LLM Intelligence Report · Apr 2024 – Mar 2026

LLM Model Evolution:
The Complete 2024–2026 Reference

A comprehensive catalog of every significant language model release across all major providers and sizes — from 135M edge models to 1.7T+ parameter frontiers. Tracks 239 models across 24 families and 12 providers.

Core thesis: In 24 months, the LLM landscape transformed from a closed frontier (GPT-4 dominant) to a democratized ecosystem — open-source models matching frontier quality, context windows growing 1,250×, and reasoning emerging as a first-class capability tier. The imitation cycle compressed from 12 months to 6 weeks.
239
Models tracked
24
Model families
12
Providers
8K→10M
Context growth
0.5B→2T
Parameter range
By the Numbers
Key Statistics
239
Total Models Catalogued
Across 24 families
47
Open-Source Models
Llama, Qwen, Mistral, DeepSeek…
1,250×
Context Window Growth
8K → 10M tokens
~6 wks
Imitation Cycle (2025)
Frontier → open-source replica
Releases by Provider (Major Models)
Curated landmark launches per company
Release Velocity by Quarter
Major model launches per calendar quarter
Complete Catalog
All 239 Models — Browse by Family
Includes every size variant. Parameters sourced from official announcements where available; estimates marked with (est.)
Chronological Record
Key Release Timeline
Architectural Metric
Context Window Explosion: 8K → 10M
One of the most dramatic scaling axes: 1,250× growth in 12 months
Context Window Growth — Key Milestones (log scale)
Token count at launch for each landmark model
BASELINE (2024)
8K
Llama 3, standard open-source
GOOGLE GEMINI 1.5
1M
May 2024 — entire codebases
META LLAMA 4
10M
Apr 2025 — open-source, free
GEMINI 3 (2026)
2M
Standard frontier context
Parameter Analysis
Model Size Distribution
How the open-source model ecosystem is structured by parameter count
Open-Source Model Size Tiers
Count of models per size range (disclosed parameters only)
Tier Breakdown — All 239 Models
By primary capability tier
Momentum Analysis
Provider Activity Over Time
Stacked Provider Activity — Releases by Quarter
Which providers dominated each period