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LLM API Pricing Comparison Table 2026 — Token Costs Across Providers

#openai #api #ai #webdev

Table 1 — Input Token Pricing (per 1M tokens, USD)

Provider

Model

Input Price

OpenAI

GPT-4o

            $2.50
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OpenAI

GPT-4o-mini

            $0.15
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Anthropic

Claude Sonnet 4

            $3.00
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Anthropic

Claude Haiku 3.5

            $0.80
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Google

Gemini 2.5 Pro

            $1.25
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Google

Gemini 2.5 Flash

            $0.15
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Token Landing

Hybrid (blended)

            ~$0.80–1.50
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Table 2 — Output Token Pricing (per 1M tokens, USD)

Provider

Model

Output Price

OpenAI

GPT-4o

            $10.00
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OpenAI

GPT-4o-mini

            $0.60
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Anthropic

Claude Sonnet 4

            $15.00
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Anthropic

Claude Haiku 3.5

            $4.00
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Google

Gemini 2.5 Pro

            $10.00
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Google

Gemini 2.5 Flash

            $0.60
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Token Landing

Hybrid (blended)

            ~$3.00–6.00
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Table 3 — Monthly Cost Estimate (1M requests/month)

Assumes an average of 500 input tokens and 1,500 output tokens per request.

Approach

Monthly Cost

Quality

All GPT-4o

            ~$16,250
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Highest

All GPT-4o-mini

            ~$975
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Good

All Claude Sonnet

            ~$24,000
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Highest

Helix Hybrid

            ~$5,000–9,500
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High (A-tier on critical paths)

Prices are approximate as of early 2026 and may change without notice. Always verify with each provider's official pricing page before committing to a budget.

Why output tokens dominate your bill 

        Look at the tables above: output tokens cost 3–5x more than input tokens across every provider. The reason is
        computational. Input tokens are processed in parallel during a single forward pass, while output tokens require
        autoregressive generation — the model produces one token at a time, maintaining full attention state at each step.




        For most conversational or agentic workloads, output tokens outnumber input tokens 2:1 to 4:1. That means
        **output pricing is responsible for 75–90% of your total API spend**. If you want to cut costs,
        start by reducing output token volume — shorter system prompts that guide concise replies, structured output
        formats, and [caching strategies](reduce-llm-api-costs) all help. See
        [input vs output tokens](input-vs-output-tokens) for a deep dive.
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The case for hybrid routing 

        Running every request through a frontier model like Claude Sonnet 4 or GPT-4o delivers top quality — but the
        monthly bill adds up fast, as Table 3 shows. Conversely, using only a mini/flash model saves money but sacrifices
        quality on the requests that matter most (first user-facing replies, tool calls, error recoveries).




        [Hybrid routing](hybrid-ai-tokens) splits the difference. A policy layer classifies each
        request and routes it to the appropriate tier: A-tier models for high-stakes turns, value-tier models for
        bulk and repetition-safe work. The result is 40–70% lower spend compared to an all-premium stack, with
        near-identical perceived quality. For architecture details, see
        [hybrid AI tokens](hybrid-ai-tokens) and
        [OpenAI-compatible API](openai-compatible-api).
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How to estimate your spend 

        Use this formula:




        **Monthly cost = requests/month x [(avg input tokens x input price) + (avg output tokens x output price)]**




        For example, 1M requests at 500 input + 1,500 output tokens on GPT-4o:




        1,000,000 x [(500 x $2.50 / 1,000,000) + (1,500 x $10.00 / 1,000,000)] = 1,000,000 x [$0.00125 + $0.015] = **$16,250/month**




        Swap in the hybrid blended rates from the tables above and the same workload drops to $5,000–9,500/month. For a
        step-by-step walkthrough, see the [AI token pricing guide](ai-token-pricing-guide).
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Disclaimer: Pricing data is gathered from public provider documentation and may not reflect
negotiated enterprise rates, volume discounts, or regional variations. Token Landing hybrid pricing depends on
your specific tier mix and routing configuration. This page is for informational purposes and does not constitute
a contractual price guarantee.

Originally published on Token Landing

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