Cohere vs the Open Frontier: Up to 5× the Intelligence, in Your Office
On Artificial Analysis’s new index, Cohere’s best model scores 6.2. The open models Faraday Machines runs on a Mac Studio in your office score up to 32.5, for a fixed monthly price with Faraday Arc included.
Key takeaways
- Cohere Command A+ scores 6.2 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index v5. The open models Faraday Machines runs score up to 32.5, 5.2× as high.
- On agentic work the gap reaches 83×, and on banking tasks open models beat even OpenAI’s GPT-6 Astra.
- Cohere prices its North and Compass platforms by quote; Canada’s federal government has signed three contracts worth C$2,644,200.
- Faraday Machines costs $299, $599 or $999 US a month, with the Mac Studio, the models and Faraday Arc included.
Up to 5× the Score
Artificial Analysis, the independent benchmarker the industry quotes, launched Intelligence Index v5 on October 27, 2026. On it, Cohere’s flagship Command A+ scores 6.2. Every open model Faraday Machines runs scores higher, from 13.6 to 32.5.
The Scoreboard
Green rows run on Faraday Machines hardware. The grey row is Cohere’s best model.
| Model | AA Index v5 | vs Command A+ | Runs on Faraday |
|---|---|---|---|
| DeepSeek V4.1 Flash, DeepSeek | 32.5 | 5.2× | Scale |
| GLM-5.3, Z.ai | 31.7 | 5.1× | Scale |
| MiMo-V2.6-Pro, Xiaomi | 29.9 | 4.8× | Yes, custom cluster |
| GLM-5.3-Flash, Z.ai | 27.8 | 4.4× | Scale |
| MiMo-V2.6-Flash, Xiaomi | 26.7 | 4.3× | Scale |
| Qwen3.8-27B, Alibaba | 20.1 | 3.2× | Starter |
| MiniMax M3, MiniMax | 18.7 | 3.0× | Scale |
| Nemotron 3.5 Super VL, NVIDIA | 13.6 | 2.2× | Growth |
| Command A+, Cohere | 6.2 | 1× | — |
Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index v5.0, November 1, 2026, measured at full precision. Starter, Growth and Scale are single Mac Studios; custom clusters link several. Versions sized for a single Mac Studio trade a little quality on long or precise work, and a custom cluster runs them at full 4-bit.
You don’t need the biggest machine to beat Cohere: the 17 GB Qwen3.8-27B on the $299 Starter scores 3.2× Command A+.
Test by Test, the Gap Gets Wider
Command A+ barely registers on agentic tests, where a model has to plan, use tools and finish the job.
| Benchmark | Open vs Command A+ | Command A+ | DeepSeek V4.1 Flash | GLM-5.3 | Qwen3.8-27B |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AA-Briefcase Knowledge work, rated head to head (Elo) |
+1,214 Elo | 356 | 1,570 | 1,505 | 1,393 |
| AutomationBench-AA Automating business workflows |
37× | 1.8% | 66.6% | 62.2% | 48.2% |
| GDP.pdf Knowledge-work tasks |
17× | 1.0% | 17.2% | 11.2% | 16.4% |
| Terminal-Bench 4.0 Agentic work in a computer terminal |
83× | 0.5% | 33.8% | 41.9% | 5.6% |
| FrontierCode 2.0 Real coding tasks a maintainer would merge |
28.5% vs 0% | 0.0% | 28.5% | 21.6% | 14.9% |
| τ³-Banking A banking customer-service agent using tools |
8.4× | 6.0% | — | 50.3% | 48.0% |
Artificial Analysis evaluations, November 1, 2026. AA-Briefcase is an Elo rating; the others are the share of tasks passed.
This is frontier-class work. On τ³-Banking, GLM-5.3 (50.3%) and Qwen3.8-27B (48.0%) beat OpenAI’s GPT-6 Astra (41.4%), and on knowledge work DeepSeek V4.1 Flash rates level with it. Only the very top, led by Claude Opus 5.5 at 58.4, is still ahead.
Cohere’s Price: Ask for a Quote
Cohere sells to large enterprises, banks and governments. Its search-and-agents platforms, North and Compass, carry no published price, only “custom enterprise pricing.” The deals on record:
- Government of Canada: three contracts since November 2025 worth C$2,644,200, all awarded without competition. The first, C$339,000, paid for one year of a single Command A instance.
- TD Bank: up to $25 million over three years, announced in September 2026.
- Retrieval add-ons: a dedicated Embed, Rerank or Parse instance costs $2,000 to $4,300 a month each.
The Faraday Machines Advantage
Stronger models, in your own office, at a price you know before you sign. Every plan includes the Mac Studio, the open models, support and Faraday Arc, which reads your files, runs 17+ checks, keeps a forecast current and answers questions with the source attached.
| Consideration | Cohere | Faraday Machines |
|---|---|---|
| Best model score | Command A+, 6.2 | Up to 32.5, 5.2× as high |
| Price | By quote; government contracts from C$339,000 | $299, $599 or $999 US a month, hardware included |
| Search and answers | North and Compass, quoted separately | Faraday Arc, included in every plan |
| Where it runs | Cohere’s cloud, unless you negotiate otherwise | The Mac Studio in your office |
| Extra charges | Paid API for most models; dedicated instances $2,000–4,300 a month each | None |
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Cohere Command A+ score on Artificial Analysis?
6.2 on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index v5, launched on October 27, 2026. The open models Faraday Machines runs score up to 32.5, about five times as high.
Can these open models run on a single Mac Studio?
Yes. Qwen3.8-27B runs on the $299 Starter, and GLM-5.3-Flash, MiMo-V2.6-Flash and MiniMax M3 on the $999 Scale. DeepSeek V4.1 Flash and GLM-5.3 also run on Scale, and at full 4-bit quality on a custom cluster.
How much does Cohere North cost?
Cohere doesn’t publish a price; North and Compass are sold on custom enterprise quotes. Canada’s federal government has signed three Cohere contracts worth C$2,644,200 since November 2025.
Does Faraday Arc cost extra?
No. Faraday Arc is included in every Faraday Machines plan: $299, $599 or $999 US a month on a 36-month plan, with the Mac Studio, open models, support and updates.
References
[1] Artificial Analysis. (2026). “Announcing Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index v5.” October 27, 2026. Available at: artificialanalysis.ai
[2] Artificial Analysis. (2026). Model leaderboard, Intelligence Index v5.0, accessed November 1, 2026. Available at: artificialanalysis.ai
[3] Cohere. Pricing: North, Compass and Model Vault, accessed November 1, 2026. Available at: cohere.com
[4] Government of Canada. Proactive disclosure of contracts over $10,000: C-2025-2026-Q4-00308, C-2025-2026-Q3-00385 and C-2025-2026-Q4-00274.
[5] The Logic. (2026). Cohere’s federal government contract for CANChat. February 5, 2026. Available at: thelogic.co
[6] The Canadian Press, via BNN Bloomberg. (2026). “TD Bank announces $25M collaboration with Cohere to facilitate AI adoption.” September 23, 2026. Available at: bnnbloomberg.ca
[7] Faraday Machines. Faraday Arc and plan pricing. Available at: faradaymachines.com/arc and faradaymachines.com/pricing
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