The red carpet has been rolled up, the official Oscars have been handed out — and now it’s time for the award show that actually matters to millions of everyday users: the AI-Oscar 2026, decided entirely by popular vote from readers of QUASA.
In the biggest AI people’s choice ceremony to date, tens of thousands of users cast their ballots across 12 categories. The results are in — and they reveal exactly which tools real people are using, loving, and relying on every single day.
Here are the winners of the very first AI-Oscar:
🎭 Best Lead Role (LLM of the Year)
Tie: Claude and ChatGPT
Claude took home half the statue for its unmatched performance in office and professional tasks, while ChatGPT claimed the other half as the ultimate all-rounder — coding, general knowledge, casual chats, photo and video analysis, and document work. A perfect split that reflects how users actually switch between the two giants.
🎨 Best Art Direction (Image Generation)
Winner: Gemini (Nano-Banana model)
Despite strong benchmark scores from ChatGPT’s latest image generator, the people’s heart belongs to Gemini. Users praised its creativity, speed, and consistent style — making it the clear crowd favorite.
🎬 Best Short Film (Video Generation)
Winner: Veo by Google
Google’s Veo emerged as the most beloved video generator among everyday users. While OpenAI’s Sora remains a strong contender and Kling is still building its audience, Veo won the popular vote for accessibility and quality.
🎵 Best Original Score (Music Generation)
Winner: Suno
Suno dominated this category with zero serious competition. Users love it for creating ad voice-overs, audio reviews, educational tracks, background music, and full songs — all at professional quality.
🔍 Best Documentary (AI Search)
Winner: Perplexity AI
Perplexity continues to win hearts as the go-to search engine for real people, even though some benchmarks favor Claude or Grok. Its clean interface and reliable citations made it the people’s champion once again.
📚 Best Adapted Screenplay (Document Analysis)
Winner: NotebookLM by Google
The simplest and most powerful way to work with PDFs, articles, research papers, and entire knowledge bases. NotebookLM made complex document work feel effortless — and users rewarded it with gold.
🌍 Best Foreign Language Film (Translator)
Winner: Google Translate
The veteran proved it still rules. Even with ChatGPT and Gemini closing the gap, Google Translate remains the fastest, most convenient, and most reliable translator for the masses.
💻 Best Editing (Coding Assistant)
Winner: Claude Code
At the time of voting (early 2026), Claude Code was the undisputed leader. Although the race has since tightened with Codex gaining ground, Claude still took home the Oscar in this hotly contested category.
🎤 Best Voice-Over Performance (Speech Synthesis)
Winner: ElevenLabs
The de-facto standard for professional voice work. While Inworld and Minimax offer cheaper alternatives on popular languages, ElevenLabs’ quality remains unmatched for most users.
🧑💼 Best Special Effects (AI Avatars)
Winner: HeyGen
HeyGen crushed the competition. Neither Synthesia, D-ID, nor Hedra could dethrone the audience’s favorite for realistic talking avatars.
📊 Best Producer (AI Presentations)
Winner: Gamma
Despite new PowerPoint and Slides connectors from major LLMs, Gamma continues to hold the crown for the easiest and most beautiful AI-generated presentations.
⚙️ Best Director (Automation Platform)
Winner: n8n
The open-source champion won massive respect for its flexibility and community-driven approach. As coding agents improve, more users are writing their own scripts — but n8n remains the people’s director of choice.
🖥 Best Independent Film (Local AI)
Winner: Ollama
For anyone who wants to run powerful models locally with maximum privacy and zero cloud dependency, Ollama is the winner. (Pro tip from voters: for the most beautiful and user-friendly interface, many still recommend LM Studio.)
🏆 Grand Prix: Best Picture (If You Could Keep Only ONE Tool)
Winner: Gemini
Gemini takes home the biggest prize of the night. Users praised its balanced excellence across every category, rapid development, and seamless integration into Google Workspace. Congratulations to the entire Google team!
📈 Red Carpet Stats from the Audience
- 96% of voters use AI several times a day or more;
- 76% switch between 3–5 different AI tools every week;
- Average impact on daily work rated 8.6/10;
- Biggest frustration: inconsistent answer quality;
- Biggest benefit: dramatically increased speed and new creative possibilities.
A huge thank you to every single QUASA reader who voted! 2026 was an absolutely insane
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Thank you!
