API reference

LLM API Pricing Reference: Quick Comparison & Best-Use Guide

Evergreen developer API pricing table with SWE-bench scores, best-for notes, and links to StackCapybara model reviews.

Research-based — not hands-on tested. Our scores are editorial judgements compiled from vendor documentation, published pricing and independent user reports. How we review.

This is StackCapybara’s evergreen API pricing reference — expanded with benchmark columns, and per-model profiles. Rates are per 1 million tokens on direct developer APIs.

For long-form routing recipes see LLM API Pricing vs. Quality. For consumer plans see subscription pricing.

Pricing verified as of 2026-06-14. Re-check vendor docs before production contracts. Benchmarks cite our flagship research sheet where noted.

API pricing & benchmarks

Model (API)	In / Out per 1M	SWE Pro	SWE Verified	GPQA	Terminal-Bench
DeepSeek-V4 Flash `deepseek-v4-flash`	$0.14 / $0.28 Up to ~90% off cache hits	—	—	—	—
DeepSeek-V4 Pro `deepseek-v4-pro`	$0.435 / $0.87 Up to ~90% off cache hits	—	—	—	—
Kimi-K2.7-Code `kimi-k2.7-code`	$0.95 / $4 Preserved Thinking (no extra replay cost)	—	—	—	—
Grok 4.3 `grok-4.3`	$1.25 / $2.5 Pay-as-you-go	—	—	—	—
Gemini 3.5 Flash `gemini-3.5-flash`	$0.075 / $0.30 $0.0075 / 1M cached input (90% off)	55.1%	—	92.2%	76.2%
Claude Sonnet 5 / 4.6 `claude-sonnet-5` · `claude-sonnet-4-6`	$3 / $15 Sonnet 5 intro: $2 / $10 through Aug 31, 2026 · $0.30 / 1M input (90% off reads)	—	—	93%	—
Claude Opus 4.8 `claude-opus-4-8`	$5 / $25 $0.50 / 1M input (90% off reads)	69.2%	88.6%	93.6%	74.6%
GPT-5.5 (Standard) `gpt-5.5`	$2 / $8 $0.20 / 1M cached input (90% off)	—	85.7%	93.6%	82.7%
GPT-5.5 Pro (Reasoning) `gpt-5.5-pro`	$5 / $25 $0.50 / 1M cached input (90% off)	—	85.7%	93.6%	82.7%

Benchmark figures are indicative — drawn from vendor-reported and publicly available results as of 2026. Testing methodologies differ between labs and change over time, so treat these as directional and verify against current published benchmarks before relying on them.

Per-model profiles

Click a model name in the table to jump to its profile. Dedicated single-model reviews are linked when published.

DeepSeek-V4 Flash

The default volume tier when you need millions of cheap API calls. Pair with a router that escalates hard tasks to Pro or a flagship model.

API ID: deepseek-v4-flash
Pricing: $0.14 input / $0.28 output per 1M · Up to ~90% off cache hits
Context: 128K in / 8K out
Best for: High-volume extraction, classification, and cheap always-on agent loops under 128K context.
Benchmarks: No public SWE-bench Pro / GPQA sheet in our verified research set — treat as budget tier.
Primary review: DeepSeek-V4 API review
Also mentioned in:
- LLM API Pricing vs. Quality guide
- This reference page

DeepSeek-V4 Pro

Step up from Flash when tool use and syntax quality matter but you are not ready to pay flagship per-token rates.

API ID: deepseek-v4-pro
Pricing: $0.435 input / $0.87 output per 1M · Up to ~90% off cache hits
Context: 128K in / 16K out
Best for: Stateless coding automation, tool-call chains, and one-shot CI review passes at ~60% lower cost than Sonnet-class APIs.
Benchmarks: Vendor claims strong MoE coding; SWE-bench Pro not in our verified sheet yet.
Primary review: DeepSeek-V4 API review (Pro tier)
Also mentioned in:
- LLM API Pricing vs. Quality guide
- This reference page

Kimi-K2.7-Code

Optimized for agent loops, not single-shot answers. Best when sessions run 10+ tool rounds on the same repo.

API ID: kimi-k2.7-code
Pricing: $0.95 input / $4 output per 1M · Preserved Thinking (no extra replay cost)
Context: 256K in / 16K out
Best for: Long multi-turn terminal/coding sessions where preserved chain-of-thought cuts output-token waste.
Benchmarks: Moonshot publishes loop-efficiency claims; add SWE-bench row when vendor sheet is verified.
Primary review: Kimi Code & Kimi-K2.7-Code review
Also mentioned in:

Grok 4.3

Useful third-rail option when you want API diversity outside OpenAI / Google / Anthropic.

API ID: grok-4.3
Pricing: $1.25 input / $2.5 output per 1M · Pay-as-you-go
Context: 128K in / 8K out
Best for: Mid-cost general API workloads and X-ecosystem integrations where real-time social context matters.
Benchmarks: Benchmark sheet not yet verified in StackCapybara research bundle.
Primary review: Grok 4.3 API review
Also mentioned in:
- Automation pricing guide
- This reference page

Gemini 3.5 Flash

Not a peer flagship — a fast, cheap router tier. Excellent GPQA for the price; SWE Pro mid-tier.

API ID: gemini-3.5-flash
Pricing: $0.075 input / $0.30 output per 1M · $0.0075 / 1M cached input (90% off)
Context: 1.04M in / 64K out
Best for: Speed-tier default: huge context ingestion, multimodal parsing, and search-grounded verification.
Benchmarks: SWE-bench Verified unverified in our sheet; Pro and GPQA cited in flagship research.
Primary review: Gemini 3.5 Flash API review
Also mentioned in:

Claude Sonnet 5 / 4.6

The pragmatic Anthropic tier for interactive coding, refreshed by the June 30, 2026 Claude Sonnet 5 release — near-Opus agentic performance at Sonnet pricing. Terminal workflow review: Claude Code.

API ID: claude-sonnet-5 · claude-sonnet-4-6
Pricing: $3 input / $15 output per 1M · $0.30 / 1M input (90% off reads)
Context: 1M in / 16K out
Best for: Fast IDE-style edits, conversational refactors, and daily builder workflows with strong coding accuracy.
Benchmarks: GPQA estimated from Sonnet-class vendor range; use Opus row for verified SWE Pro ceiling.
Primary review: Claude Sonnet API review
Also mentioned in:

Claude Opus 4.8

Record SWE-bench Pro in our verified set. Pay for accuracy when a bad diff is expensive.

API ID: claude-opus-4-8
Pricing: $5 input / $25 output per 1M · $0.50 / 1M input (90% off reads)
Context: 1M in / 128K out
Best for: Repo-scale SWE, multi-file architecture refactors, and highest-stakes code reasoning.
Benchmarks: Verified in StackCapybara flagship research (May 2026).
Primary review: Claude Opus 4.8 API review
Also mentioned in:

GPT-5.5 (Standard)

Strong Terminal-Bench and GPQA scores. Escalate to Pro only for the hardest shell/OS tasks.

API ID: gpt-5.5
Pricing: $2 input / $8 output per 1M · $0.20 / 1M cached input (90% off)
Context: 1M in / 128K out
Best for: Balanced general API default, math-capable agents, and mixed tool-calling pipelines.
Benchmarks: SWE Verified mid-range 82.6–88.7% in research; SWE Pro unverified.
Primary review: GPT-5.5 Standard API review
Also mentioned in:

GPT-5.5 Pro (Reasoning)

Reserve for migrations, infra repair, and OSWorld-class tasks — not everyday chat.

API ID: gpt-5.5-pro
Pricing: $5 input / $25 output per 1M · $0.50 / 1M cached input (90% off)
Context: 1M in / 128K out
Best for: DevOps automation, terminal execution guards, and desktop/OS agents where failure cost dominates token cost.
Benchmarks: Quality similar to Standard on published suites; pricing is the differentiator.
Primary review: GPT-5.5 Pro API review
Also mentioned in:

Review coverage

Dedicated API reviews (linked from the table above):

LLM API Pricing vs. Quality — task routing & agent-stack recipes
GPT-5.5 vs Gemini Flash vs Claude Opus — flagship benchmark deep dive
Best AI coding agents 2026
Subscription pricing — Plus / Pro / Advanced plans

Official pricing sources:
DeepSeek ·
Moonshot/Kimi ·
xAI Grok ·
Google Gemini ·
Anthropic ·
OpenAI