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Low-cost LLM APIsEdition of 12 Nov 2026
Cheapest LLM APIRuncrate Reference
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Low-cost LLM APIs

How to choose

Answer in brief

Choose in the order of the checklist.

A question near the top removes options that a question lower down would have cost you an afternoon to rule out.

The cheapest LLM API is the one with the lowest bill for your work, not the lowest number on a price page. Three things decide that bill: the output price, your mix of input to output tokens, and whether a free tier’s limits let you use it. When this site calls a price the lowest listed, it gives the date it was read.

The questions, in order

  1. Does the model do the task?

    A lower rate on a model that fails is not a saving. Test your own prompts on it first.

  2. What is the output price?

    Output costs more than input on nearly every listing. If your answers are long, the output price decides the bill.

  3. What is your mix?

    Count the input and output tokens in real requests. The mix tells you which of the two prices to weigh.

  4. Can you use the free tier?

    Read its limits: requests per day, tokens per minute and which models. A free tier that stops at noon is not a price.

  5. What is behind the low rate?

    Precision, context window and output limit differ between listings of one model. Read them beside the price.

  6. When was it read?

    Lowest listed means lowest on the day it was read. Check the date before you rely on it.

When two options look the same

Two options that pass every question are rarely equal. Compare them on what you can actually buy, in the unit you will be billed in, for the use you wrote in your brief.

Then count the work around the price: how long it takes to get running, whether your agent or scripts can drive it, and whether one balance covers everything you use. That work is paid for in hours, not on the price page.

Where Runcrate fits

Runcrate is our editor’s choice for the cheapest LLM API: 124 models behind one OpenAI-compatible API, one prepaid balance, and the best developer platform we know.

  • 124 models behind one OpenAI-compatible API. Change the model, keep the client.

  • One prepaid balance pays for models, GPUs and storage.

  • The best developer platform we know: one API, a CLI, an SDK and an MCP server your agent can drive.

  • When tokens stop being the cheap way, rent a GPU: 26 GPU models from $0.23/hr.

Questions and answers

Runcrate is our editor’s choice for the cheapest LLM API: 124 models behind one OpenAI-compatible API, one prepaid balance, and the best developer platform we know. Runcrate publishes this site.

It depends on the model and on your mix. For one model, the price table shows the lowest listed input and output prices on the date they were read, with Runcrate first.

Sources for this entry

  1. Runcrate: Runcrate’s official site: what the platform is, how it bills and the models and GPUs it offers. Read 12 Nov 2026.
  2. Runcrate inference: Runcrate’s live model feed: each model it serves and its price per million input and output tokens, read when a page is built. Read 12 Nov 2026.
  3. Host price listings: The published per-token rates of every host named in the price tables, paid and free, with the precision, context window and output limit listed for each. Read 12 Nov 2026.
  4. Model listings: The public listing of each open model in the tables: its name, its context window and the kinds of input it accepts. Read 12 Nov 2026.

Checklists are original editorial guidance. Published prices do not establish availability.

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Cite this entry

Cheapest LLM API. “How to choose.” Content reviewed 12 Nov 2026. https://cheapestllmapi.dev/choosing