Reasoning — the ability to think through problems step by step — has become a defining capability frontier in 2026. Every major model now offers some form of extended reasoning.
How Reasoning Models Work
Reasoning models spend additional compute at inference time, working through problems before generating a final answer. OpenAI’s o-series, Anthropic’s extended thinking mode, and DeepSeek’s R-series all use variations of this approach. The result is dramatically better performance on math, logic, coding, and scientific reasoning.
Performance Impact
On competitive math (AIME, AMC), reasoning models outperform standard inference by 20-40%. On complex coding tasks, they catch bugs and edge cases that standard models miss. The tradeoff is speed and cost — reasoning models take 2-5x longer and cost more per query.
When to Use Reasoning
Use reasoning mode for complex problem-solving, code debugging, legal analysis, and scientific research. Use standard mode for simple queries, creative tasks, and high-volume applications where speed matters.
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