Pixel Canary: The Other Stealth Model This Week

Two days after Space Bunny, Pixel Canary appeared on Vercel's AI Gateway and in Cline. Here is what the Pixel Canary model is, what it scores, and how it differs from Space Bunny.

What Is Pixel Canary?

Pixel Canary is a stealth coding model: a model published without its developer's name, free to use for a limited time. Vercel added it to its AI Gateway on September 25, 2026 under the ID stealth/pixel-canary, two days after Space Bunny Alpha appeared on OpenRouter. On the same day Cline posted that Pixel Canary "has just released and is free in Cline."

Vercel positions the Pixel Canary model for building apps, refactoring existing code, front-end development and mobile app design. The spec sheet is smaller than Space Bunny's: a 262K-token context window and adjustable reasoning effort, with no video input advertised. What Pixel Canary brings instead is a strong, specific benchmark result on real web development work.

If you arrived here searching for the Pixel Canary model after reading about Space Bunny, you are not alone. The two stealth models launched in the same week, both free and both anonymous, and search interest in Pixel Canary rose alongside Space Bunny.

Pixel Canary Specs

FieldPixel Canary
Model IDstealth/pixel-canary (Vercel AI Gateway)
First seenSeptember 25, 2026
Context window262K tokens
ReasoningAdjustable effort
Where it is freeVercel AI Gateway, Cline, AI SDK Playground
FocusAgentic coding, Next.js, front-end and mobile apps
Data policyNo zero data retention; prompts may be used to improve the model
DeveloperUndisclosed

The Pixel Canary Benchmark: Next.js Agent Evals

The headline number for Pixel Canary is about 90% on Next.js Agent Evals, passing 28 of 31 tasks. Vercel built this benchmark from real Next.js development work: App Router migrations, data fetching, image and font optimization, caching and view transitions. It measures whether an agent can finish a practical web task, not whether it can answer trivia.

At high reasoning effort, Pixel Canary ties GPT-6 Astra on that suite and beats Kimi K3, according to Cline and Vercel. For a free model that is a strong result, and it is why Pixel Canary spread quickly among front-end developers.

There are limits to what one benchmark can show. Next.js Agent Evals is a single, narrow suite built by the same company that hosts the model. Independent Pixel Canary tests on other languages and on long-context tasks are still scarce.

Pixel Canary vs Space Bunny

The two free stealth models of late September 2026, side by side.

Pixel CanarySpace Bunny Alpha
First seenSep 25, Vercel AI GatewaySep 23, OpenRouter
Context262K1M
Max outputNot published524K
Video inputNot advertisedYes
ReasoningAdjustableMandatory, 5 levels
Key benchmark~90% Next.js Agent Evals82% GPQA Diamond subset (independent)
Free inVercel AI Gateway, ClineOpenRouter, OpenCode, Kilo Code
Likely makerUnknownMiniMax (tokenizer evidence)

Choose Pixel Canary for focused React, Next.js and mobile work, especially if you already use Cline or the AI SDK. Choose Space Bunny when the job needs the whole repository in context, or when you want to feed in screen recordings. Since both cost nothing right now, the sensible move is to run the same three tasks through each one.

How to Try Pixel Canary

  • In Cline: open the model picker in the Cline extension, pick Pixel Canary, and start a task. No API key billing applies while it is free.
  • Through Vercel AI Gateway: use the model string stealth/pixel-canary with the AI SDK or any OpenAI-compatible client pointed at the gateway.
  • In the AI SDK Playground: search for Pixel Canary to test prompts in the browser before you write code.
Privacy: Vercel notes that zero data retention is not available for Pixel Canary and that prompts and outputs may be used to improve the model. Treat it as a test bench, not a production model.

Who Is Behind Pixel Canary?

Nobody knows yet. Unlike Space Bunny, whose tokenizer was matched to MiniMax within hours, Pixel Canary has no public fingerprinting result. Cline has a history of hosting stealth coding models. In August 2025 its stealth model "Sonic" later turned out to be an xAI coding model. The Vercel side is new, though, and suggests the provider wanted reach among Next.js developers in particular.

Based on how every other stealth model of 2026 ended, expect Pixel Canary to be named within a few weeks and move to paid pricing. Until then, it is one of two strong free coding models you can test this week. The other is Space Bunny.

Pixel Canary FAQ

What is Pixel Canary?
Pixel Canary is an anonymous stealth AI model for coding that appeared on Vercel's AI Gateway on September 25, 2026 as stealth/pixel-canary. It has a 262K-token context window and adjustable reasoning effort, and it is free during its stealth period.
Is the Pixel Canary model free?
Yes. Pixel Canary is free on Vercel AI Gateway while it stays in stealth mode, and Cline announced it as free inside the Cline coding agent. Like every stealth model, the free window will likely end when the maker is named.
How good is Pixel Canary at coding?
Pixel Canary scored about 90% on Vercel's Next.js Agent Evals, passing 28 of 31 real Next.js tasks. That ties GPT-6 Astra and beats Kimi K3 on that benchmark.
Who made Pixel Canary?
As of September 30, 2026, nobody has claimed Pixel Canary. Vercel and Cline describe it only as a stealth model from an undisclosed provider. There is no tokenizer evidence yet comparable to the MiniMax match for Space Bunny.
Pixel Canary or Space Bunny: which should I use?
Use Pixel Canary for Next.js, React and mobile app work in Cline or through Vercel AI Gateway. Use Space Bunny when you need a 1M-token context or video input. Both are free right now, so testing both is cheap.
Does Pixel Canary keep my data?
Zero data retention is not available for Pixel Canary on Vercel AI Gateway, and prompts and outputs may be used to improve the model. Avoid sending secrets or customer data.

Keep reading

Space Bunny

The other free stealth model of the week, with a 1M context and video input.

Stealth Model History

Every anonymous model of 2026 and the lab that turned out to be behind it.

Space Bunny Benchmark

How the rival stealth model scored in independent tests.