle mode

    Two anonymous models answer the same prompt and you vote before learning which they were.

  • Side by side

    Pick two named models and compare their answers on your own prompts.

  • Direct chat

    Chat with a single model of your choice for free.

  • Leaderboards

    Rankings for text, coding, web design, vision, images, video, search and agents, built from millions of votes.

  • Agent mode

    Ask an anonymous model to build a small web app or game and preview it in the browser.

  • Early access

    New models often appear under code names before their public launch.

How we rate it

3.8overall, out of 5

Our rating, from using the tool ourselves. Each score is out of 5.

Ease of use
3.5

How quickly someone non-technical gets value from it.

Features
4.0

How completely it covers the job it's built for, and how well the pieces fit together.

Output quality
3.5

How good the results are before you fix them.

Value for money
5.0

What you get for the price, including the free plan.

Speed & reliability
3.0

How fast it is and how often it falls over.

Community rating

No community reviews yet. Be the first to leave one.

LMArena pricing

  • Our pick

    Free

    Free

    Everyone.

    • Battle, side-by-side and direct chat
    • All public leaderboards
    • Rate limits and occasional captchas

Which plan should you pick?

There's nothing to buy. Use it free, and pay for whichever assistant comes out best for your work.

Prices in USD unless noted, checked 21 October 2026. Vendors change plans often, so confirm on their site before you buy.

Best use cases

Ways LMArena can slot into your week.

  1. 1

    Pick your team's assistant

    Run five real prompts from your business through side-by-side mode and see which model answers best before buying seats.

  2. 2

    Check the hype after a launch

    Look at the leaderboard a week after a new model comes out to see whether people actually prefer it.

  3. 3

    Choose an image or video model

    Compare image or video models on the same brief before paying for a generator.

  4. 4

    Free access to a top model

    Use direct chat for an occasional question when you don't have a paid plan.

How it fits your tech stack

Use it as a research step to choose the assistant you'll pay for, then do the real work there.

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Free access to the leading models, often before release
  • Blind voting makes it easy to judge models on output alone
  • Leaderboards cover text, code, images, video and agents
  • Real people's preferences are harder to game than lab benchmarks

Cons

  • Rankings favour answers that look good, and labs have been caught testing private versions to climb the board
  • Conversations are collected and partly shared with model makers, so keep private work out
  • Frequent "something went wrong" errors, captchas, logouts and models removed without notice
  • Direct chat is being narrowed, with newer models only available in random battles
  • The company now sells evaluations to the labs it ranks, which raises questions about neutrality

LMArena alternatives

The closest alternatives to LMArena in the library, best rated first.

Why it made the list

It's the most-watched AI leaderboard, and the side-by-side test is the quickest way to see the difference between models for yourself.

Not sure LMArena is the one?

Put it next to a similar tool and see the differences side by side.

Compare LMArena

LMArena FAQ

How much does LMArena cost?

It's free to use. Prices checked 21 October 2026 against LMArena's pricing page.

Is LMArena free?

Yes, LMArena has a free option. There's nothing to buy. Use it free, and pay for whichever assistant comes out best for your work.

What is LMArena best for?

LMArena is best for choosing between AI models with your own prompts, checking which model leads after a launch and trying top models for free. Anyone choosing between AI tools, and people who want to know which model is leading right now.

What are the best LMArena alternatives?

The closest alternatives are Claude, ChatGPT, Google Gemini and Perplexity. Claude is best for long-form writing and editing.

Community reviews

Nobody has reviewed LMArena here yet. If you use it, your take helps everyone else choose.

Used LMArena? Leave a review

Your rating counts towards the community score. No account needed.

Your rating

Pick a star rating first.

More tools in AI Assistants & LLMs

  • Poe

    AI Assistants & LLMs

    Quora's app for using hundreds of AI models and bots under one subscription.

    Freemium
  • ChatGPT

    AI Assistants & LLMs

    OpenAI's all-rounder: chat, images, voice, web search and agents in one app.

    Freemium
  • Claude

    AI Assistants & LLMs

    Anthropic's chat assistant, at its best on careful writing and long documents.

    Freemium
  • DeepSeek

    AI Assistants & LLMs

    A free Chinese assistant that's strong at maths, logic and code.

    Free