Budget Models
Lowest-cost AI APIs ranked by combined input and output token pricing.
Lowest-cost AI APIs ranked by combined input and output token pricing.
Models
13
in category
Providers
7
represented
Avg. API Cost
$0.58
combined in+out / 1M
Top Model
Gemini 2.5 Flash
Price
Budget Models Rankings
Sorted by price
| # | Model | Provider | Context | Input / 1M |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ministral 8B | Mistral | 128K | $0.10 |
| 2 | Gemini 2.0 Flash Lite | 1M | $0.075 | |
| 3 | Mistral Small | Mistral | 32K | $0.10 |
| 4 | DeepSeek Coder V2 | DeepSeek | 128K | $0.14 |
| 5 | GPT-4.1 Nano | OpenAI | 1M | $0.10 |
| 6 | Gemini 2.0 Flash | 1M | $0.10 | |
| 7 | Llama 3.3 70B | Meta | 128K | $0.23 |
| 8 | Llama 4 Scout | Meta | 10M | $0.15 |
| 9 | Gemini 2.5 Flash | 1M | $0.15 | |
| 10 | GPT-4o Mini | OpenAI | 128K | $0.15 |
Related Models
Gemini 2.5 Flash
Flash model with thinking capabilities and top multimodal scores.
Why: Google · Price leader
GPT-4.1 Nano
Ultra-low-cost GPT-4.1 tier for classification and extraction.
Why: OpenAI · Price leader
Llama 4 Maverick
Open multimodal Llama with 1M context window.
Why: Meta · Price leader
Llama 4 Scout
Llama 4 with industry-leading 10M context for documents.
Why: Meta · Price leader
Grok 3 Mini
Efficient Grok 3 variant for high-volume use.
Why: xAI · Price leader
Gemini 2.0 Flash Lite
Ultra-cheap Gemini for simple tasks at scale.
Why: Google · Price leader
Mistral Small
Compact Mistral for cost-sensitive applications.
Why: Mistral · Price leader
Gemini 2.0 Flash
Fast multimodal Gemini with native audio and vision.
Why: Google · Price leader
Related Providers
OpenAI
Why: 11 models in catalog
Confidence99%Google
Why: 7 models in catalog
Confidence90%Meta
Why: 4 models in catalog
Confidence80%xAI
Why: 4 models in catalog
Confidence70%Mistral
Why: 5 models in catalog
Confidence60%Cohere
Why: 3 models in catalog
Confidence50%DeepSeek
Why: 5 models in catalog
Confidence40%
Relevant Comparisons
Gemini 2.5 Flash vs GPT-4.1 Nano
Why: Top models in this category
Gemini 2.5 Flash vs Llama 4 Maverick
Why: Top models in this category
Gemini 2.5 Flash vs Llama 4 Scout
Why: Top models in this category
GPT-4.1 Nano vs Llama 4 Maverick
Why: Top models in this category
GPT-4.1 Nano vs Llama 4 Scout
Why: Top models in this category
Llama 4 Maverick vs Llama 4 Scout
Why: Top models in this category
Calculators
Timeline Events
Gemini 2.5 Flash — Model Release
Why: Model Release
Gemini 2.5 Flash — API Release
Why: API Release
Gemini 2.5 Flash — Pricing Update
Why: Pricing Update
Gemini 2.5 Flash — Context Window Increase
Why: Context Window Increase
Gemini 2.5 Flash — Vision Support
Why: Vision Support
Gemini 2.5 Flash — Audio Support
Why: Audio Support
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is the budget models?
- Based on SGO's dataset, GPT-4o Mini by OpenAI ranks highly for price with a price score of 82. Rankings are computed from structured benchmark and pricing data.
- How are budget models ranked?
- Rankings are derived from the centralized SGO model dataset — benchmark scores, API pricing, context windows, and capability flags. No recommendations are hardcoded.
- How many models match this category?
- 13 models in the SGO catalog currently match this category.
Explore More
13 models · Data derived from the SGO intelligence catalog