AI Model Benchmark for Agents (OpenClaw, N8N) — April 2026

I'm Cristian Tala — I founded and sold a Chilean fintech (Pago Fácil) for $23M to BCI Bank. Now I invest in startups and build with AI agents.

After running 27 tests with 8 different models from Chile, the results are clear: DeepSeek V3.2 wins on absolute value, but MiniMax M2.7 is the best option for agents with fixed subscriptions.

The Results That Matter

I tested 8 models over 2 weeks running complete benchmarks for content, tool calling, coding, reasoning, and task management. Tests were run from Chile with real connection latency to each provider.

Global Ranking — 27 Tests per Model

Cost/Call = what it costs to process a typical benchmark request (input + output). With 100 requests/day, DeepSeek costs ~$0.024/day vs Claude Sonnet ~$0.42/day.

Recommendation for OpenClaw and N8N Agents

By Use Case

By Subscription

If you already have a fixed subscription, here's the best option by tier:

Key Findings

1. DeepSeek V3.2 is the Value King

With a score of 7.09 and a cost of $0.00024 per request, DeepSeek V3.2 is 17x cheaper than Claude Sonnet for slightly better results. If budget is a variable, this is the answer.

DeepSeek V3.2:   Score 7.09 | $0.00024/req | 36 tok/s | 18.8s latency
Claude Sonnet 4:  Score 6.70 | $0.00415/req | 62 tok/s | 21.1s latency

DeepSeek is better AND cheaper. The only downside: variable latency when there's high global demand.

2. GPT-5.4 Mini Beats the Big GPT-5.4

This was surprising. GPT-5.4 Mini (compact version) outperformed regular GPT-5.4 in all categories and is faster.

GPT-5.4 Mini:  Score 6.74 | 142 tok/s | 6.4s latency | $0.00316/req
GPT-5.4:      Score 6.25 |  65 tok/s | 14.8s latency | $0.00320/req

If you're using GPT-4o or GPT-5.x, switch to the Mini version now.

3. Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite is the Fastest

With 212 tokens/second and only 4.7 seconds of latency, Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite is the fastest model in this test — 30x faster than Claude Sonnet.

For tasks where speed matters more than depth (moderation, classification, low-latency tools), this is the model.

4. MiniMax M2.7 is the Best for Fixed Subscriptions

If you don't want surprises on your bill and prefer paying a fixed monthly amount, MiniMax M2.7 Highspeed offers:

• Score 6.74 (third place globally)
• $20-69/month with unlimited requests
• Excellent tool calling (SOTA for its price tier)
• Image and audio integrated (Image-01, Speech-02)

MiniMax subscription is the only one that includes image and voice generation at no extra cost.

5. Claude No Longer Justifies the Cost

Claude Sonnet 4.6 scored 6.70 — less than DeepSeek V3.2 (7.09), Gemini Flash Lite (6.95), and GPT-5.4 Mini (6.74) — while costing:

• $0.00415/req (17x more expensive than DeepSeek)
• 21.1 seconds of latency
• No cheap API subscription (Anthropic doesn't offer one)

If Anthropic doesn't launch a $20/month plan with API, it's going to lose market share quickly to Google and DeepSeek.

Which Models I Use (After the Benchmark)

After selling Pago Fácil and dedicating myself to investing and mentoring startups, I automated almost all my work with AI agents. This is my current setup:

• OpenClaw (my personal assistant): MiniMax M2.7 Highspeed — fixed subscription, works 24/7, no surprises
• N8N (automations): DeepSeek V3.2 — for workflows that require reasoning
• Quick content (summaries, emails): Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite — speed > depth

I don't use Claude for any of this. And I say this after being a $200/month subscriber. The market changed.

Speed Comparison (tokens/second)

How to Configure Each Model in OpenClaw

DeepSeek V3.2 (Best Value)

{
  "models": {
    "providers": {
      "deepseek": {
        "baseUrl": "https://api.deepseek.com/v1",
        "apiKey": "tu_api_key",
        "api": "openai-completions",
        "models": [
          {"id": "deepseek-chat/deepseek-v3-250324"}
        ]
      }
    }
  }
}

MiniMax M2.7 Highspeed (Best Fixed Subscription)

{
  "models": {
    "providers": {
      "minimax": {
        "baseUrl": "https://api.minimax.io/v1",
        "apiKey": "tu_api_key",
        "api": "openai-completions",
        "models": [
          {"id": "MiniMax-M2.7-highspeed"}
        ]
      }
    }
  }
}

Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite (Fastest)

{
  "models": {
    "providers": {
      "gemini": {
        "baseUrl": "https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta/openai/",
        "apiKey": "tu_api_key",
        "api": "openai-completions",
        "models": [
          {"id": "gemini-2.0-flash-lite"}
        ]
      }
    }
  }
}

The Packs: Which Subscription to Get and For What

After my experience configuring agents for over 100 entrepreneurs in acceleration programs, these are the packs that really work:

Pack 1: MiniMax ($10-$69/month) — Best for 24/7 Agents

Includes: SOTA tool calling, image generation (Image-01) and audio (Speech-02) at no extra cost.

My recommendation: Agent Pro ($19/month) + fallback to DeepSeek V3.2 when MiniMax has high demand.

Pack 2: Google AI ($20/month) — Best for Speed

Includes: 1M token context, integrated in Google Workspace (Gmail, Docs).

Pack 3: DeepSeek + OpenRouter — Best Value

My recommendation: An OpenRouter account with $5-10 credit = 1 year of moderate agent usage.

Pack 4: Local with Ollama — Zero Cost

With an NVIDIA DGX Spark (128GB) you can run:

Strategy: Local first → fallback to OpenRouter when local is busy.

Which Pack to Choose

Conclusion

The April 2026 benchmark confirms what we already suspected:

1. DeepSeek V3.2 is the best absolute value — better than models 17x more expensive
2. GPT-5.4 Mini replaced GPT-5.4 as OpenAI's best option
3. MiniMax M2.7 is the best fixed subscription for agents
4. Claude no longer justifies its cost for most use cases

If you were using Claude because "it was the best," it's time to try DeepSeek or MiniMax. The market changed, and benchmarks show there are better and cheaper options.

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📝 Originally published in Spanish at cristiantala.com. If you read Spanish, check the original for more context and community discussion.