Comparison · Value
Which AI API provider is cheapest?
“Cheapest” is undefined without a workload. A flash-tier model with thrifty prompts can beat a flagship model that produces verbose answers.
This guide helps you answer the question for your data—not for marketing headlines.
Value-tier rate snapshot
| Model | Provider | Input | Output |
|---|---|---|---|
| DeepSeek Chat | DeepSeek | $0.0001 / 1K in | $0.0003 / 1K out |
| GPT-4o mini | OpenAI | $0.0002 / 1K in | $0.0006 / 1K out |
| Gemini 2.5 Flash | $0.0001 / 1K in | $0.0003 / 1K out | |
| Claude 3.5 Haiku | Anthropic | $0.0008 / 1K in | $0.0040 / 1K out |
Hidden costs beyond list price
Retries, support time, compliance tooling, and downtime can dwarf token savings—include them in TCO.
How to compare fairly
Freeze a evaluation set, measure tokens and accuracy per model, multiply tokens by rates, add rework costs.
Optimization beats vendor hopping
Ten percent fewer output tokens often saves more than switching logos—optimize prompts first.
When ultra-cheap models fail
High-stakes workflows—finance, safety, regulated advice—may need premium models regardless of list price.
FAQ: Cheapest LLM APIs
Short answers mirror the structured data on this page for search engines and readers.
- Is DeepSeek always the cheapest?
- On many text workloads it leads list price, but verify output length and compliance fit.
- What about self-hosted models?
- Compare fully loaded GPU/human costs—not just electricity.
- Do batch endpoints change the answer?
- They can materially lower effective price if latency is acceptable.
- How often should we re-evaluate?
- Quarterly or whenever a vendor changes pricing or you launch a major new feature.