AI Model Pricing
Comparison 2026
Per-token rates are misleading. The real cost depends on YOUR task. Compare actual API pricing across GPT, Claude, Gemini, DeepSeek, and 100+ models.
Key insight: A "cheap" model that uses 3x more tokens costs the same as an "expensive" one. The only way to know the real cost is to benchmark on your actual task. OpenMark shows you cost-per-task, not just cost-per-token.
AI Pricing at a Glance
AI model pricing falls into three broad tiers. Which tier is right for you depends on accuracy requirements, volume, and budget:
Budget Tier
Ministral 3B, Qwen3.5 9B FP8, Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite, Grok 4 Fast, Mistral Small 4: great for high-volume, simple tasks
Standard Tier
Sonar, Claude Haiku 3, DeepSeek-V4-Pro, GPT-5, Claude Sonnet 5: best balance of quality and cost
Premium Tier
Claude Opus 5, GPT-5.5, GPT-5.6 Sol, Claude Fable 5, GPT-5.4 Pro: maximum capability, research-grade tasks
Full Pricing Table (September 2026)
Prices shown per 1 million tokens. Input = what you send (prompts, context). Output = what the model generates (responses).
| Model | Provider | Input $/1M | Output $/1M | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ministral 3B | Mistral | $0.10 | $0.10 | 256K |
| Command R7B | Cohere | $0.04 | $0.15 | 132K |
| Qwen3.5 9B FP8 | Qwen | $0.17 | $0.25 | 262K |
| GPT-5 Nano | OpenAI | $0.05 | $0.40 | 400K |
| Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite | $0.10 | $0.40 | 1.05M | |
| Grok 4 Fast | xAI | $0.20 | $0.50 | 2M |
| Grok 4.1 Fast | xAI | $0.20 | $0.50 | 2M |
| Mistral Small 4 | Mistral | $0.15 | $0.60 | 256K |
| Sonar | Perplexity | $1.00 | $1.00 | 128K |
| Llama 3.3 70B Instruct Turbo API | Meta | $1.04 | $1.04 | 131K |
| GPT-5.6 Luna | OpenAI | $0.20 | $1.20 | 1.05M |
| DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash | DeepSeek | $0.30 | $1.20 | 1M |
| MiniMax-M3 | MiniMax | $0.30 | $1.20 | 1M |
| Claude Haiku 3 | Anthropic | $0.25 | $1.25 | 200K |
| Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite | $0.25 | $1.50 | 1.05M | |
| Mistral Large 3 | Mistral | $0.50 | $1.50 | 256K |
| Glm 4.6 Fp8 | Zhipu | $0.60 | $2.20 | 203K |
| Qwen3.7 Max | Qwen | $1.25 | $3.75 | 1M |
| DeepSeek-V4-Pro | DeepSeek | $1.32 | $3.96 | 1M |
| GLM-5.2 | Zhipu | $1.40 | $4.40 | 262K |
| GPT-5.4 mini | OpenAI | $0.75 | $4.50 | 400K |
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | Anthropic | $1.00 | $5.00 | 200K |
| Grok 4.5 | xAI | $2.00 | $6.00 | 500K |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | $1.50 | $9.00 | 1.05M | |
| GPT-5 | OpenAI | $1.25 | $10.00 | 400K |
| Command A | Cohere | $2.50 | $10.00 | 256K |
| GPT-5.6 Terra | OpenAI | $2.00 | $12.00 | 1.05M |
| Gemini 3.1 Pro | $2.00 | $12.00 | 1.05M | |
| GPT-5.4 | OpenAI | $2.50 | $15.00 | 1.05M |
| Claude Sonnet 5 | Anthropic | $3.00 | $15.00 | 1M |
| Claude Opus 5 | Anthropic | $5.00 | $25.00 | 1M |
| GPT-5.5 | OpenAI | $5.00 | $30.00 | 1.05M |
| GPT-5.6 Sol | OpenAI | $5.00 | $30.00 | 1.05M |
| Claude Fable 5 | Anthropic | $10.00 | $50.00 | 1M |
| GPT-5.4 Pro | OpenAI | $30.00 | $180.00 | 1.05M |
Prices as of September 2026. OpenMark's model registry includes 100+ models with live pricing. See all models →
Why Per-Token Pricing Is Misleading
The Real Cost Formula
What matters isn't cost per token — it's cost per task:
Different models tokenize differently and generate different amounts of output. A model that costs $0.50/M tokens but produces 3x more output than a $1.50/M model actually costs MORE per task.
Hidden Cost Factors
"We switched from GPT-4o to DeepSeek Chat for our classification pipeline. Same accuracy, 12x cheaper per task. We only discovered this because we benchmarked on our actual data — the per-token prices didn't tell this story."
Best Value Models by Use Case
Budget picks (< $1/M output tokens)
Performance picks ($1–$15/M output tokens)
These are general patterns — your mileage will vary. A model that's "best value" for customer support might be terrible value for your data extraction pipeline. The only way to know is to test.
For multi-step AI pipelines, benchmark each step to find the most cost-efficient model per task — routing simple steps to budget models like Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite ($0.25/M input) while reserving premium models for complex reasoning.
How to Find the Cheapest Model for YOUR Task
Instead of comparing pricing tables, benchmark models on your actual workload:
Many OpenMark users discover that a model 10x cheaper delivers the same accuracy for their specific task. You won't find that in a pricing table.
Pricing FAQ
What's the cheapest AI model in 2026?
By per-token rate: Ministral 3B ($0.10/$0.10), Command R7B ($0.04/$0.15), Qwen3.5 9B FP8 ($0.17/$0.25) are among the cheapest. By cost-per-task: it depends entirely on your workload. DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash often wins on cost-efficiency because it produces concise outputs at $0.30/$1.20.
Is Claude more expensive than GPT?
At similar tiers, Claude and GPT are comparably priced. Claude Sonnet 5 ($3/$15) vs GPT-5.4 ($2.50/$15) are close. But Claude often produces more concise outputs, so the cost-per-task can be lower despite higher per-token rates. Full GPT vs Claude comparison →
How can I reduce AI API costs?
1) Benchmark to find the cheapest model that meets your quality bar. 2) Use prompt caching for repetitive workloads. 3) Optimize prompts to reduce token count. 4) Consider batch APIs for non-real-time tasks. 5) Route different task types to different models.
Can you run the benchmark for me?
Yes. The audit service ($299–$499) covers one recurring task across 10–20 models in 48 hours. Optional retainer at $500–$1,000/month for ongoing re-runs as new models ship. Best-fit for tasks with measurable outputs (classification, extraction, RAG grading, routing, moderation). Details on the audit page →
Why Teams Use OpenMark AI
Raw price-per-token is misleading. OpenMark AI scores cost relative to quality — the cheapest model that actually works for your task.
Every benchmark hits live APIs and returns actual tokens, actual latency, actual costs. Not cached or self-reported.
Compare models from every major provider in a single benchmark run. Not 4, not "the big 3" — over 100.
No accounts with providers required. OpenMark AI handles every API call — just describe your task and run.
Don't want to design the test yourself? Have us run it for you.
If you've spent 20 minutes on this calculator, you already know defaulting to a flagship is expensive. Send us your task, we benchmark it across all relevant models (up to 30+) and send back a synthesized report with the recommended primary, fallbacks, cost-at-volume, and re-test triggers. From $299, 48-hour turnaround, no call required.
See What AI Actually Costs for YOUR Task
Stop comparing pricing tables. Benchmark real cost-per-task
across 100+ models. Free tier available.