Best Nous Models for Coding

Quick answer · Updated June 2026

Hermes 3 405B Instruct (free) is the best Nous model for coding, with a 18.1 Artificial Analysis Coding Index across benchmarks like SWE-bench and SciCode. Hermes 3 405B Instruct (18.1) and Hermes 4 405B (16.0) round out the top three.

18.1Coding

17.6Intelligence

22 t/sSpeed

FreeInput /M

131KContext

AI models ranked by the Artificial Analysis Coding Index, measuring real-world software engineering ability across benchmarks like SWE-bench, SciCode and terminal tasks. The best LLMs for code generation, debugging and agentic development.

Frequently asked

What is the best Nous model for coding?

What's a good alternative to Hermes 3 405B Instruct (free)?

Hermes 3 405B Instruct (18.1) is the closest alternative on this metric, followed by Hermes 4 405B (16.0). See the full ranking above for the tradeoffs.

How many Nous models are there?

modelgrep tracks 5 Nous models with live benchmarks, speed, latency and per-provider pricing, led on intelligence by Hermes 4 405B. 5 of them qualify for this ranking.

More Nous rankings

Nous: Smartest LLMs Nous: Best LLMs for Design & Frontend Nous: Fastest LLMs Nous: Lowest-Latency LLMs Nous: Cheapest LLMs Nous: Best Free LLMs Nous: Best Reasoning LLMs Nous: Best Vision LLMs Nous: Best LLMs for Agents Nous: Best Open-Source LLMs Nous: Longest-Context LLMs

All rankings

Small & Fast LLMs Smartest LLMs Best LLMs for Design & Frontend Fastest LLMs Lowest-Latency LLMs Cheapest LLMs Best Free LLMs Best Reasoning LLMs Best Vision LLMs Best LLMs for Agents Best Open-Source LLMs Longest-Context LLMs