Every model priced on your workload
Your monthly input and output tokens across all 2026 models, cheapest first.
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AI & LLM Cost
AI Model Cost Comparison Calculator
Compare every major AI model on your own workload. Enter your monthly input and output tokens and instantly see which 2026 model is cheapest, which is priciest, and the full ranking in between.
Cheapest model / month
$0
Cheapest model—
Most expensive model—
Most expensive / month—
Price spread (x)—
Median model / month—
What the AI Model Cost Comparison Calculator does
Model prices vary by more than fifty times, so picking the right one is often the single biggest lever on an AI budget. This AI model cost comparison calculator takes your monthly input and output token totals and prices them across every major 2026 model at once, from budget options like DeepSeek V3 and Llama 4 to premium models like Claude Opus 4.1.
The ranking shows the cheapest and most expensive options and the spread between them, so you can decide where to spend. Many teams route easy requests to a cheap model and reserve a premium model for the hard ones, capturing most of the savings without sacrificing quality where it counts.
Heads up on pricing. The rates built into this tool are public list estimates for July 2026 and can change without notice. Providers also offer batch discounts, prompt caching and volume tiers that lower real costs, so treat the output as a planning estimate, not a quote.
The formula
for each model: cost = (monthly input ÷ 1M × input rate) + (monthly output ÷ 1M × output rate)
price spread = most expensive ÷ cheapest
price spread = most expensive ÷ cheapest
Worked example
With 30,000,000 input and 9,000,000 output tokens a month, DeepSeek V3 costs 30 × $0.27 + 9 × $1.10 = $8.10 + $9.90 = about $18, while Claude Opus 4.1 costs 30 × $15 + 9 × $75 = $450 + $675 = about $1,125. That is a spread of over 60 times for the same workload.
AI model pricing used in this calculator (July 2026 estimates)
| Model | Provider | Input / 1M tokens | Output / 1M tokens |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPT-5 | OpenAI | $1.25 | $10.00 |
| GPT-5 mini | OpenAI | $0.25 | $2.00 |
| Claude Opus 4.1 | Anthropic | $15.00 | $75.00 |
| Claude Sonnet 4.5 | Anthropic | $3.00 | $15.00 |
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | Anthropic | $1.00 | $5.00 |
| Gemini 2.5 Pro | $1.25 | $10.00 | |
| Gemini 2.5 Flash | $0.30 | $2.50 | |
| DeepSeek V3 | DeepSeek | $0.27 | $1.10 |
| Grok 4 | xAI | $3.00 | $15.00 |
| Llama 4 Maverick | Meta | $0.20 | $0.60 |
Prices are public list estimates for planning as of July 2026 and change often. Providers bill per token, where roughly 1,000 tokens equals about 750 words. Always confirm live rates on the provider pricing page before you set a budget.
Ways to lower your AI costs
- Match the model to the task. Route simple requests to a small model like GPT-5 mini, Gemini Flash or DeepSeek V3, and keep premium models for complex reasoning where quality pays off.
- Cache repeated context. Prompt caching means you stop paying full price for the same system prompt or documents on every call.
- Cap output length. Output tokens cost several times more than input, so limiting response length is often the fastest saving you can make.
- Trim prompts and history. Summarize old conversation turns and drop context the model does not actually need to answer well.
- Batch non-urgent work. Many providers offer batch pricing at around half the standard rate for jobs that can wait a few hours.
Frequently asked questions
Which AI model is cheapest in 2026?
For raw token cost, open and budget models like Llama 4 Maverick, DeepSeek V3 and Gemini Flash-Lite lead. Enter your token mix above to see the exact cheapest for your input to output ratio.
Why does the cheapest model change with my numbers?
Because models weight input and output differently. A model that is cheap on input can be pricey on output, so the winner depends on whether your workload is input or output heavy.
Is the cheapest model good enough?
Often yes for routine tasks like classification, extraction and simple chat. For complex reasoning or code, a mid or premium model may pay for itself in quality.
How much can I save by switching?
Frequently 5 to 50 times on token cost, as the example shows. The comparison makes the potential saving obvious for your own volume.
Are these prices exact?
They are July 2026 list estimates. Discounts, caching and batch pricing can shift the real ranking, so confirm with each provider.