How well do AI decision models solve sudoku?
Every OpenRouter decision model gets the same 20 puzzles and fills them in one digit at a time. Every move is recorded, so you can replay any race.
suite v1 · 12 models · 240 runs · $2.4721 total cost · updated 20 Oct 2026
Leaderboard
Ranked by solve rate, then accuracy
| 1 | d1 UltraLiquid | 84.0% | 20/20 | 9.6 | 10s | $0.002697 |
| 2 | Jev 1.14TypeSafe | 83.2% | 20/20 | 10.2 | 7.4s | $0.005278 |
| 3 | Clef OmniCloudflare | 82.3% | 20/20 | 10.8 | 9.9s | $0.0239 |
| 4 | d1Liquid | 81.5% | 20/20 | 11.4 | 9.5s | $0.001373 |
| 5 | Clef FlashCloudflare | 80.4% | 20/20 | 12.3 | 20s | $0.004933 |
| 6 | ClefCloudflare | 80.0% | 20/20 | 12.6 | 23s | $0.0101 |
| 7 | Decision-1Microsoft | 79.6% | 20/20 | 12.9 | 15s | $0.003344 |
| 8 | Decider v1.2Perplexity | 77.3% | 20/20 | 14.8 | 40s | $0.002168 |
| 9 | Mercury DecideInception | 75.7% | 20/20 | 16.1 | 18s | $0.003594 |
| 10 | Solar Decide FlashUpstage | 74.1% | 20/20 | 17.6 | 51s | $0.0433 |
| 11 | GPT-6 Luna DecisionsOpenAI | 74.0% | 19/20 | 17.1 | 14s | $0.0188 |
| 12 | Decider Flash v1.2Perplexity | 79.1% | 16/20 | 11.2 | 37s | $0.004203 |
Running the full benchmark cost $2.4721 across 240 runs
Triage & Robustness →
Sudoku tests one question type. The second benchmark gives every model 60 support tickets and a written policy, using choice, yes/no and score questions. It checks accuracy, whether stated confidence can be trusted, and whether answers survive reordering, renaming, long inputs and prompt injection.
- 1d1 Ultra100.0%
- 2Decision-1100.0%
- 3Mercury Decide98.3%
Races
Each puzzle is one race. Open one to replay every model solving it.
Easy
5
9
2
4
6
3
4
8
1
5
9
7
5
4
2
1
1
2
5
9
4
7
4
9
3
2
3
7
8
7
1
2
1
8
6
9
5
2
4
7
#0140 clues
Jev 1.14✕2
5
7
6
1
3
7
6
3
9
9
4
4
2
3
8
2
6
5
9
1
4
7
8
1
4
6
2
3
5
2
1
6
1
2
3
6
1
8
5
9
#0240 clues
d1✕2
1
5
2
8
7
6
6
3
4
7
9
7
2
8
5
4
1
9
8
4
5
1
8
6
2
9
9
7
2
3
8
7
2
1
9
9
7
6
3
8
#0340 clues
Decision-1✕3
4
2
3
8
1
1
7
4
5
3
3
1
1
8
6
6
9
4
7
5
4
2
8
6
5
3
2
7
4
9
8
2
7
4
3
1
8
2
9
6
#0440 clues
Jev 1.14✕3
5
6
9
3
7
8
5
3
9
1
3
8
2
6
7
5
4
2
7
8
9
9
3
4
1
8
6
2
4
7
1
6
2
5
5
1
4
6
7
3
#0540 clues
Decider v1.2✕1
Medium
Hard
Method
- Puzzles
- 20 frozen puzzles, 5 per difficulty, each with exactly one solution. Every model gets the same boards.
- Each turn
- The model sees the grid and gets one choice question per empty cell (up to 40, most constrained first) with options 1–9. Its 3 most confident answers are placed.
- Mistakes
- Each placed digit is checked against the solution. A wrong digit ends the turn and is crossed off for that cell, so every model eventually finishes. Accuracy = correct digits ÷ all digits placed.
- Rules help
- Answers that break sudoku rules (a digit already in the row, column or box) are skipped, not counted as mistakes.
- Time
- Solve time is the sum of the model's API latency, so queueing and rate limits don't count against it. Replays use the same clock.
- Ranking
- Solve rate, then accuracy, then cost. A run stops early only on errors or a $0.25 cost cap per puzzle.