LLM API cost comparison table (2026-10-16)

Every tracked LLM ranked by what a single 600-word-in / 150-word-out message costs, with sources and cross-checks.

Bottom line: cheapest is Meta: Llama 3.1 8B Instruct at about $0.00006 per message; the median model costs $0.00114 per message; the most expensive, Anthropic: Claude Fable 5, costs $0.02 per message. That is a 321× spread for the same workload.

Scenario: ONE chat message: 600 words in (prompt + history) / 150 words out.

VendorModelIn $/1MOut $/1MCost per messageSource / check
Meta (Llama)Meta: Llama 3.1 8B Instruct$0.05$0.08$0.00006source 2026-10-16 ✔ matches
Meta (Llama)Meta: Llama 3.2 1B Instruct$0.027$0.201$0.00006source 2026-10-16 ✔ matches
MistralMistral: Ministral 3 3B 2512$0.1$0.1$0.00010source 2026-10-16 ✔ matches
Meta (Llama)Meta: Llama 3.2 3B Instruct$0.05$0.33$0.00011source 2026-10-16 ✔ matches
DeepSeekDeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0423$0.091$0.182$0.00011source 2026-10-16 ℹ vs market median ($0.14/$0.28)
DeepSeekDeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731$0.0111$0.64$0.00014source 2026-10-16 ℹ vs market median ($0.14/$0.4785)
MistralMistral: Ministral 3 8B 2512$0.15$0.15$0.00015source 2026-10-16 ✔ matches
DeepSeekDeepSeek: DeepSeek V4.1 Flash$0.018$0.684$0.00015source 2026-10-16 ⚠ differs from lab price ($0.15/$0.6)
Meta (Llama)Meta: Llama Guard 4 12B$0.18$0.18$0.00018source 2026-10-16 ✔ matches
AnthropicAnthropic: Claude Haiku 5.5$0.1$0.5$0.00018source 2026-10-16 ✔ matches
OpenAIOpenAI: GPT-6 Luna Pro$0.1$0.5$0.00018source 2026-10-16 ✔ matches
OpenAIOpenAI: GPT-6 Luna$0.1$0.5$0.00018source 2026-10-16 ✔ matches
MistralMistral: Ministral 3 14B 2512$0.2$0.2$0.00020source 2026-10-16 ✔ matches
MistralMistral: Mistral Small 4$0.15$0.6$0.00024source 2026-10-16 ✔ matches
Meta (Llama)Meta: Llama 4 Scout$0.18$0.59$0.00026source 2026-10-16 ℹ vs market median ($0.1/$0.3139)
Meta (Llama)Meta: Llama 4 Maverick$0.1875$0.6525$0.00028source 2026-10-16 ℹ vs market median ($0.2546/$0.85)
DeepSeekDeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.2 Exp$0.27$0.41$0.00030source 2026-10-16 ⚠ differs from lab price ($0.28/$0.42)
DeepSeekDeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Flash Vision Exp$0.2156$0.6468$0.00030source 2026-10-16 ℹ vs market median ($0.3321/$0.9963)
DeepSeekDeepSeek: DeepSeek V3.2$0.259$0.8$0.00037source 2026-10-16 ⚠ differs from lab price ($0.28/$0.42)
Meta (Llama)Meta: Llama 3.1 70B Instruct$0.4$0.4$0.00040source 2026-10-16 ℹ vs market median ($0.4/$0.56)
GoogleGoogle: Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite$0.25$1.5$0.00050source 2026-10-16 ✔ matches
Meta (Llama)Meta: Llama 3.3 70B Instruct$0.59$0.79$0.00063source 2026-10-16 ℹ vs market median ($0.5683/$0.72)
MistralMistral: Mistral Large 3 2512$0.5$1.5$0.00070source 2026-10-16 ✔ matches
MistralMistral: Devstral 2 2512$0.4$2.0$0.00072source 2026-10-16 ✔ matches
GoogleGoogle: Gemini 3.5 Flash Lite$0.3$2.5$0.00074source 2026-10-16 ✔ matches
DeepSeekDeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Pro 0813$0.66$1.98$0.00092source 2026-10-16 ✔ matches
MistralMistral: Mistral Large 4$0.68$2.09$0.00096source 2026-10-16 ✔ matches
DeepSeekDeepSeek: DeepSeek V4 Pro 0423$0.9553$1.9105$0.00114source 2026-10-16 ⚠ differs from lab price ($0.66/$1.98)
xAISpaceXAI: Grok Build 0.1$1.0$2.0$0.00120source 2026-10-16 ✔ matches
GoogleGoogle: Gemini 3.7 Flash$0.75$3.75$0.00135source 2026-10-16 ✔ matches
GoogleGoogle: Gemini 3.6 Flash$0.75$3.75$0.00135source 2026-10-16 ✔ matches
GoogleGoogle: Gemini 3.8 Flash$0.825$4.125$0.00148source 2026-10-16 ⚠ differs from lab price ($0.75/$3.75)
xAISpaceXAI: Grok 4.3$1.25$2.5$0.00150source 2026-10-16 ✔ matches
xAISpaceXAI: Grok 4.20 Multi-Agent$1.25$2.5$0.00150source 2026-10-16 ✔ matches
xAISpaceXAI: Grok 4.20$1.25$2.5$0.00150source 2026-10-16 ✔ matches
GoogleGoogle: Nano Banana 2.1$1.5$7.5$0.00269source 2026-10-16 no 2nd source
MistralMistral: Mistral Medium 3.5$1.5$7.5$0.00269source 2026-10-16 ✔ matches
xAISpaceXAI: Grok 4.7$2.0$6.0$0.00279source 2026-10-16 ✔ matches
xAISpaceXAI: Grok 4.6$2.0$6.0$0.00279source 2026-10-16 ✔ matches
xAISpaceXAI: Grok 4.5$2.0$6.0$0.00279source 2026-10-16 ✔ matches
GoogleGoogle: Gemini 3.5 Flash$1.5$9.0$0.00299source 2026-10-16 ✔ matches
GoogleGoogle: Gemini 4 Argon$2.0$10.0$0.00359source 2026-10-16 no 2nd source
OpenAIOpenAI: GPT-6.1 Sol Pro$2.0$10.0$0.00359source 2026-10-16 ✔ matches
OpenAIOpenAI: GPT-6.1 Sol$2.0$10.0$0.00359source 2026-10-16 ✔ matches
AnthropicAnthropic: Claude Sonnet 5.5$2.0$10.0$0.00359source 2026-10-16 ✔ matches
OpenAIOpenAI: GPT-6 Sol Pro$2.0$10.0$0.00359source 2026-10-16 ✔ matches
OpenAIOpenAI: GPT-6 Sol$2.0$10.0$0.00359source 2026-10-16 ✔ matches
AnthropicAnthropic: Claude Sonnet 5$2.0$10.0$0.00359source 2026-10-16 ✔ matches
AnthropicAnthropic: Claude Opus 5.5$4.0$20.0$0.00718source 2026-10-16 ✔ matches
AnthropicAnthropic: Claude Opus 5$5.0$25.0$0.00898source 2026-10-16 ✔ matches
AnthropicAnthropic: Claude Opus 4.8$5.0$25.0$0.00898source 2026-10-16 ✔ matches
OpenAIOpenAI: GPT-6 Astra$10.0$50.0$0.02source 2026-10-16 ✔ matches
OpenAIOpenAI: GPT-6 Astra Pro$10.0$50.0$0.02source 2026-10-16 ✔ matches
AnthropicAnthropic: Claude Fable 5.1$10.0$50.0$0.02source 2026-10-16 ✔ matches
AnthropicAnthropic: Claude Fable 5$10.0$50.0$0.02source 2026-10-16 ✔ matches

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