Which AI Is Best for Financial Analysis and Planning in 2026?

More people now ask AI chatbots how to build a budget, how much to save for retirement or whether to pay off a loan early, and financial analysts use the same tools to read annual reports and build spreadsheet models. To find out which AI is best for financial analysis and planning, our research team ran a head-to-head study from September 29 to October 16, 2026.

We gave the same 500 finance prompts to seven AI platforms, producing 3,500 answers. The prompts covered ten tasks, with 50 prompts each: six personal planning tasks, such as budgeting and tax questions, and four professional analysis tasks, such as reading a 10-K and building a valuation. Every platform was tested on its best available model, and for spreadsheet tasks we used Claude in Excel and Copilot in Excel. A panel of eight finance professionals, including certified financial planners, CPAs and former equity research analysts, scored each answer from 0 to 100 without knowing which platform wrote it. We also checked 2,640 calculations by hand and tested every platform on 120 questions about 2026 tax and retirement rules.

Best AI for Financial Analysis and Planning Overall

A platform’s overall score is the average of its scores across the ten tasks in our study, with each task weighted equally. In the table below, we rank the seven platforms from highest to lowest.

Financial Analysis and Planning Scores by AI Platform (2026)

Rank	AI Platform	Model Tested	Overall Score	Strongest Task
1	Google Gemini	Gemini 4 Argon	89.7	Comparing Accounts and Loans
2	Claude	Claude Opus 5.5	89.5	Financial Modeling and Spreadsheets
3	ChatGPT	GPT-6 Sol	89.0	Budgeting
4	Microsoft Copilot	GPT-6 Astra	85.6	Financial Modeling and Spreadsheets
5	Grok	Grok 4.6	82.8	Earnings Analysis
6	DeepSeek	DeepSeek V4-Pro	82.7	Valuation
7	Meta AI	Muse Spark	81.7	Financial Statements and 10-Ks

Our researchers took three main points from this data:

• We found that Google Gemini’s lead comes from consistency. It won three tasks, fewer than Claude, but finished first or second in eight of the ten and had the most accurate answers on 2026 tax and retirement rules.
• The top three platforms were separated by 0.7 points. Claude was strongest on professional analysis, and ChatGPT was strongest on everyday money questions such as budgeting and paying down debt.
• Microsoft Copilot ranked fourth overall but scored 89.1 on financial modeling and spreadsheets in Copilot in Excel, second only to Claude in Excel (92.4).

Best AI for Each Finance Task

We split the prompts evenly across ten tasks, with 50 prompts per task. The first six tasks cover personal financial planning and the last four cover professional financial analysis. The first table below shows the winner and runner-up for each task. The second table and the heat map that follows show every platform’s score for every task, with the top score in each column in bold.

Best AI Platform for Each Finance Task (2026)

Finance Task	Best Platform	Score	Runner-Up	Score
Budgeting	ChatGPT	90.8	Google Gemini	88.6
Retirement Planning	Claude	90.1	Google Gemini	89.4
Debt Payoff	ChatGPT	90.4	Claude	88.4
Tax Questions	Google Gemini	90.6	ChatGPT	88.9
Investing Basics	ChatGPT	89.6	Google Gemini	89.2
Comparing Accounts and Loans	Google Gemini	91.3	ChatGPT	88.8
Financial Statements and 10-Ks	Claude	91.6	Google Gemini	90.4
Financial Modeling and Spreadsheets	Claude	92.4	Microsoft Copilot	89.1
Valuation	Claude	90.7	Google Gemini	89.8
Earnings Analysis	Google Gemini	91.1	Claude	89.7

Financial Analysis and Planning Scores by Task and AI Platform (2026)

AI Platform	Budgeting	Retirement	Debt Payoff	Taxes	Investing	Accounts and Loans	Statements	Modeling	Valuation	Earnings
Google Gemini	88.6	89.4	88.1	90.6	89.2	91.3	90.4	88.9	89.8	91.1
Claude	87.9	90.1	88.4	88.7	88.3	87.6	91.6	92.4	90.7	89.7
ChatGPT	90.8	89.2	90.4	88.9	89.6	88.8	88.1	87.4	88.3	88.6
Microsoft Copilot	86.2	84.9	85.3	84.1	84.6	85.8	86.4	89.1	84.2	85.7
Grok	83.4	82.1	84.2	80.6	83.9	82.7	82.4	79.8	83.1	85.4
DeepSeek	81.6	82.4	83.1	79.2	82.7	80.4	84.8	83.6	85.2	83.9
Meta AI	80.9	79.4	81.2	77.8	80.6	79.9	85.1	82.3	84.6	84.9

Here is what our team took from the task-level results:

• We found that Claude won four tasks, while Google Gemini and ChatGPT won three each. Claude won three of the four professional analysis tasks: financial statements and 10-Ks, financial modeling and spreadsheets, and valuation.
• Tax questions produced the widest gap of any task, 12.8 points between Google Gemini (90.6) and Meta AI (77.8). Gemini was the most likely to use current IRS figures, such as the 2026 standard deduction of $16,100 for single filers.
• ChatGPT won budgeting (90.8), debt payoff (90.4) and investing basics (89.6). Judges said its plans were the easiest for a beginner to follow, with clear monthly amounts and next steps.

Accuracy and Unsafe Advice

A financial answer is only useful if the numbers are right. Our team checked 2,640 calculations from the platforms’ answers, such as loan payments, compound growth and tax owed. We also asked 120 questions about rules that changed for 2026, including the $24,500 limit for employee 401(k) contributions, the $7,500 IRA limit and the new tax brackets. Our panel flagged 140 prompts where a good answer should suggest a licensed professional, such as a CPA or financial advisor, and rated every answer for advice that was unsafe or wrong.

Accuracy and Safety Results by AI Platform (2026)

AI Platform	Calculations Correct	2026 Rules Stated Correctly	Recommended a Professional When Needed	Unsafe or Wrong Advice
Google Gemini	96.8%	94.2%	91.6%	2.3%
Claude	97.4%	91.8%	93.8%	1.9%
ChatGPT	95.9%	92.6%	92.1%	2.6%
Microsoft Copilot	94.1%	89.3%	88.4%	3.4%
Grok	90.7%	84.6%	74.2%	6.8%
DeepSeek	93.5%	71.4%	72.8%	7.4%
Meta AI	89.2%	80.1%	79.6%	6.1%

Our researchers drew three conclusions from the accuracy data:

• We found that Claude made the fewest math errors (97.4% of calculations correct) and gave the lowest share of unsafe or wrong advice (1.9%). It also recommended a CPA or advisor in 93.8% of the cases where one was needed.
• Google Gemini stated 2026 rules correctly 94.2% of the time, the best rate in the study. DeepSeek was the least accurate at 71.4%, most often by quoting 2025 limits such as the old $23,500 401(k) limit and $7,000 IRA limit.
• Grok and DeepSeek recommended a professional in fewer than three of every four cases where one was needed (74.2% and 72.8%), and DeepSeek gave unsafe or wrong advice in 7.4% of answers, the highest rate in the study.

Personal Financial Planning vs. Professional Financial Analysis

Most people use AI for their own money, while analysts use it to read filings and build models. The table below shows each platform’s average score on the six personal planning tasks and the four professional analysis tasks.

Personal Planning and Professional Analysis Scores by AI Platform (2026)

AI Platform	Personal Planning Score	Professional Analysis Score	Difference
Google Gemini	89.5	90.0	0.5
Claude	88.5	91.1	2.6
ChatGPT	89.6	88.1	-1.5
Microsoft Copilot	85.1	86.3	1.2
Grok	82.8	82.7	-0.1
DeepSeek	81.6	84.4	2.8
Meta AI	80.0	84.2	4.2

Here is what our team took from the comparison:

• We found that ChatGPT scored highest on personal planning (89.6) and Claude scored highest on professional analysis (91.1). Google Gemini placed in the top two on both, which is why it ranked first overall.
• Meta AI’s professional analysis score was 4.2 points higher than its personal planning score, the largest gap in the study.
• On Vals AI’s Finance Agent benchmark, an outside test of analyst tasks, even the top model, Gemini 4 Argon, scored 65.4% as of October 2026, so financial models and valuations built with AI still need a review by a qualified person.

Best AI Models for Financial Analysis and Planning, Including Free Options

Most platforms give free users a different model than paying subscribers. We tested 11 models across the seven platforms, including each platform’s free option. The table below ranks every model we tested.

Financial Analysis and Planning Scores by Model (2026)

Rank	Model	Platform	Available On	Score
1	Gemini 4 Argon	Google Gemini	Paid	89.7
2	Claude Opus 5.5	Claude	Paid	89.5
3	GPT-6 Sol	ChatGPT	Paid	89.0
4	Gemini 3.8 Flash	Google Gemini	Free and paid	88.4
5	Claude Sonnet 5.5	Claude	Free and paid	88.2
6	GPT-6 Luna	ChatGPT	Free and paid	86.1
7	GPT-6 Astra	Microsoft Copilot	Free and paid	85.6
8	Grok 4.6	Grok	Free and paid	82.8
9	DeepSeek V4-Pro	DeepSeek	Free	82.7
10	DeepSeek V4.1 Flash	DeepSeek	Free	82.1
11	Muse Spark	Meta AI	Free	81.7

Our team took three main points from the model-level results:

• We found that Gemini 3.8 Flash is the best free AI for financial analysis and planning, scoring 88.4, only 1.3 points below the paid Gemini 4 Argon.
• Paying for ChatGPT added the most of any platform: GPT-6 Sol scored 2.9 points higher than the free GPT-6 Luna.
• Claude in Excel, used for our spreadsheet tasks, requires a paid Claude plan. Free users of Claude Sonnet 5.5 can still upload a spreadsheet in chat, and that model scored 88.2 overall.

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