Comparison
OpenAI vs Anthropic API pricing comparison
Headline per-million rates mislead when input/output mix and cache hit rate differ. Set one workload, then compare OpenAI GPT and Anthropic Claude models ranked by estimated monthly spend.
Comparing OpenAI · Anthropic · same workload baseline · last update: Thursday 8th October 2026
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Compare OpenAI vs Anthropic for your workload
Step 1
Review your assumptions
These are estimates, not measured usage. Edit the inputs or choose a preset.
Edit assumptions · 50,000 requests/month · 800 tokens/request · 82% input · 55% of input cached
50K requests / mo
800 tokens avg
Per request: 656 in · 144 out · 361 cached
Step 2
Lowest estimated cost
Top 5 models for this workload (unreviewed and conditional tariffs excluded)
General intelligence is not a task-specific quality guarantee. Test shortlisted models on your own examples. Source reviewed — exact offer checked on its provider page. Needs review — missing, stale or conflicting evidence; excluded from default recommendations. Estimates cover input/cache-read/output tokens only. Cache writes, storage, tools, search fees, taxes and unconfigured billing conditions are additional. Include billed reasoning tokens in your output estimate.
Head-to-head
OpenAI vs Anthropic
Cheapest eligible model on each side for the current workload · OpenAI wins by $47.31/mo
OpenAI
Lower costGPT-6 Luna (standard)
$5.26/month
Anthropic
Claude Haiku 4.5 (standard)
$52.56/month
Selected model: cost breakdown
Estimate
GPT-6 Sol (standard)
OpenAI · focus model for this workload
Estimated monthly cost (USD)
$105.13
Based on: 50K requests · 656 input tokens/request · 144 output tokens/request · 55% of input from cache
Token costs only. Tool calls, search, storage, regional pricing, commitment discounts, and taxes may be excluded.
Explore all priced models
Step 3
Models in this comparison
22 models · OpenAI · Anthropic
Estimated monthly cost
$105.13
How costs are calculated
Prices from ai-provider-pricing-validated.json, validated Thursday 8th October 2026. Confirm on official provider pages before billing decisions. Dataset contains 95 offer records, including archived entries and offers that require additional billing inputs or price evidence. Only reviewed offers appear in this calculator. See excluded offers and reasons
Model Cost Comparison · Built by Lazige · Methodology
How we calculate cost
Monthly estimate = (input tokens × input $/MTok) + (cached tokens × cached $/MTok when published) + (output tokens × output $/MTok), scaled to your message volume. See the methodology for validation sources and update cadence.
OpenAI vs Anthropic: the same workload, different token costs
These fixed examples compare tracked, cross-checked models using the snapshot validated 2026-10-08. They are separate from the editable calculator. No cache discounts, batch discounts, taxes or non-token fees are included. Models are grouped by provider, not ranked for quality. Equal token counts normalize the arithmetic; providers may tokenize the same text differently.
- Short replies: 10,000 requests per month × 1,000 input and 250 output tokens per request, with 0% cached input.
- Longer prompts: 10,000 requests per month × 8,000 input and 1,000 output tokens per request, with 0% cached input.
Formula: monthly input tokens ÷ 1,000,000 × input rate + monthly output tokens ÷ 1,000,000 × output rate. Output means billable output, including reasoning tokens where applicable.
| Model / provider | Short replies | Longer prompts | Rate source and conditions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Fable 5 (standard)Anthropic | $225.00 | $1300.00 | Official provider rates Standard global Claude API text rates. Cache writes (5 minute or 1 hour), tools, fast mode, regional premiums and long-context conditions require separate accounting. |
| Claude Fable 5.1 (standard)Anthropic | $225.00 | $1300.00 | Official provider rates Standard global Claude API text rates. Cache writes (5 minute or 1 hour), tools, fast mode, regional premiums and long-context conditions require separate accounting. |
| Claude Haiku 4.5 (standard)Anthropic | $22.50 | $130.00 | Official provider rates Standard global Claude API text rates. Cache writes (5 minute or 1 hour), tools, fast mode, regional premiums and long-context conditions require separate accounting. |
| Claude Opus 4.5 (standard)Anthropic | $112.50 | $650.00 | Official provider rates Standard global Claude API text rates. Cache writes (5 minute or 1 hour), tools, fast mode, regional premiums and long-context conditions require separate accounting. |
| Claude Opus 4.6 (standard)Anthropic | $112.50 | $650.00 | Official provider rates Standard global Claude API text rates. Cache writes (5 minute or 1 hour), tools, fast mode, regional premiums and long-context conditions require separate accounting. |
| Claude Opus 4.7 (standard)Anthropic | $112.50 | $650.00 | Official provider rates Standard global Claude API text rates. Cache writes (5 minute or 1 hour), tools, fast mode, regional premiums and long-context conditions require separate accounting. |
| Claude Opus 5 (standard)Anthropic | $112.50 | $650.00 | Official provider rates Standard global Claude API text rates. Cache writes (5 minute or 1 hour), tools, fast mode, regional premiums and long-context conditions require separate accounting. |
| Claude Opus 5.5 (standard)Anthropic | $90.00 | $520.00 | Official provider rates Standard global Claude API text rates. Cache writes (5 minute or 1 hour), tools, fast mode, regional premiums and long-context conditions require separate accounting. |
| Claude Sonnet 4.5 (standard)Anthropic | $67.50 | $390.00 | Official provider rates Standard global Claude API text rates. Cache writes (5 minute or 1 hour), tools, fast mode, regional premiums and long-context conditions require separate accounting. |
| Claude Sonnet 4.6 (standard)Anthropic | $67.50 | $390.00 | Official provider rates Standard global Claude API text rates. Cache writes (5 minute or 1 hour), tools, fast mode, regional premiums and long-context conditions require separate accounting. |
| Claude Sonnet 5 (standard)Anthropic | $45.00 | $260.00 | Official provider rates Standard global Claude API text rates. Cache writes (5 minute or 1 hour), tools, fast mode, regional premiums and long-context conditions require separate accounting. |
| GPT-5.4 (standard)OpenAI | $62.50 | $350.00 | Official provider rates Standard global text token rates; input limited to 272K per request. Include all billed reasoning output; regional premiums, cache writes and tools excluded. |
| GPT-5.4 mini (standard)OpenAI | $18.75 | $105.00 | Official provider rates Standard global text token rates; input limited to 272K per request. Include all billed reasoning output; regional premiums, cache writes and tools excluded. |
| GPT-5.4 nano (standard)OpenAI | $5.13 | $28.50 | Official provider rates Standard global text token rates; input limited to 272K per request. Include all billed reasoning output; regional premiums, cache writes and tools excluded. |
| GPT-5.5 (standard)OpenAI | $125.00 | $700.00 | Official provider rates Standard global text token rates; input limited to 272K per request. Include all billed reasoning output; regional premiums, cache writes and tools excluded. |
| GPT-5.5 Pro (standard)OpenAI | $750.00 | $4200.00 | Official provider rates Standard global text token rates; input limited to 272K per request. Include all billed reasoning output; regional premiums, cache writes and tools excluded. |
| GPT-5.6 Luna (standard)OpenAI | $5.00 | $28.00 | Official provider rates Standard global text token rates; input limited to 272K per request. Include all billed reasoning output; regional premiums, cache writes and tools excluded. |
| GPT-5.6 Sol (standard)OpenAI | $90.00 | $520.00 | Official provider rates Standard global text token rates; input limited to 272K per request. Include all billed reasoning output; regional premiums, cache writes and tools excluded. |
| GPT-5.6 Terra (standard)OpenAI | $50.00 | $280.00 | Official provider rates Standard global text token rates; input limited to 272K per request. Include all billed reasoning output; regional premiums, cache writes and tools excluded. |
| GPT-6 Astra (standard)OpenAI | $225.00 | $1300.00 | Official provider rates Standard global text tier, input at most 272K tokens/request. Long context, cache writes, tools and regional premiums are excluded. |
| GPT-6 Luna (standard)OpenAI | $2.25 | $13.00 | Official provider rates Standard global text tier, input at most 272K tokens/request. Long context, cache writes, tools and regional premiums are excluded. |
| GPT-6 Sol (standard)OpenAI | $45.00 | $260.00 | Official provider rates Standard global text tier, input at most 272K tokens/request. Long context, cache writes, tools and regional premiums are excluded. |
Unverified or conflicting snapshot rows and Batch/Flex/Priority tiers are excluded from these examples. This is a comparison of tracked rates, not an exhaustive list of currently available models.
What can change the final bill?
OpenAI: Check the selected model and processing tier. Tool usage, search and storage can add charges beyond input/output tokens; cache discounts require eligible cached input. Check current billing rules.
Anthropic: Prompt-cache writes and reads have different billing rules. Tools, long-context tiers and batch processing can change the bill; do not treat a cache-read rate as the cost of creating a cache. Check current billing rules.
Which should you choose?
Use costs to narrow your shortlist, then test both providers on the same representative tasks. Compare answer accuracy, required context and modalities, response time, retries and tool-call success. A lower token price or higher aggregate benchmark score does not prove that a model meets your quality requirements.
Measure total cost per successful task, including repeated calls and billable tools. Replace these illustrative assumptions with measured usage in the calculator before budgeting.
Comparison scenarios
When teams compare OpenAI vs Anthropic
Illustrative workloads for this head-to-head — same request volume and token mix on both sides, so list prices do not dominate the decision.
“Support traffic often flips the winner: short replies + cache hits can make the cheaper OpenAI or Anthropic tier beat a premium default.”
“RAG and retrieval apps punish output-heavy pricing. Normalize cache ratio first, then compare OpenAI against Anthropic on the same corpus size.”
“Code copilots skew long-context input. Use the coding preset so OpenAI vs Anthropic reflects editor sessions, not chatbot averages.”
“Agent loops multiply tool turns. Rank both providers on the agent preset before locking a production model family.”