API Benchmarks

The 5 Cheapest AI APIs in 2026 (Tested and Ranked)

Published 2026-05-21

The Ranking

  1. Qwen3-8B — $0.01/M: Ultra-light tasks, 70 tok/s
  2. GLM-4-9B — $0.01/M: Chinese on a budget
  3. Step-3.5-Flash — $0.15/M: Speed champ (80 tok/s)
  4. DeepSeek V4 Flash — $0.25/M: Best value, GPT-4o quality
  5. Qwen3-32B — $0.28/M: Strong all-rounder

All via Global API. PayPal, never-expiring credits.

Cross-checked with Code & Cost and API Benchmarks.