Latent Space: Top Local Models List April 2026 — Gemma 4 31B Ranks #3 Global, Z.ai Takes #1 Open

Latent Space·medium signal

Latent Space's April 2026 local models roundup maps the current landscape: Google's Gemma 4 31B (Apache 2.0, released April 2) ranks #3 globally on Arena AI among all open models, while Z.ai now holds the #1 open model rank within ~20 points of top overall. For specific use cases, Qwen 2.5 Coder 14B leads coding (16GB RAM), Phi-4 leads math at 80.4% MATH benchmark, and Llama 3.3 8B remains the best model for 8GB systems. Practical guide for builders choosing local inference models.