8 min
Choosing a model without hype
A checklist that survives leaderboard screenshots: task, context, license, where the data goes, and a real trial.
Do not start with a leaderboard
Public rankings measure a test the vendor or a third party chose. Your task is probably not that test. Rankings also go stale. Use them as a lead to try, not as a purchase order.
Five questions that actually decide
1. What is the task — classify, extract, write, code, or talk? 2. How much context do you need in one request? 3. Where does the prompt go — a vendor cloud, a router, or your laptop? 4. What does the license allow if you self-host? 5. What happens when it is wrong — can a person catch it?
How LearnLumin shows models
The Models page is a live index from Hugging Face and OpenRouter. Dates are when we last fetched those APIs. OpenRouter prices are OpenRouter’s listed rates, labeled as such. We do not crown a winner.
Related AI sites in the catalog
- OpenRouter — A router that exposes many hosted models through one API. Listed prices on this site come from OpenRouter, not from each vendor’s own price page.
- Hugging Face — A public hub for model weights, datasets, and demos. Also a place to run and share models without building hosting from scratch.
- Groq — A hosted inference provider. Speed and available models are whatever Groq currently lists — check their site, not this summary.
- Together AI — A hosted inference platform for many open and partner models. Availability and price are on Together’s site.