Best LLM APIs & models

Last updated

Ranked

Anthropic's Claude API is the best LLM API for coding and agents (Sonnet 5.5 at $2/$10 per million tokens). Google's Gemini API is the best value for long-context work, with Gemini 4 Argon at an introductory $2/$10 until Nov 30, 2026, and a free tier on Flash models. OpenAI's API has the broadest ecosystem (GPT-6.1 Sol at $2/$10). OpenRouter is best for switching between many models with one key.

#1 · Top pick

Anthropic Claude API

Top pick for coding and agentic workloads.

Best for
Coding agents, tool use
Free tier
Small amount of free credits for new API users
Pricing
Sonnet 5.5 $2/$10 per M tokens; Opus 5.5 $4/$20; Haiku 5.5 $0.10/$0.50 (prompts ≤100K)

Official site ↗ · Pricing source · checked 2026-10-14

#2

Google Gemini API

Gemini 4 Argon with 1M-token limit at aggressive intro pricing; free tier on Flash models.

Best for
Long-context and agentic tasks on a budget
Free tier
Free tier on Flash models (Argon not on free tier)
Pricing
Gemini 4 Argon $2/$10 per M tokens through Nov 30, 2026, then $4/$20; Gemini 3.8 Flash $0.75/$3.75

Official site ↗ · Pricing source · checked 2026-10-14

#3

OpenAI API

Broadest ecosystem; GPT-6 family now on the API.

Best for
General-purpose and multimodal apps
Free tier
unknown
Pricing
GPT-6.1 Sol $2/$10 per M tokens; GPT-6 Luna $0.10/$0.50; GPT-6 Astra $10/$50

Official site ↗ · Pricing source · checked 2026-10-14

#4

Mistral

Mistral Large 4: frontier open-weight model (preview; weights promised end of October).

Best for
Teams wanting open weights or EU hosting
Free tier
unknown for API; Le Chat has a free plan (not verified)
Pricing
Le Chat Pro $14.99/mo; Mistral Large 4 API pricing unknown

Official site ↗ · Pricing source · checked 2026-10-14

#5

OpenRouter

One API key for hundreds of models; easy model switching.

Best for
Prototyping across providers
Free tier
Free plan available
Pricing
Pay-as-you-go at model prices; BYOK: first $25,000/mo of list-price inference fee-free, then 5% fee

Official site ↗ · Pricing source · checked 2026-10-14

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