LLM API Provider Pricing Comparison
Published 2026-06-25 · Data from 2076 chat models across 5 providers
Picking the right LLM provider for your application depends on more than just raw pricing — but pricing is where most decisions start. This guide compares OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Mistral, and DeepSeek across multiple pricing tiers to help you find the best fit for your workload and budget.
- Which provider has the cheapest chat model?
- Best mid-range options: quality vs price
- Cheapest reasoning models
- Provider pricing averages and trends
- Summary: which provider should you choose?
| Provider | Model | Input / 1M | Output / 1M | Context | Features |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mistral | ministral-3-3b-2512 | $0.1000 / 1M tokens | $0.1000 / 1M tokens | 131.1K | Vision, Tools |
| gemini-2.0-flash-lite-001 | $0.0750 / 1M tokens | $0.3000 / 1M tokens | N/A | Vision, Tools, Cache | |
| DeepSeek | deepseek-v4-flash | $0.1400 / 1M tokens | $0.2800 / 1M tokens | 8.2K | Tools, Cache |
| OpenAI | gpt-5-nano-2025-08-07 | $0.0500 / 1M tokens | $0.4000 / 1M tokens | 128.0K | Vision, Tools, Reasoning, Cache |
| Anthropic | claude-3-haiku-20240307 | $0.2500 / 1M tokens | $1.2500 / 1M tokens | 4.1K | Vision, Tools, Cache |
OpenAI leads at just $0.100 / 1M input tokens with ministral-3-3b-2512, while Google offers the lowest output pricing at $0.300 / 1M through gemini-2.0-flash-lite-001.
For a quick price check across any two models, use the compare tool or estimate monthly costs in the calculator.
Best mid-range options: quality vs price
The absolute cheapest models are usually small or older. When you need a balance of capability, context length, and cost, per-provider mid-range options offer better performance per dollar:
| Provider | Model | Input / 1M | Output / 1M | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAI | ft:gpt-4o-mini-2024-07-18 | $0.3000 / 1M tokens | $1.2000 / 1M tokens | 16.4K |
| Anthropic | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | $1.0000 / 1M tokens | $5.0000 / 1M tokens | 64.0K |
| gemini-robotics-er-1.5-preview | $0.3000 / 1M tokens | $2.5000 / 1M tokens | 65.5K | |
| Mistral | codestral-2508 | $0.3000 / 1M tokens | $0.9000 / 1M tokens | 256.0K |
| DeepSeek | deepseek-v4-pro | $0.4350 / 1M tokens | $0.8700 / 1M tokens | 8.2K |
Cheapest reasoning models
Reasoning (chain-of-thought) models are increasingly popular for complex logic and coding. Here are the cheapest per-provider options with reasoning capabilities:
| Provider | Model | Input / 1M | Output / 1M | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAI | gpt-5-nano-2025-08-07 | $0.0500 / 1M tokens | $0.4000 / 1M tokens | 128.0K |
| Anthropic | claude-haiku-4-5 | $1.0000 / 1M tokens | $5.0000 / 1M tokens | 64.0K |
| gemini-flash-lite-latest | $0.1000 / 1M tokens | $0.4000 / 1M tokens | 65.5K | |
| Mistral | magistral-small-1-2-2509 | $0.5000 / 1M tokens | $1.5000 / 1M tokens | 40.0K |
| DeepSeek | deepseek-v3.2 | $0.2800 / 1M tokens | $0.4000 / 1M tokens | 163.8K |
Provider pricing averages and trends
Average pricing across all chat models tells a broader story about each provider's overall pricing strategy. A provider with a low average input price tends to price competitively across their lineup:
| Provider | Chat models | Avg input / 1M | Avg output / 1M | Cheapest combined |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DeepSeek | 12 | $0.2925 / 1M tokens | $0.6625 / 1M tokens | $0.4200 / 1M tokens |
| 37 | $0.5784 / 1M tokens | $3.9324 / 1M tokens | $0.3750 / 1M tokens | |
| Mistral | 51 | $0.8788 / 1M tokens | $2.7188 / 1M tokens | $0.2000 / 1M tokens |
| OpenAI | 97 | $3.6716 / 1M tokens | $12.3598 / 1M tokens | $0.4500 / 1M tokens |
| Anthropic | 23 | $6.1848 / 1M tokens | $30.9239 / 1M tokens | $1.5000 / 1M tokens |
DeepSeek has the lowest average input price at $0.2925 / 1M tokens / 1M, followed by Google at $0.5784 / 1M tokens / 1M. Anthropic has the highest averages, reflecting their focus on premium models.
Summary: which provider should you choose?
| Use case | Best provider | Best model | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Budget chat | OpenAI | ministral-3-3b-2512 | Lowest combined cost per request |
| Fast, low-cost output | gemini-2.0-flash-lite-001 | Cheapest output pricing + free tier availability | |
| Affordable reasoning | DeepSeek | deepseek-v3.2 | Cheapest reasoning tier with wide context |
| Premium quality | Anthropic / OpenAI | Compare GPT-5.2 vs Claude Sonnet 4.6 | Best on benchmarks for complex tasks |
Every workload is different — use the model directory with benchmark, pricing, and feature filters to find the exact fit for your use case, or load a calculator preset to estimate your monthly cost.