Overview
Every model available to your agent consumes a different number of message credits per message, and offers different strengths in return. This page covers the recommended models at each credit tier, so you can balance capability against cost.What you can do:
See what you get at each credit tier, and choose the cheapest model that still handles your hardest conversations.
This page covers the recommended models. For the complete list of every available model and its credit cost, see Build → AI Model.
At a glance
Recommended models by credit cost
1 credit per message
Auto: Engineered by Chatbase for peak performance, speed, and efficiency. It adapts to every conversation, giving instant answers for everyday questions and frontier-grade intelligence for demanding ones, with multilingual and image understanding built in. One choice that handles every turn end to end, tools included. GPT-5.6 Luna: The fastest and most cost-efficient tier of OpenAI’s GPT-5.6 family, optimized for high-volume, low-latency tasks while retaining the core capabilities of the 5.6 series. Gemini 3 Flash: A fast and efficient model with advanced reasoning capabilities, balancing quality, latency, and cost. Ideal for demanding tasks that need quick responses alongside sophisticated reasoning, coding, multi-step function execution, and complex instruction following.2 credits per message
GPT-5.6 Terra: The balanced tier of OpenAI’s GPT-5.6 family, pairing strong reasoning and context retention with everyday speed and cost efficiency. Ideal for the majority of production AI workflows. Gemini 3.5 Flash: A Google reasoning model that delivers fast, high-quality responses. It handles complex questions, multi-step instructions, and image understanding with ease, making it a strong fit for agents that need solid reasoning at low latency.3 credits per message
Claude 4.6 Sonnet: An Anthropic model in the Sonnet series that builds on 4.5 with stronger reasoning, improved instruction following, and better performance on complex multi-step tasks. It offers an excellent balance of intelligence and speed for everyday workflows.4 credits per message
GPT-5.5: One of OpenAI’s most capable models, delivering notably stronger reasoning, improved context retention, and better performance across highly demanding tasks. It delivers high accuracy and efficiency for enterprise workflows.5 credits per message
Claude 4.6 Opus: A powerful model in the Opus series that builds on 4.5 with stronger reasoning, improved instruction following, and better performance on complex multi-step tasks. It excels at demanding coding challenges, agentic workflows, and sophisticated problem-solving while managing context efficiently.How to choose
Rather than starting from the most capable model, start from the cheapest tier that handles your hardest conversations. Weigh these dimensions against your own traffic:Test your hardest real questions against two or three tiers before committing. If the cheaper model handles them, the extra credits buy you nothing.
Next steps
Build
See every available model and its credit cost, and set the one your agent uses.
Compare area
Run the same message against several models at once.
Best Practices
Instructions and data sources affect answer quality more than the model does.
Usage
Track how many message credits your agents are consuming.