GPT-6.1 Sol is the best AI for coding-interview practice. Interview prep needs explanation more than code: why one approach is O(n log n) and another O(n²), which edge cases an interviewer will probe, how to talk through a design. GPT-6.1 Sol reasons through those trade-offs clearly and, at $2/$10 per million tokens, is cheap enough for hundreds of practice problems. Ask it to play interviewer and hold back the answer until you have tried.
The safest coding interviews default, the cheaper option worth trying first, and the specialist pick — before you read the detail below.
GPT-6.1 Sol is the strongest answer here for coding interviews — pick it when quality of output matters more than the $2.00/1M/1M input you pay for it.
Claude Haiku 5.5 handles the same job for about 95% less per token. Start here and only move up if the output is not good enough.
Claude Sonnet 5.5 is the fastest of these for coding interviews — worth it when latency is what the reader notices, not the last few points of reasoning depth.
GPT-6.1 Sol is the best model for interview reasoning and explanation quality.
Claude Sonnet 5.5 is a close alternative and especially good at step-by-step walkthroughs.
Claude Haiku 5.5 gives cheap extra practice reps once you know the patterns.
Use GPT-6.1 Sol for mock interviews, complexity analysis and system-design practice.
Use Claude Sonnet 5.5 when you want a second explanation of a concept that has not clicked.
Use Claude Haiku 5.5 for drilling many easy and medium problems at low cost.
Switch the scoring lens to see whether the coding interviews answer changes when cost, speed, or long-document depth leads the decision.
Anthropic / Balanced / Oct 10, 2026
Near-Opus 5.5 quality on scoped work at half the price.
Ranks models by the broadest mix of coding, writing, research, and long-context usefulness.
The work is long, ambiguous and multi-step — Anthropic positions Opus 5.5 for exactly that — or you need the lowest possible price, where Haiku 5.5 costs a twentieth as much.
Where the coding interviews recommendation shifts once you weigh price or latency differently.
Near-Astra capability at Sol pricing — OpenAI's value pick.
Near-Opus 5.5 quality on scoped work at half the price.
Anthropic's budget model, now with adjustable reasoning, at $0.10/$0.50.
List prices and published scores — the numbers this page's pick is built from.
| Model | Input | Output | Est. month | Context | Speed | Coding | Writing | Research |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GPT-6.1 SolOpenAI | $2.00/1M | $10.00/1M | $40 | 1.1M tokens | Balanced | 98 | 94 | 97 |
| Claude Sonnet 5.5Anthropic | $2.00/1M | $10.00/1M | $40 | 1M tokens | Fast | 98 | 98 | 95 |
| Claude Haiku 5.5Anthropic | $0.10/1M | $0.50/1M | $2.00 | 1M tokens | Very fast | 86 | 84 | 82 |
Scores out of 100 — how we evaluate models. “Est. month” is 10M in / 2M out at list price: a ceiling, no discounts.
Why each one is on the shortlist for coding interviews, what it is genuinely good at, and where we would steer you away from it.
The default answer for coding interviews — 98/100 on the coding axis, and the model we would start with unless the price below rules it out.
OpenAI's September 29, 2026 DevDay release — a Sol-tier reasoning model that OpenAI says comes close to GPT-6 Astra on agentic coding, computer use and professional work at one fifth of Astra's price.
You need it inside ordinary ChatGPT chats today, or your prompts regularly pass 272K tokens where the rate doubles.
OpenAI's best value for serious work. GPT-6.1 Sol replaces both GPT-6 Sol and, for most teams, GPT-6 Astra: independent testing has it a point behind Astra at a fifth of the list price. Pick Astra only when the last point of capability is worth five times the bill.
Full pricing, benchmark table and release notes on the GPT-6.1 Sol page.
The fastest model in this shortlist for coding interviews. Pick it when turnaround is what your readers or users notice.
Anthropic's September 28, 2026 Sonnet — built for well-scoped everyday work like features, bug fixes, documents, slides and spreadsheets, priced at $2/$10 and close to Opus 5.5 on most of Anthropic's launch rows.
The work is long, ambiguous and multi-step — Anthropic positions Opus 5.5 for exactly that — or you need the lowest possible price, where Haiku 5.5 costs a twentieth as much.
The model most people should default to in the Claude lineup. Sonnet 5.5 lands within a few points of Opus 5.5 on most of Anthropic's launch rows, beats it on Terminal-Bench 4.0, and costs half as much. Step up to Opus 5.5 only when the task is open-ended and long.
Full pricing, benchmark table and release notes on the Claude Sonnet 5.5 page.
The cost-conscious pick for coding interviews, about 95% less per token than GPT-6.1 Sol than the top choice while holding 86/100 on coding.
Anthropic's budget model, now with adjustable reasoning, at $0.10/$0.50. Full Claude Haiku 5.5 review →
UseRightAI recommendations are based on practical decision factors people actually feel in day-to-day use.
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For coding interviews, GPT-6.1 Sol (OpenAI) is our pick. Near-Astra capability at Sol pricing — OpenAI's value pick. It costs $2/1M input and $10/1M output tokens, with a 1.05M-token context window — enough headroom for all but the largest coding interviews jobs. Claude Sonnet 5.5 is the closest alternative if it doesn't fit your setup.
Because the work it is built for overlaps closely with coding interviews: coding agents in Codex that need near-Astra quality at Sol pricing and computer-use and browser automation run at volume. OpenAI's best value for serious work. GPT-6.1 Sol replaces both GPT-6 Sol and, for most teams, GPT-6 Astra: independent testing has it a point behind Astra at a fifth of the list price. Pick Astra only when the last point of capability is worth five times the bill.
On a moderate month — 10M input and 2M output tokens — GPT-6.1 Sol runs about $40.00 at list price, with no batch or caching discounts applied, so treat that as a ceiling. Claude Haiku 5.5 is the cheaper route at roughly $2.00 for the same volume, if coding interviews is high-volume enough for price to lead the decision.
Prompts above 272K input tokens are billed at $4/$15. At launch it was available in ChatGPT Work and Codex, not in regular ChatGPT conversations. Avoid it if you need it inside ordinary ChatGPT chats today, or your prompts regularly pass 272K tokens where the rate doubles. None of that rules it out for coding interviews on its own — but if one of those limits maps onto how you actually work, take the alternative on this page seriously rather than defaulting to the top pick.
Claude Haiku 5.5 at $0.1/1M input is the budget option here. Anthropic's budget model, now with adjustable reasoning, at $0.10/$0.50. Expect a quality step down on the hardest cases — the usual pattern is to route routine coding interviews volume to Claude Haiku 5.5 and keep GPT-6.1 Sol for the work where a wrong answer is expensive.
Claude Haiku 5.5, rated very fast against GPT-6.1 Sol's balanced. Speed matters most for interactive and high-volume work; if your coding interviews runs in the background, the slower and more capable model is usually the better trade.