Official sources first
Prices and model limits come from provider documentation, not affiliate roundups.
Verified August 5, 2026
AI model comparisons
with sources you can check
Compare current API prices and context limits, estimate workload cost, and understand the assumptions behind every number. No invented monthly bills or unlabeled benchmark claims.
How this site works
A smaller, auditable comparison is more useful than a long unverified list
The catalog below includes only entries we could verify against provider documentation on the stated date. Product availability and prices can change, so each row links to its source.
Dates and caveats
Introductory prices, cache assumptions, and vendor-published benchmarks are labeled.
Corrections welcome
Found a stale number? Send the source through our contact page and we will review it.
Read the full editorial and data methodology, or see who maintains the site on the editorial desk page.
Verified catalog
Current API model comparison — August 2026
Prices are USD per one million input/output tokens. Context limits and pricing were checked on August 5, 2026.
| Model / provider | Context | Published positioning | Input / output | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Opus 5 Anthropic |
1M | Complex agentic coding and enterprise work; adaptive thinking and 128K maximum output | $5.00 / $25.00 | Official source Verified Aug 5 |
| Claude Sonnet 5 Anthropic |
1M | Fast agentic coding with a 1M context window; introductory price through Aug 31, 2026 | $2.00 / $10.00 Standard price becomes $3 input / $15 output after August 31, 2026. |
Official source Intro price |
| GPT-5.6 Sol OpenAI |
1.05M | Frontier model for complex professional work, coding, research, and tool use | $5.00 / $30.00 | Official source Verified Aug 5 |
| GPT-5.6 Terra OpenAI |
1.05M | Balanced GPT-5.6 tier for strong capability at a lower unit price | $2.50 / $15.00 | Official source Verified Aug 5 |
| GPT-5.6 Luna OpenAI |
1.05M | Cost-sensitive, high-volume GPT-5.6 tier with the same published context limit | $1.00 / $6.00 | Official source Verified Aug 5 |
| Gemini 3.6 Flash Google DeepMind |
1M | Multimodal model for coding, knowledge work, and long-context understanding | $1.50 / $7.50 | Official source Verified Aug 5 |
| DeepSeek V4 Flash DeepSeek |
1M | Low-cost current DeepSeek API model with thinking mode and Responses API support | $0.14 / $0.28 Peak/off-peak pricing was announced without an effective date when checked. |
Official source Verified Aug 5 |
| Claude Haiku 4.5 Anthropic |
200K | Fast current Claude model for high-volume and latency-sensitive work | $1.00 / $5.00 | Official source Verified Aug 5 |
| Model / provider | Context | Published positioning | Input / output | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DeepSeek V4 Flash DeepSeek |
1M | Low-cost current DeepSeek API model with thinking mode and Responses API support | $0.14 / $0.28 Peak/off-peak pricing was announced without an effective date when checked. |
Official source Verified Aug 5 |
| DeepSeek V4 Pro DeepSeek |
1M | Higher-capability DeepSeek V4 API model with thinking mode and 384K maximum output | $0.43 / $0.87 Peak/off-peak pricing was announced without an effective date when checked. |
Official source Verified Aug 5 |
Important: token prices are not monthly subscription prices. Your bill depends on token volume, output ratio, caching, provider tiers, and any regional or platform fees. Use the cost calculator for a transparent estimate.
Unit-price snapshot
Four useful reference points
These cards show the exact published input/output unit rates. They do not pretend that every developer has the same “monthly cost.”
DeepSeek V4 Flash
DeepSeek API
$0.14 / $0.28 / 1M tokens (input/output)
Lowest published unit price in this verified set
- 1M context window
- Cache-hit input: $0.0028 / 1M tokens
- Thinking mode available
- Official API pricing linked below
Claude Sonnet 5
Anthropic API
$2.00 / $10.00 / 1M tokens (input/output)
Introductory pricing through August 31, 2026
- 1M context window
- Strong agentic coding focus
- 128K maximum output
- Price rises to $3 / $15 after August 31
GPT-5.6 Luna
OpenAI API
$1.00 / $6.00 / 1M tokens (input/output)
Lower-cost GPT-5.6 tier for volume workloads
- 1.05M context window
- $0.10 cached input / 1M tokens
- Tool use and coding support
- Official API model page linked below
Gemini 3.6 Flash
Google AI / Vertex AI
$1.50 / $7.50 / 1M tokens (input/output)
Multimodal, long-context option
- 1M context window
- Multimodal input
- Vendor-published benchmark data
- Calculator assumes no cache discount
Original utilities
Turn published rates into your own decision
AI API Cost Calculator
Enter your actual calls, input/output sizes, cache rate, and working days. Every assumption stays visible.
Calculate workload cost →Token Counter & Cost Estimator
Estimate tokens for pasted text and compare the same workload across the verified catalog.
Estimate tokens →Benchmark Comparison
Sort a deliberately small set of comparable, vendor-published coding results with the source and caveat shown.
Open benchmark matrix →Model Shortlist Wizard
Build a transparent shortlist by workload, unit-price priority, and context need.
Build a shortlist →Agent Blueprint Builder
Generate a reviewable blueprint covering permissions, approvals, budgets, and evaluation.
Build a blueprint →Primary-source updates
What changed in the current catalog
Checked Aug 5, 2026
OpenAI GPT-5.6 tiers
Sol, Terra, and Luna are listed separately so readers can compare published unit rates without collapsing them into one generic “GPT” price. OpenAI source ↗
Checked Aug 5, 2026
Claude Sonnet 5 introductory price
The catalog labels the temporary $2/$10 rate and the announced $3/$15 price after August 31. Anthropic source ↗
Checked Aug 5, 2026
DeepSeek V4 pricing
Flash and Pro are separated, including cache-hit rates and the provider's not-yet-effective peak/off-peak note. DeepSeek source ↗
Checked Aug 5, 2026
Gemini 3.6 Flash
The model card uses the provider-published 1M context figure and does not assume an undocumented cache discount. Google source ↗
Reviewed guides
Practical concepts that outlast a release cycle
Choose a Model & Agent Stack
Evaluate the complete system against task outcomes, safety gates, latency, and cost per accepted result.
Read the guide →LLM API Cost Planning
Budget for token mix, caching, retries, agent loops, tools, and real production traffic.
Read the guide →Prompt Caching
Learn when repeated prefixes save money and how to measure misses, retention, and privacy.
Read the guide →Local LLM Deployment
Compare Ollama, llama.cpp, and vLLM by workload, hardware, operations, and security.
Read the guide →Fine-tuning vs RAG
A decision framework for choosing retrieval, training, or a hybrid based on the problem you actually have.
Read the guide →Model Context Protocol
Understand MCP components, trust boundaries, and when a tool protocol helps an agent system.
Read the guide →Structured Outputs
Use schemas and validation to make model output safer for downstream software.
Read the guide →AI Agent Security
Threat-model tool access, secrets, untrusted context, and human approval boundaries.
Read the guide →FAQ
What the numbers do—and do not—mean
No. They are provider-published rates per one million tokens. Monthly cost depends on your workload.
No. The benchmark matrix clearly labels vendor-published results and links the source. We do not present them as independent lab results.
Each data snapshot shows its verification date. We recheck primary sources during updates and accept documented correction reports.