What is the cheapest LLM API in 2026?

GPT-oss 20B is the cheapest at $0.08/$0.35 per 1M input/output tokens. DeepSeek V4 Flash ($0.22/$0.66) and GPT-4o mini ($0.15/$0.60) are close behind. For long-context workloads, Llama 4 Scout (1M context) at just $0.18/$0.59 per 1M tokens.

How much more expensive are premium LLM models compared to budget ones?

Premium models cost 40-400x more than budget models. GPT-5.5 Pro ($30/$180 per 1M tokens) is 400x more expensive on input than Gemini Flash Lite ($0.075). Even within the same provider, GPT-5.5 ($5/$30) is 33x more expensive than GPT-4o mini ($0.15/$0.60). The key is matching model capability to task complexity.

Which AI provider offers the best value for money?

It depends on your needs. For pure cost, DeepSeek and Google (Gemini Flash) are cheapest. For the best cost-to-capability ratio, Mistral Large 3 ($0.50/$1.50) and Kimi K2.6 ($0.95/$4.00) offer strong performance at budget prices. For premium tasks, Claude Opus 4.7/4.8 ($5/$25) undercuts GPT-5.5 ($5/$30) on output pricing.

What is the most expensive LLM API?

GPT-5.5 Pro is the most expensive at $30/$180 per 1M input/output tokens. Claude 4 Opus ($15/$75) is second. xAI's Grok 3 was previously $30/$150 but rebranded to Grok 4.3 at $1.25/$2.50 — a 96% price cut. For comparison, the cheapest model (Gemini Flash Lite) costs 400x less on input than GPT-5.5 Pro.

LLM Pricing Map 2026: Visualizing AI API Costs Across 59 Models