Best AI for coding / head-to-head

Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview vs GPT-5.5for coding

The verdict

GPT-5.5 wins, 9188

Same 18 coding tasks, marked blind by three rival labs. GPT-5.5 took 9 tasks, Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview took 2, 7 tied. Tested 16 Aug 2026.

Where they differed most

The task — Retry with backoff

Write an async retry wrapper in TypeScript: exponential backoff with jitter, a maximum attempt count, and it must NOT retry on 4xx responses other than 429. Maximum 30 lines. State what happens on the final failure.

```typescript
export async function withRetry<T>(fn: () => Promise<T>, maxAttempts: number): Promise<T> {
  for (let attempt = 1; ; attempt++) {
    try {
      return await fn();
    } catch (error: any) {
      const status = error?.status ?? error?.response?.status;
      const isFatal4xx = status >= 400 && status < 500 && status !== 429;
      
      if (isFatal4xx || attempt >= maxAttempts) throw error;
      
      const delay = (2 ** attempt) * 100 + Math.random() * 100; // Exponential + Jitter
      await new Promise(res => setTimeout(r…
```ts
type RetryOptions = { attempts?: number; baseMs?: number; maxMs?: number };

const sleep = (ms: number) => new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, ms));

const statusOf = (x: any): number | undefined =>
  typeof x?.status === "number" ? x.status :
  typeof x?.response?.status === "number" ? x.response.status :
  undefined;

const isNonRetryable4xx = (s?: number) =>
  s !== 429 && s !== undefined && s >= 400 && s < 500;

export async function retry<T>(
  fn: () => Promise<T>,
  { attempts = 5, baseMs = 200, maxMs = 5000 }: RetryOptions = {}
): Prom…

Task by task

TaskGemini 3.1 Pro PreviewGPT-5.5
Duration parser88
Find the bug910
SQL without window functions1010
Infinite useEffect810
Typed debounce99
Leftmost binary search910
Security review910
Safe migration89
Fix the code not the test109
Race condition910
Retry with backoff95
Recursive type1010
Bash one-liner89
Explain and cost1010
Regex with limits88
Callback to async89
Diagnose from a trace88
Idempotency89

Full receipts: Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview, GPT-5.5 · judges claude-sonnet-5, gpt-5.6-terra, grok-4.5

Questions people ask

Which is better for coding: Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview or GPT-5.5?

GPT-5.5 — it scored 91/100 against 88/100 on our 18-task coding suite, winning 9 tasks to 2 with 7 tied. Every answer was marked blind by three judges from three rival AI labs.

How was this tested?

Both models answered the identical published coding tasks. Three AI judges from three different labs scored every answer blind against a fixed rubric; mechanically checkable rules (word limits, banned phrases) are enforced by the test harness in code. The raw outputs and judge verdicts are downloadable.

More coding head-to-heads: GPT-5.5 vs GPT-5.6 Luna · Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview vs GPT-5.6 Luna · GPT-5.5 vs GPT-5.6 Sol · Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview vs GPT-5.6 Sol · GPT-5.5 vs GPT-5.6 Terra · Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview vs GPT-5.6 Terra

Full ranking: Best AI for coding · model pages: Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview, GPT-5.5