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API reference

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

Evergreen developer API pricing table with SWE-bench scores, Capy-Score cost/quality index, best-for notes, and links to StackCapybara model reviews.

This is StackCapybara’s evergreen API pricing reference — expanded with benchmark columns, our Capy-Score cost/quality index, 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.

What is Capy-Score?

Capy-Score (0–99) is StackCapybara’s cost/quality index for API models. Higher means more verified capability per dollar for a typical agent workload (we assume ~30% input / 70% output tokens).

  • Quality input: published SWE-bench Pro (45%), SWE-bench Verified (20%), GPQA Diamond (20%), Terminal-Bench (15%) — reweighted when a model lacks verified rows.
  • Cost input: blended $/M from listed input + output API rates.
  • Not a ranking guarantee — a high Capy-Score on Flash tiers reflects value for volume tasks, not repo-scale SWE. Route hard jobs to Opus or GPT-5.5 Pro regardless of score.
  • Models without enough verified benchmarks show — until we publish a dedicated review.

API pricing & benchmarks

Model (API) In / Out per 1M SWE Pro SWE Verified GPQA Terminal-Bench Capy-Score
DeepSeek-V4 Flash
deepseek-v4-flash		 $0.14 / $0.28
Up to ~90% off cache hits		 — — — — —
DeepSeek-V4 Pro
deepseek-v4-pro		 $1.74 / $3.48
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% 45
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% — 36
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% 18
GPT-5.5 (Standard)
gpt-5.5		 $2 / $8
$0.20 / 1M cached input (90% off)		 — 85.7% 93.6% 82.7% 17
GPT-5.5 Pro (Reasoning)
gpt-5.5-pro		 $5 / $25
$0.50 / 1M cached input (90% off)		 — 85.7% 93.6% 82.7% 5

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; Capy-Score withheld.
  • Capy-Score: — (insufficient verified benchmarks)
  • Primary review: DeepSeek-V4 API review
  • Also mentioned in:

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: $1.74 input / $3.48 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.
  • Capy-Score: — (insufficient verified benchmarks)
  • Primary review: DeepSeek-V4 API review (Pro tier)
  • Also mentioned in:

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.
  • Capy-Score: — (insufficient verified benchmarks)
  • 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.
  • Capy-Score: — (insufficient verified benchmarks)
  • Primary review: Grok 4.3 API review
  • Also mentioned in:

Gemini 3.5 Flash

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

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.

Claude Opus 4.8

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

GPT-5.5 (Standard)

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

GPT-5.5 Pro (Reasoning)

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

Review coverage

Dedicated API reviews (linked from the table above):

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