Pricing
Cheapest AI API in 2026: Complete Pricing Guide
April 15, 2026 · 8 min read
AI API pricing varies wildly — from $0.01 per million tokens to $75 per million tokens. Choosing the right model for your budget can save you thousands. Here's a complete pricing guide for 2026.
Price Tiers (per million tokens via AIPower)
Tier 1: Nearly Free (< $0.10/M)
| Model | Input | Output | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| GLM-4 Flash | $0.01 | $0.01 | Testing, high-volume, prototyping |
| Doubao Pro 256K | $0.06 | $0.11 | General chat, 256K context |
| Qwen Turbo | $0.08 | $0.30 | Budget tasks, 128K context |
Tier 2: Affordable ($0.10–$3.00/M)
| Model | Input | Output | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qwen Plus | $0.13 | $1.80 | Strong reasoning, multilingual |
| GPT-4o Mini | $0.17 | $0.69 | Everyday tasks |
| DeepSeek V3 | $0.32 | $0.48 | Coding, chat (most popular) |
| DeepSeek R1 | $0.32 | $0.48 | Math, logic, reasoning |
| Gemini 2.5 Flash | $0.35 | $2.88 | Vision, 1M context, fast |
Tier 3: Premium ($1.00+/M)
| Model | Input | Output | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gemini 2.5 Pro | $1.44 | $11.50 | 1M context, reasoning |
| GPT-5 | $2.88 | $17.25 | Latest flagship |
| Claude Sonnet 4 | $3.45 | $17.25 | Best for code |
| Claude Opus 4.6 | $7.50 | $37.50 | Most powerful overall |
Cost Optimization Tips
- Use smart routing: Set
model="auto-cheap"to automatically route to the cheapest model - Match model to task: Don't use GPT-5 for simple classification — Qwen Turbo at $0.08/M is 47x cheaper
- Use GLM-4 Flash for testing: At $0.01/M, it's practically free for development
- Chinese models for production: DeepSeek V3 matches GPT-4o quality at 10x less cost
Start with 10 free API calls at aipower.me. No credit card required.
GET STARTED WITH AIPOWER
16 AI models. One API. OpenAI SDK compatible.
Who should use AIPower?
- • Developers needing both Chinese and Western AI models
- • Chinese teams that can't access OpenAI / Anthropic directly
- • Startups wanting multi-model redundancy through one API
- • Anyone tired of paying grey-market intermediary premiums
3 steps to first API call
- Sign up — email only, 10 free trial calls, no card
- Copy your API key from the dashboard
- Change
base_urlin your OpenAI SDK → done
from openai import OpenAI
client = OpenAI(
base_url="https://api.aipower.me/v1", # ← only change
api_key="sk-your-aipower-key",
)
response = client.chat.completions.create(
model="auto-cheap", # or anthropic/claude-opus, deepseek/deepseek-chat, openai/gpt-5, etc.
messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Hello"}],
)
print(response.choices[0].message.content)+100 bonus calls on first $5 top-up · WeChat Pay + Alipay + card accepted · docs · security