# Cheapest LLM API by workload 

Among 86 models released in the last year, the lowest input price is [Claude Haiku 5.5](https://apicostcheck.com/models/claude-haiku-5-5/) at $0.10 per 1M tokens and the lowest output price is [MiMo V2.6 Flash](https://apicostcheck.com/models/mimo-v2.6-flash/) at $0.28. The cheapest model for you depends on the mix of input, output and cached tokens, so each table below ranks models for one typical workload; put your own numbers into the [calculator](https://apicostcheck.com/calculator/) for an exact ranking. 

Estimates from published per-token rates; check official pricing before budgeting. Data synced from the LiteLLM price list 2026-10-12 08:00 UTC.

## Cheapest for: Customer support chatbot

5,000 req/day · 1,200 in · 400 out · cache 60% · [Calculate with your numbers →](https://apicostcheck.com/calculator/?preset=chatbot)

| # | Model | Provider | Monthly | Input /1M | Output /1M | Cached input /1M |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | [MiMo V2.6 Flash](https://apicostcheck.com/models/mimo-v2.6-flash/) | Xiaomi | $27.18/mo | $0.14 | $0.28 | $0.0028 |
| 2 | [Claude Haiku 5.5](https://apicostcheck.com/models/claude-haiku-5-5/) | Anthropic | $38.51/mo | $0.10 | $0.50 | $0.01 |
| 3 | [GPT-6 Luna](https://apicostcheck.com/models/gpt-6-luna/) | OpenAI | $38.51/mo | $0.10 | $0.50 | $0.01 |
| 4 | [Qwen3.8 Flash](https://apicostcheck.com/models/qwen3.8-flash/) | Alibaba (Qwen) | $41.18/mo | $0.15 | $0.47 | $0.016 |
| 5 | [GLM-5.3 Flash](https://apicostcheck.com/models/glm-5.3-flash/) | Z.ai | $44.04/mo | $0.15 | $0.50 | $0.03 |
| 6 | [Mistral Small (latest)](https://apicostcheck.com/models/mistral-small-latest/) | Mistral | $48.42/mo | $0.15 | $0.60 | $0.015 |
| 7 | [Mercury 2.5](https://apicostcheck.com/models/mercury-2.5/) | Inception | $61.56/mo | $0.20 | $0.75 | $0.02 |
| 8 | [Qwen3 VL 32b Instruct](https://apicostcheck.com/models/qwen3-vl-32b-instruct/) | Alibaba (Qwen) | $67.20/mo | $0.16 | $0.64 | — |
| 9 | [Qwen3 VL 32b Thinking](https://apicostcheck.com/models/qwen3-vl-32b-thinking/) | Alibaba (Qwen) | $67.20/mo | $0.16 | $0.64 | — |
| 10 | [MiMo V2.6 Pro](https://apicostcheck.com/models/mimo-v2.6-pro/) | Xiaomi | $83.91/mo | $0.435 | $0.87 | $0.0036 |

## Cheapest for: RAG over documents

2,000 req/day · 8,000 in · 600 out · cache 30% · [Calculate with your numbers →](https://apicostcheck.com/calculator/?preset=rag)

| # | Model | Provider | Monthly | Input /1M | Output /1M | Cached input /1M |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | [Claude Haiku 5.5](https://apicostcheck.com/models/claude-haiku-5-5/) | Anthropic | $53.64/mo | $0.10 | $0.50 | $0.01 |
| 2 | [GPT-6 Luna](https://apicostcheck.com/models/gpt-6-luna/) | OpenAI | $53.64/mo | $0.10 | $0.50 | $0.01 |
| 3 | [MiMo V2.6 Flash](https://apicostcheck.com/models/mimo-v2.6-flash/) | Xiaomi | $57.52/mo | $0.14 | $0.28 | $0.0028 |
| 4 | [Qwen3.8 Flash](https://apicostcheck.com/models/qwen3.8-flash/) | Alibaba (Qwen) | $70.82/mo | $0.15 | $0.47 | $0.016 |
| 5 | [GLM-5.3 Flash](https://apicostcheck.com/models/glm-5.3-flash/) | Z.ai | $72.72/mo | $0.15 | $0.50 | $0.03 |
| 6 | [Mistral Small (latest)](https://apicostcheck.com/models/mistral-small-latest/) | Mistral | $74.16/mo | $0.15 | $0.60 | $0.015 |
| 7 | [Mercury 2.5](https://apicostcheck.com/models/mercury-2.5/) | Inception | $97.08/mo | $0.20 | $0.75 | $0.02 |
| 8 | [Qwen3 VL 32b Instruct](https://apicostcheck.com/models/qwen3-vl-32b-instruct/) | Alibaba (Qwen) | $99.84/mo | $0.16 | $0.64 | — |
| 9 | [Qwen3 VL 32b Thinking](https://apicostcheck.com/models/qwen3-vl-32b-thinking/) | Alibaba (Qwen) | $99.84/mo | $0.16 | $0.64 | — |
| 10 | [GPT-5.6 Luna](https://apicostcheck.com/models/gpt-5.6-luna/) | OpenAI | $114/mo | $0.20 | $1.20 | $0.02 |

## Cheapest for: Coding agent

1,500 req/day · 25,000 in · 2,000 out · cache 80% · [Calculate with your numbers →](https://apicostcheck.com/calculator/?preset=coding)

| # | Model | Provider | Monthly | Input /1M | Output /1M | Cached input /1M |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | [MiMo V2.6 Flash](https://apicostcheck.com/models/mimo-v2.6-flash/) | Xiaomi | $59.22/mo | $0.14 | $0.28 | $0.0028 |
| 2 | [Claude Haiku 5.5](https://apicostcheck.com/models/claude-haiku-5-5/) | Anthropic | $79.31/mo | $0.10 | $0.50 | $0.01 |
| 3 | [GPT-6 Luna](https://apicostcheck.com/models/gpt-6-luna/) | OpenAI | $79.31/mo | $0.10 | $0.50 | $0.01 |
| 4 | [Qwen3.8 Flash](https://apicostcheck.com/models/qwen3.8-flash/) | Alibaba (Qwen) | $96.08/mo | $0.15 | $0.47 | $0.016 |
| 5 | [Mistral Small (latest)](https://apicostcheck.com/models/mistral-small-latest/) | Mistral | $101/mo | $0.15 | $0.60 | $0.015 |
| 6 | [GLM-5.3 Flash](https://apicostcheck.com/models/glm-5.3-flash/) | Z.ai | $106/mo | $0.15 | $0.50 | $0.03 |
| 7 | [Mercury 2.5](https://apicostcheck.com/models/mercury-2.5/) | Inception | $130/mo | $0.20 | $0.75 | $0.02 |
| 8 | [GPT-5.4 nano](https://apicostcheck.com/models/gpt-5.4-nano/) | OpenAI | $176/mo | $0.20 | $1.25 | $0.02 |
| 9 | [GPT-5.6 Luna](https://apicostcheck.com/models/gpt-5.6-luna/) | OpenAI | $177/mo | $0.20 | $1.20 | $0.02 |
| 10 | [MiMo V2.6 Pro](https://apicostcheck.com/models/mimo-v2.6-pro/) | Xiaomi | $179/mo | $0.435 | $0.87 | $0.0036 |

## Cheapest for: Deep reasoning

800 req/day · 3,000 in · 6,000 out · cache 20% · [Calculate with your numbers →](https://apicostcheck.com/calculator/?preset=reasoning)

| # | Model | Provider | Monthly | Input /1M | Output /1M | Cached input /1M |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | [MiMo V2.6 Flash](https://apicostcheck.com/models/mimo-v2.6-flash/) | Xiaomi | $48.42/mo | $0.14 | $0.28 | $0.0028 |
| 2 | [Qwen3.8 Flash](https://apicostcheck.com/models/qwen3.8-flash/) | Alibaba (Qwen) | $76.55/mo | $0.15 | $0.47 | $0.016 |
| 3 | [Claude Haiku 5.5](https://apicostcheck.com/models/claude-haiku-5-5/) | Anthropic | $77.90/mo | $0.10 | $0.50 | $0.01 |
| 4 | [GPT-6 Luna](https://apicostcheck.com/models/gpt-6-luna/) | OpenAI | $77.90/mo | $0.10 | $0.50 | $0.01 |
| 5 | [GLM-5.3 Flash](https://apicostcheck.com/models/glm-5.3-flash/) | Z.ai | $81.07/mo | $0.15 | $0.50 | $0.03 |
| 6 | [Mistral Small (latest)](https://apicostcheck.com/models/mistral-small-latest/) | Mistral | $95.26/mo | $0.15 | $0.60 | $0.015 |
| 7 | [Qwen3 VL 32b Instruct](https://apicostcheck.com/models/qwen3-vl-32b-instruct/) | Alibaba (Qwen) | $104/mo | $0.16 | $0.64 | — |
| 8 | [Qwen3 VL 32b Thinking](https://apicostcheck.com/models/qwen3-vl-32b-thinking/) | Alibaba (Qwen) | $104/mo | $0.16 | $0.64 | — |
| 9 | [Mercury 2.5](https://apicostcheck.com/models/mercury-2.5/) | Inception | $120/mo | $0.20 | $0.75 | $0.02 |
| 10 | [MiMo V2.6 Pro](https://apicostcheck.com/models/mimo-v2.6-pro/) | Xiaomi | $150/mo | $0.435 | $0.87 | $0.0036 |

## Cheapest for: Batch processing

50,000 req/day · 1,500 in · 150 out · batch · [Calculate with your numbers →](https://apicostcheck.com/calculator/?preset=batch)

| # | Model | Provider | Monthly | Input /1M | Output /1M | Cached input /1M |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | [Claude Haiku 5.5](https://apicostcheck.com/models/claude-haiku-5-5/) | Anthropic | $169/mo | $0.10 | $0.50 | $0.01 |
| 2 | [GPT-6 Luna](https://apicostcheck.com/models/gpt-6-luna/) | OpenAI | $169/mo | $0.10 | $0.50 | $0.01 |
| 3 | [GPT-5.6 Luna](https://apicostcheck.com/models/gpt-5.6-luna/) | OpenAI | $360/mo | $0.20 | $1.20 | $0.02 |
| 4 | [GPT-5.4 nano](https://apicostcheck.com/models/gpt-5.4-nano/) | OpenAI | $366/mo | $0.20 | $1.25 | $0.02 |
| 5 | [MiMo V2.6 Flash](https://apicostcheck.com/models/mimo-v2.6-flash/) | Xiaomi | $378/mo | $0.14 | $0.28 | $0.0028 |
| 6 | [Qwen3.8 Flash](https://apicostcheck.com/models/qwen3.8-flash/) | Alibaba (Qwen) | $443/mo | $0.15 | $0.47 | $0.016 |
| 7 | [GLM-5.3 Flash](https://apicostcheck.com/models/glm-5.3-flash/) | Z.ai | $450/mo | $0.15 | $0.50 | $0.03 |
| 8 | [Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite](https://apicostcheck.com/models/gemini-3.1-flash-lite/) | Google | $450/mo | $0.25 | $1.50 | $0.025 |
| 9 | [Mistral Small (latest)](https://apicostcheck.com/models/mistral-small-latest/) | Mistral | $472/mo | $0.15 | $0.60 | $0.015 |
| 10 | [Qwen3 VL 32b Instruct](https://apicostcheck.com/models/qwen3-vl-32b-instruct/) | Alibaba (Qwen) | $504/mo | $0.16 | $0.64 | — |

## Before you pick the cheapest

A cheaper model that needs retries, longer prompts or a bigger model as fallback can cost more per completed task, so test two candidates on your own prompts and compare quality per dollar. Discounts change the order: see the [chatbot](https://apicostcheck.com/ai-chatbot-api-cost/) and [RAG](https://apicostcheck.com/rag-api-cost/) guides for caching, and [Batch API pricing](https://apicostcheck.com/batch-api-pricing/) for offline work.

## FAQ

### Which LLM API is the cheapest overall?

There is no single answer: input, output and cached tokens are priced separately, so a model that wins on input can lose on output. The tables above rank models for each typical workload; the first paragraph names the lowest input and output prices in our data.

### Are free tiers included?

No. Rankings use paid, pay-as-you-go prices only. Free tiers, credits, committed-use discounts and regional prices are not included.

### How often is this list updated?

Every 4 hours, from the same price data as the rest of the site; the sync time is shown above the tables. Price changes are logged on the price changes page, and you can get alerts per model.

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Source: https://apicostcheck.com/cheapest-llm-api/ · prices in USD per 1M tokens, synced 2026-10-12 08:00 UTC · Free to reuse with a link to https://apicostcheck.com (CC BY 4.0). Prices derived from LiteLLM's model price list, MIT License, (c) 2023 Berri AI.