OpenAI vs Google: API Pricing and Model Comparison
OpenAI and Google are the two largest providers by model count. Here's how they compare on pricing, capabilities, and use cases.
Pricing data sourced from our catalog. Check data sources for provenance and freshness.
Provider overview
OpenAI
- Strengths: GPT-4 family, reasoning, code generation, multimodal
- Model count: 145 models
- Pricing: Premium pricing for premium models
- Strengths: Gemini family, long context, multimodal, cost-effective
- Model count: 0 models
- Pricing: Competitive pricing, especially for Flash models
Pricing comparison
Chat models
| Provider | Model | Input | Output |
|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAI | gpt-5-nano | $0.0500 | $0.4000 |
| OpenAI | gpt-5-nano-2025-08-07 | $0.0500 | $0.4000 |
| OpenAI | gpt-4.1-nano | $0.1000 | $0.4000 |
When to choose OpenAI
- Reasoning tasks: GPT-4 family excels at complex reasoning
- Code generation: Strong code generation capabilities
- Multimodal: GPT-4o for vision and audio
- Ecosystem: Mature API and tooling
When to choose Google
- Long context: Up to 2M tokens for Gemini
- Cost-sensitive: Flash models are very affordable
- Multimodal: Strong vision capabilities
- Speed: Fast inference for real-time applications
Compare directly
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Related guides
OpenAI use-case guide
Model catalog, pricing tiers, and cost optimization strategies for OpenAI.
Google use-case guide
Model catalog, pricing tiers, and cost optimization strategies for Google.
OpenAI vs Anthropic comparison
Compare OpenAI and Anthropic API pricing, model catalogs, and capabilities.
Cross-provider pricing comparison
How pricing compares across OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Mistral, and DeepSeek.
Hidden costs of LLM APIs
Rate limits, latency, evaluation overhead, and vendor risk beyond per-token pricing.
Frequently asked questions
Which is cheaper, OpenAI or Google?
Google's Flash models are generally cheaper than OpenAI's GPT-4 family. For budget workloads, Google offers better value.
Which is better for coding?
OpenAI's GPT-4 family is generally considered better for code generation, but Google's Gemini models are competitive.
Which has better multimodal capabilities?
Both offer strong multimodal capabilities. OpenAI's GPT-4o and Google's Gemini 2.0 Flash are both excellent for vision tasks.