Arena-Hard-Auto
500 hard arena prompts judged by an LLM against a baseline. Cheap proxy for arena rank.
In the authors’ words
The rapid evolution of Large Language Models (LLMs) has outpaced the development of model evaluation, highlighting the need for continuous curation of new, challenging benchmarks. However, manual curation of high-quality, human-aligned benchmarks is expensive and time-consuming. To address this, we introduce BenchBuilder, an automated pipeline that leverages LLMs to curate high-quality, open-ended prompts from large, crowd-sourced datasets, enabling continuous benchmark updates without human in the loop. We apply BenchBuilder to datasets such as Chatbot Arena and WildChat-1M, extracting challenging prompts and utilizing LLM-as-a-Judge for automatic model evaluation. To validate benchmark quality, we propose new metrics to measure a benchmark's alignment with human preferences and ability to separate models. We release Arena-Hard-Auto, a benchmark consisting 500 challenging prompts curated by BenchBuilder. Arena-Hard-Auto provides 3x higher separation of model performances compared to MT-Bench and achieves 98.6% correlation with human preference rankings, all at a cost of $20. Our work sets a new framework for the scalable curation of automated benchmarks from extensive data.
- Level
- University Undergraduates and entry-level professionals
- Scored
- Graded by a model A language model scores each response, usually against a rubric.
- Answers
- Open-ended Free-form text, documents, designs or media judged as a whole.
Mistral Medium 3 leads with 97.1% among models released by Apr 2026
Best score per model as labs report them in their own cards. Labs pick their own settings, so these compare less cleanly than independent runs.
The newest model with a score here came out in Apr 2026, and nobody has reported a newer one. Among the 20 highest-ranked models on the capability index, these have no score yet:
- GPT-6 Astra
- Claude Opus 5.5
- GPT-6.1 Terra
- GPT-6.1 Sol
- and 16 more
- 97.1
Mistral Medium 3
- 95.6
Qwen3-235B-A22B
- 94.4 Hermes 4 405B
- 93.8
Qwen3-32B
- 92.3
DeepSeek-R1
- 92.0
Llama-3.3-Nemotron-Super-49B-v1.5
- 91.9
Hunyuan-T1
- 91.7
Qwen3-14B
- 91.0
Qwen3-30B-A3B
- 90.6 GLM-Z1-32B-0414
- 89.1
MiniMax-Text-01
- 88.6
Hunyuan-TurboS
- 88.3
Llama-3.3-Nemotron-Super-49B-v1
- 87.3
Mistral Small 3
- 87.0
Llama-3.1-Nemotron-Ultra-253B-v1
- 85.8
Qwen3-8B
- 85.5
DeepSeek-V3
- 81.2
Qwen2.5-72B
- 79.0
Phi-4-Reasoning-plus
- 76.6
Qwen3-4B
- 76.2
DeepSeek-V2.5
- 75.4
Phi-4
- 74.5
Qwen2.5-32B
- 73.3
Phi-4-reasoning
- 73.2
Mistral Large 2
- 71.0 Granite 4.1 30B
- 70.2
Qwen2.5-14B-Instruct-1M
- 68.3
Qwen2.5-14B
- 67.1
Qwen-Turbo
- 58.3
Mistral Small 4
- 57.6 Granite 3.3 8B Instruct
- 55.3 Granite 3.2 8B Instruct
- 52.0
Qwen2.5-7B
- 48.1
Qwen2-72B
- 46.5 Granite 4.0 H Small
- 43.1
Qwen3-1.7B
- 37.9
Phi-3.5-MoE
- 37.0
Phi-3.5-mini
- 32.8
Phi-4 Mini
- 1
Mistral Medium 3 97.1%
- 2
Qwen3-235B-A22B 95.6%
- 3 Hermes 4 405B 94.4%
- 4
Qwen3-32B 93.8%
- 5
DeepSeek-R1 92.3%
- 6
Llama-3.3-Nemotron-Super-49B-v1.5 92%
- 7
Hunyuan-T1 91.9%
- 8
Qwen3-14B 91.7%
- 9
Qwen3-30B-A3B 91%
- 10 GLM-Z1-32B-0414 90.6%
- 11
MiniMax-Text-01 89.1%
- 12
Hunyuan-TurboS 88.6%
- 13
Llama-3.3-Nemotron-Super-49B-v1 88.3%
- 14
Mistral Small 3 87.3%
- 15
Llama-3.1-Nemotron-Ultra-253B-v1 87%
- 16
Qwen3-8B 85.8%
- 17
DeepSeek-V3 85.5%
- 18
Qwen2.5-72B 81.2%
- 19
Phi-4-Reasoning-plus 79%
- 20
Qwen3-4B 76.6%
- 21
DeepSeek-V2.5 Sep 2024 76.2%
- 22
Phi-4 75.4%
- 23
Qwen2.5-32B 74.5%
- 24
Phi-4-reasoning 73.3%
- 25
Mistral Large 2 Jul 2024 73.2%
- 26 Granite 4.1 30B 71%
- 27
Qwen2.5-14B-Instruct-1M 70.2%
- 28
Qwen2.5-14B 68.3%
- 29
Qwen-Turbo 67.1%
- 30
Mistral Small 4 58.3%
- 31 Granite 3.3 8B Instruct 57.6%
- 32 Granite 3.2 8B Instruct 55.3%
- 33
Qwen2.5-7B 52%
- 34
Qwen2-72B 48.1%
- 35 Granite 4.0 H Small 46.5%
- 36
Qwen3-1.7B 43.1%
- 37
Phi-3.5-MoE 37.9%
- 38
Phi-3.5-mini 37%
- 39
Phi-4 Mini 32.8%
| # | Model | Score | Setting | Date | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | | 97.1% | May 2025 | Model card | |
| 2 | | 95.6% | Apr 2025 | Model card | |
| 3 | Hermes 4 405B | 94.4% | Aug 2025 | Model card | |
| 4 | | 93.8% | May 2025 | Model card | |
| 5 | | 92.3% | Jan 2025 | Model card | |
| 6 | | 92% | Jul 2025 | Model card | |
| 7 | | 91.9% | Mar 2025 | Model card | |
| 8 | | 91.7% | May 2025 | Model card | |
| 9 | | 91% | May 2025 | Model card | |
| 10 | GLM-Z1-32B-0414 | 90.6% | Apr 2025 | Model card | |
| 11 | | 89.1% | Jan 2025 | Model card | |
| 12 | | 88.6% | Feb 2025 | Model card | |
| 13 | | 88.3% | Mar 2025 | Model card | |
| 14 | | 87.3% | Jan 2025 | Model card | |
| 15 | | 87% | May 2025 | Model card | |
| 16 | | 85.8% | May 2025 | Model card | |
| 17 | | 85.5% | Dec 2024 | Model card | |
| 18 | | 81.2% | Sep 2024 | Model card | |
| 19 | | 79% | Apr 2025 | Model card | |
| 20 | | 76.6% | May 2025 | Model card | |
| 21 | | 76.2% | Sep 2024 | Model card | |
| 22 | | 75.4% | Dec 2024 | Model card | |
| 23 | | 74.5% | Dec 2024 | Model card | |
| 24 | | 73.3% | Apr 2025 | Model card | |
| 25 | | 73.2% | Jul 2024 | Model card | |
| 26 | Granite 4.1 30B | 71% | Apr 2026 | Model card | |
| 27 | | 70.2% | Jan 2025 | Model card | |
| 28 | | 68.3% | Dec 2024 | Model card | |
| 29 | | 67.1% | Dec 2024 | Model card | |
| 30 | | 58.3% | Mar 2026 | Model card | |
| 31 | Granite 3.3 8B Instruct | 57.6% | Apr 2025 | Model card | |
| 32 | Granite 3.2 8B Instruct | 55.3% | Feb 2025 | Model card | |
| 33 | | 52% | Dec 2024 | Model card | |
| 34 | | 48.1% | Jun 2024 | Model card | |
| 35 | Granite 4.0 H Small | 46.5% | Oct 2025 | Model card | |
| 36 | | 43.1% | May 2025 | Model card | |
| 37 | | 37.9% | Aug 2024 | Model card | |
| 38 | | 37% | Aug 2024 | Model card | |
| 39 | | 32.8% | Feb 2025 | Model card |
9 models have held number one since its release in Apr 2024
Lab claims count from the day the card came out, independent runs from the model’s release.
The best score passed 85% in Dec 2024
All the scores we have, one dot each, so a model tested at several settings appears more than once.
Labs headline it less often now, last in Apr 2026
Launch posts from every lab that has listed it, one tick per post. Tall colored ticks include it, and short gray ones leave it out.
| Date | Launch post | Score | As the post writes it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 29 Apr 2026 | Granite 4.1 30B | 71 | ArenaHard |
| 16 Mar 2026 | 58.3 | Arena Hard (reasoning; instruct = 55.8) | |
| 2 Oct 2025 | Granite 4.0 H Small | 46.5 | ArenaHard |
| 26 Aug 2025 | Hermes 4 405B | 94.4 | Arena-Hard v1 (reasoning) |
| 25 Jul 2025 | 92 | ArenaHard | |
| 7 May 2025 | 97.1 | ArenaHard 0-shot | |
| 30 Apr 2025 | 73.3 | ArenaHard | |
| 30 Apr 2025 | 79 | ArenaHard | |
| 29 Apr 2025 | 95.6 | Arena-Hard | |
| 16 Apr 2025 | Granite 3.3 8B Instruct | 57.6 | Arena-Hard (thinking=True) |
| 14 Apr 2025 | GLM-Z1-32B-0414 | 90.6 | ArenaHard |
| 21 Mar 2025 | 91.9 | ArenaHard | |
| 18 Mar 2025 | 88.3 | Arena-Hard (reasoning off) | |
| 27 Feb 2025 | 88.6 | ArenaHard | |
| 26 Feb 2025 | 32.8 | Arena Hard | |
| 26 Feb 2025 | Granite 3.2 8B Instruct | 55.3 | ArenaHard |
| 30 Jan 2025 | 87.3 | arena_hard | |
| 28 Jan 2025 | Arena-Hard | ||
| 20 Jan 2025 | 92.3 | ArenaHard (GPT-4-1106) | |
| 15 Jan 2025 | 89.1 | Arena-Hard | |
| 26 Dec 2024 | 85.5 | Arena-Hard | |
| 12 Dec 2024 | 75.4 | ArenaHard | |
| 19 Sep 2024 | 81.2 | Arena-Hard | |
| 5 Sep 2024 | 76.2 | ArenaHard | |
| 20 Aug 2024 | 37.9 | Arena Hard | |
| 24 Jul 2024 | 73.2 | Arena Hard | |
| 7 Jun 2024 | 48.1 | Arena-Hard |
25 system cards report it, from 6 labs
Besides launch posts, we read the system cards, model cards and technical reports labs publish with a release. They report far more, including safety and frontier-risk tests.
| Date | Document | Score | As the document writes it | Section |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 Aug 2025 | Hermes 4 405B technical report | 93.7 | Arena-Hard v1, reasoning mode (Table 3). Non-reasoning 53.5. v1 printed 94.4 | Capabilities |
| 14 May 2025 | | 85.8 | Arena-Hard, thinking mode (Table 17). Non-thinking 79.6 (Table 18) | Capabilities |
| 14 May 2025 | | 76.6 | Arena-Hard, thinking mode (Table 17). Non-thinking 66.2 (Table 18) | Capabilities |
| 14 May 2025 | | 93.8 | Arena-Hard, thinking mode (Table 13). Non-thinking 92.8 (Table 14) | Capabilities |
| 14 May 2025 | | 91 | Arena-Hard, thinking mode (Table 15). Non-thinking 88.0 (Table 16) | Capabilities |
| 14 May 2025 | | 95.6 | Arena-Hard, thinking mode (Table 11). Non-thinking 96.1 (Table 12) | Capabilities |
| 14 May 2025 | | 91.7 | Arena-Hard, thinking mode (Table 15). Non-thinking 86.3 (Table 16) | Capabilities |
| 14 May 2025 | | 43.1 | Arena-Hard, thinking mode (Table 19). Non-thinking 36.9 (Table 20) | Capabilities |
| 2 May 2025 | | 88.3 | Arena Hard, printed in the reasoning-on column (Table 4). The launch model card labels 88.3 as reasoning off | Capabilities |
| 2 May 2025 | | 87 | Arena Hard, reasoning on (Table 5) | Capabilities |
| 30 Apr 2025 | | 73.3 | ArenaHard (Table 2) | Capabilities |
| 30 Apr 2025 | | 79 | ArenaHard (Table 2) | Capabilities |
| 26 Jan 2025 | | 70.2 | Arena-Hard (Table 6) | Capabilities |
| 20 Jan 2025 | | 92.3 | ArenaHard (GPT-4-1106), DeepSeek-R1 (Table 8, same as final column of Table 3) | Capabilities |
| 14 Jan 2025 | | 89.1 | Arena-Hard (Table 8) | Capabilities |
| 26 Dec 2024 | | 85.5 | Arena-Hard, GPT-4-Turbo-1106 judge (Table 7) | Capabilities |
| 19 Dec 2024 | | 52 | Arena-Hard, Qwen2.5-7B-Instruct (Table 8) | Capabilities |
| 19 Dec 2024 | | 81.2 | Arena-Hard, Qwen2.5-72B-Instruct (Table 6) | Capabilities |
| 19 Dec 2024 | | 74.5 | Arena-Hard, Qwen2.5-32B-Instruct (Table 7) | Capabilities |
| 19 Dec 2024 | | 68.3 | Arena-Hard, Qwen2.5-14B-Instruct (Table 7) | Capabilities |
| 19 Dec 2024 | | 67.1 | Arena-Hard, Qwen2.5-Turbo (Table 7) | Capabilities |
| 12 Dec 2024 | | 75.4 | ArenaHard (Table 1) | Capabilities |
| 30 Aug 2024 | | 37.9 | Arena Hard (Table 3) | Capabilities |
| 30 Aug 2024 | | 37 | Arena Hard (Table 3) | Capabilities |
| 15 Jul 2024 | | 48.1 | Arena-Hard, Qwen2-72B-Instruct (Table 6) | Capabilities |
Versions
We switch the top row to each new version when it comes out. Open it for one row per version. An old version stays in play while people still test it, so whoever first takes it past 85% gets credit for closing it out.
More in Instructions and chat
- IFEval In use Models answer about 500 prompts containing verifiable instructions such as word limits or required keywords. Code checks each instruction for strict and loose accuracy.
Gemma 4 31B IT 98.9%
- IFBench In use 58 new out-of-domain verifiable output constraints. Scored by programmatic constraint checks (strict or loose).
Nemotron-Cascade 2 30B-A3B 82.9%
- MultiChallenge In use Multi-turn conversations testing instruction retention, inference memory, versioned editing and self-coherence. Graded by LLM judge with rubrics. GPT-6.1 Sol 82%
- Multi-IF In use Models follow verifiable instructions over three-turn conversations in eight languages, extending IFEval. Scored by instruction accuracy at each turn. LFM3-1.7B 89.1%
- AdvancedIF In use Models respond to over 1,600 prompts with complex, multi-turn, and system-level instructions. A judge model checks each response against expert-written rubrics.
MAI-Thinking-1 85%
- IFStruct In use Models generate JSON or YAML that must follow a requested schema and phrasing constraints, without constrained decoding. A response passes only if every structural constraint holds. LFM3-1.7B 93.7%