Price ranking

Cheapest LLM APIs

Ranked language models with a listed API price, cheapest first by a 3:1 input-weighted blend of the lowest observed provider offer. Each row shows the ModelCap Index position so cheap and capable can be read together.

Snapshot as of 11 August 2026

Mistral Nemo from Mistral AI leads the cheapest LLM API list as of 11 August 2026 with a blended price of $0.022 per 1M tokens ($0.019 in / $0.03 out), holding ModelCap Index position #203; 155 models qualify.

Models on this list

155

With openly downloadable weights

With a listed API price

100

Cheapest LLM APIs (top 100 of 155)

Every row is a current, canonical language model with a public position on the ModelCap Index; the list filters by a published fact and orders by a published figure.

Cheapest LLM APIs: current, canonical language models with a public ModelCap Index position and a fresh or bounded-stale listed price above zero on the OpenRouter catalogue, ordered by 0.75 × input + 0.25 × output price per million tokens
#	Model	Blended $/1M	ModelCap Index	Input $/1M	Output $/1M	Context	Weights
1	Mistral NemoMistral AI	$0.022	#20311.9	$0.019	$0.03	131K	Open weights
2	Ling-3.0-flashInclusionAI	$0.032	#6633.4	$0.021	$0.063	262K	Open weights
3	Granite 4.0 MicroIBM Granite	$0.041	#12525.5	$0.017	$0.112	131K	Open weights
4	Nex-N2-MiniNex AGI	$0.044	#7927.4	$0.025	$0.10	262K	Open weights
5	Solar Pro 4Upstage	$0.052	#17125.5	$0.03	$0.12	524K	API only
6	Qwen3.7 FlashQwen	$0.055	#9225.7	$0.03	$0.13	1M	API only
7	Llama 3.1 8B InstructMeta	$0.057	#2193.7	$0.05	$0.08	131K	Gated access
8	Nova Micro 1.0Amazon	$0.061	#2137.3	$0.035	$0.14	128K	API only
9	Granite 4.1 8BIBM Granite	$0.063	#19717.1	$0.05	$0.10	131K	Open weights
10	Gemma 3 4BGoogle	$0.063	#20014.4	$0.05	$0.10	131K	Gated access
11	Command R7B (12-2024)Cohere	$0.066	#2310.0	$0.037	$0.15	128K	API only
12	Llama 3.2 1B InstructMeta	$0.071	#2270.0	$0.027	$0.201	60K	Gated access
13	Gemma 3 12BGoogle	$0.075	#9325.5	$0.05	$0.15	131K	Gated access
14	Laguna XS 2.1Poolside	$0.075	#15525.5	$0.06	$0.12	262K	Restricted license
15	Gemma 3n 4BGoogle	$0.075	#19420.1	$0.06	$0.12	33K	Gated access
16	Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507Qwen	$0.084	#4841.6	$0.048	$0.193	262K	Open weights
17	Nemotron 3 Nano 30B A3BNVIDIA	$0.087	#19519.9	$0.05	$0.20	262K	Restricted license
18	Phi 4Microsoft	$0.088	#2089.2	$0.07	$0.14	16K	Open weights
19	Reka EdgeReka	$0.10	#15625.5	$0.10	$0.10	16K	Restricted license
20	Laguna S 2.1Poolside	$0.113	#15425.5	$0.09	$0.18	1M	Restricted license
21	Llama 3.2 3B InstructMeta	$0.12	#2260.0	$0.05	$0.33	131K	Gated access
22	Qwen3 Coder 30B A3B InstructQwen	$0.123	#7428.4	$0.07	$0.28	262K	Open weights
23	Qwen2.5 7B InstructQwen	$0.125	#8625.7	$0.10	$0.20	33K	Open weights
24	UI-TARS 7BByteDance	$0.125	#11025.5	$0.10	$0.20	128K	Open weights
25	Reka Flash 3Reka	$0.125	#15725.5	$0.10	$0.20	66K	Open weights
26	Qwen3 32BQwen	$0.13	#7229.2	$0.08	$0.28	131K	Open weights
27	Seed 1.6 FlashByteDance Seed	$0.131	#10625.5	$0.075	$0.30	262K	API only
28	Mistral Small 3.2 24BMistral AI	$0.133	#6832.3	$0.094	$0.25	256K	Open weights
29	GLM 4.7 FlashZ.ai	$0.145	#6236.2	$0.06	$0.40	203K	Open weights
30	Qwen3 14BQwen	$0.15	#8725.7	$0.12	$0.24	131K	Open weights
31	Llama 4 ScoutMeta	$0.15	#18821.7	$0.10	$0.30	1.3M	Gated access
32	Voxtral Small 24B 2507Mistral AI	$0.15	#20411.9	$0.10	$0.30	32K	Open weights
33	Llama 3.3 70B InstructMeta	$0.155	#19320.3	$0.10	$0.32	131K	Gated access
34	Gemma 4 31BGoogle	$0.16	#2062.8	$0.10	$0.34	262K	Open weights
35	Nemotron 3 SuperNVIDIA	$0.164	#6733.0	$0.085	$0.40	1M	Restricted license
36	Gemma 3 27BGoogle	$0.172	#6533.9	$0.08	$0.45	262K	Gated access
37	Seed-2.0-MiniByteDance Seed	$0.175	#10925.5	$0.10	$0.40	262K	API only
38	Llama Guard 4 12BMeta	$0.18	#2290.0	$0.18	$0.18	1M	Gated access
39	Qwen3 VL 32B InstructQwen	$0.182	#2146.7	$0.104	$0.416	131K	Open weights
40	Gemma 4 26B A4BGoogle	$0.19	#2559.2	$0.12	$0.40	262K	Open weights
41	Qwen3 8BQwen	$0.202	#8825.7	$0.117	$0.455	131K	Open weights
42	Qwen3 VL 8B InstructQwen	$0.202	#2108.8	$0.117	$0.455	262K	Open weights
43	Qwen3 235B A22B Instruct 2507Qwen	$0.205	#3153.6	$0.09	$0.55	262K	Open weights
44	Ring-2.6-1TInclusionAI	$0.212	#5737.1	$0.075	$0.625	262K	API only
45	Ling-2.6-1TInclusionAI	$0.212	#7627.6	$0.075	$0.625	262K	API only
46	Qwen3 30B A3BQwen	$0.215	#18024.3	$0.12	$0.50	131K	Open weights
47	GPT-5.6 LunaOpenAI	$0.225	#1963.3	$0.10	$0.60	1M	API only
48	Hy3Tencent	$0.231	#1864.9	$0.132	$0.528	262K	Open weights
49	Hunyuan A13B InstructTencent	$0.248	#5637.4	$0.14	$0.57	131K	Restricted license
50	KAT-Coder-Air V2.5Kuaishou	$0.262	#13325.5	$0.15	$0.60	256K	API only
51	Command R (08-2024)Cohere	$0.262	#2117.8	$0.15	$0.60	128K	API only
52	Qwen3 VL 30B A3B InstructQwen	$0.262	#2184.1	$0.15	$0.60	262K	Open weights
53	GPT-4o-miniOpenAI	$0.262	#2280.0	$0.15	$0.60	128K	API only
54	Qwen3 Coder NextQwen	$0.29	#19021.2	$0.12	$0.80	262K	Open weights
55	SabaMistral AI	$0.30	#2250.4	$0.20	$0.60	33K	API only
56	GLM 4.5 AirZ.ai	$0.31	#5437.5	$0.13	$0.85	131K	Open weights
57	Llama 4 MaverickMeta	$0.324	#18123.5	$0.20	$0.696	1M	Gated access
58	Qwen3 Next 80B A3B InstructQwen	$0.343	#4046.6	$0.09	$1.10	262K	Open weights
59	Qwen3.6 35B A3BQwen	$0.362	#4146.3	$0.15	$1.00	262K	Open weights
60	Qwen2.5 72B InstructQwen	$0.37	#19816.9	$0.36	$0.40	33K	Restricted license
61	Mercury 2Inception Labs	$0.375	#7328.4	$0.25	$0.75	128K	API only
62	Trinity Large ThinkingArcee AI	$0.378	#6036.5	$0.22	$0.85	262K	Restricted license
63	Qwen3 Coder FlashQwen	$0.39	#8925.7	$0.195	$0.975	1M	API only
64	Qwen3 Next 80B A3B ThinkingQwen	$0.412	#5936.7	$0.15	$1.20	262K	Open weights
65	MiniMax-01MiniMax	$0.425	#7727.6	$0.20	$1.10	1M	License unverified
66	Nex-N2-ProNex AGI	$0.438	#3847.4	$0.25	$1.00	262K	Open weights
67	Step 3.7 FlashStepFun	$0.438	#4445.3	$0.20	$1.15	262K	Open weights
68	GLM 4.6VZ.ai	$0.45	#5836.9	$0.30	$0.90	131K	Open weights
69	Codestral 2508Mistral AI	$0.45	#20211.9	$0.30	$0.90	256K	API only
70	GPT-5.4 NanoOpenAI	$0.463	#3946.6	$0.20	$1.25	400K	API only
71	Qwen3 Coder 480B A35BQwen	$0.475	#4643.7	$0.30	$1.00	262K	Open weights
72	Perceptron Mk1Perceptron	$0.487	#15025.5	$0.15	$1.50	33K	API only
73	MiniMax M3MiniMax	$0.525	#2361.3	$0.30	$1.20	1M	Restricted license
74	LongCat 2.0Meituan	$0.525	#4941.1	$0.30	$1.20	1M	Open weights
75	MiniMax M2-herMiniMax	$0.525	#7827.6	$0.30	$1.20	66K	API only
76	Qwen3.7 PlusQwen	$0.56	#1666.4	$0.32	$1.28	1M	API only
77	ERNIE 4.5 VL 424B A47BBaidu	$0.627	#10425.5	$0.42	$1.25	123K	Open weights
78	Qwen3 VL 235B A22B InstructQwen	$0.632	#3451.5	$0.21	$1.90	262K	Open weights
79	Muse Glimmer 30BMeta	$0.637	#8226.3	$0.35	$1.50	131K	Open weights
80	Inkling SmallThinking Machines	$0.637	#19220.4	$0.45	$1.20	524K	Open weights
81	Qwen3 VL 8B ThinkingQwen	$0.66	#9125.7	$0.18	$2.10	131K	Open weights
82	GPT-5.1-Codex-MiniOpenAI	$0.688	#6435.5	$0.25	$2.00	400K	API only
83	Seed 1.6ByteDance Seed	$0.688	#10725.5	$0.25	$2.00	262K	API only
84	Seed-2.0-LiteByteDance Seed	$0.688	#10825.5	$0.25	$2.00	262K	API only
85	Qwen2.5 Coder 32B InstructQwen	$0.745	#20511.5	$0.66	$1.00	33K	Open weights
86	Qwen3 235B A22B Thinking 2507Qwen	$0.747	#4345.3	$0.23	$2.30	262K	Open weights
87	Mistral Large 3 2512Mistral AI	$0.75	#3551.2	$0.50	$1.50	262K	API only
88	Qwen3 VL 30B A3B ThinkingQwen	$0.75	#9025.7	$0.20	$2.40	262K	Open weights
89	Qwen3 235B A22BQwen	$0.796	#5139.2	$0.455	$1.82	131K	Open weights
90	R1 Distill Llama 70BDeepSeek	$0.80	#2174.2	$0.80	$0.80	8K	Open weights
91	Qwen3.5-122B-A10BQwen	$0.817	#3351.8	$0.29	$2.40	262K	Open weights
92	Gemini 3.5 Flash LiteGoogle	$0.85	#1766.0	$0.30	$2.50	1M	API only
93	Nova 2 LiteAmazon	$0.85	#8027.1	$0.30	$2.50	1M	API only
94	Virtuoso LargeArcee AI	$0.863	#10125.5	$0.75	$1.20	131K	API only
95	Aion-3.0-MiniAion Labs	$0.875	#9525.5	$0.70	$1.40	131K	API only
96	Morph V3 FastMorph	$0.90	#14625.5	$0.80	$1.20	82K	API only
97	Relace Apply 3Relace	$0.95	#15825.5	$0.85	$1.25	256K	API only
98	Aion-RP 1.0 (8B)Aion Labs	$1.00	#9725.5	$0.80	$1.60	33K	API only
99	SonarPerplexity	$1.00	#15325.5	$1.00	$1.00	127K	API only
100	Kimi K2 ThinkingMoonshot AI	$1.07	#2757.2	$0.60	$2.50	262K	Restricted license

Cheapest LLM APIs: common questions

Which model tops the cheapest LLM API list right now?

Mistral Nemo (Mistral AI), as of 11 August 2026, with a blended price of $0.022 per 1M tokens ($0.019 in / $0.03 out) and ModelCap Index position #203.

How is the cheapest LLM API list built?

It contains current, canonical language models with a public ModelCap Index position and a fresh or bounded-stale listed price above zero on the OpenRouter catalogue, ordered by 0.75 × input + 0.25 × output price per million tokens. Nothing is estimated for the list itself: the filter is a published fact and the order is a published figure, and every row links to the model page that shows its evidence.

How many models qualify for the cheapest LLM API list?

155 models qualify; the page shows the first 100. The population is the live ModelCap Index, so a model appears here the moment it holds a public position and meets the filter.

Which model on this list ranks highest on the ModelCap Index?

Qwen3.7 Plus holds ModelCap Index position #16, the highest of any model in the list, and sits at #76 here by blended $/1m.

Why order by a blended price instead of the output price?

Most production traffic is prompt-heavy, so the list weights input at 75% and output at 25%; both raw prices are shown in the table so a generation-heavy workload can re-order by the output column on the model pages.

Which is the best open-weight model on this list?

Mistral Nemo from Mistral AI is the highest-placed model with openly downloadable weights (#1 here, ModelCap Index #203).

How current is the cheapest LLM API list?

It is rendered from the sealed dataset published 11 August 2026 and re-renders within a minute of each refresh; positions, prices and context figures are the ones shown on the live rankings at the same instant.