OpenAI vs Anthropic: API Pricing Comparison 2026
Compare OpenAI and Anthropic API pricing side by side. GPT-4.1, o3 vs Claude Opus 4, Sonnet 4 costs, benchmarks, and which offers better value.
Pricing Comparison
| Model | Tier | Input $/1M | Output $/1M | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAI | |||||
| GPT-4.1 | Flagship | $2.00 | $8.00 | ||
| GPT-4.1 Mini | Mid-tier | $0.40 | $1.60 | ||
| GPT-4.1 Nano | Budget | $0.10 | $0.40 | ||
| GPT-4o | Flagship | $2.50 | $10.00 | ||
| GPT-4o Mini | Budget | $0.15 | $0.60 | ||
| o3 | Flagship | $2.00 | $8.00 | ||
| o3 Mini | Mid-tier | $1.10 | $4.40 | ||
| o4 Mini | Mid-tier | $1.10 | $4.40 | ||
| o1 | Flagship | $15.00 | $60.00 | ||
| GPT-5 | Flagship | $1.25 | $10.00 | ||
| GPT-5 Mini | Mid-tier | $0.25 | $2.00 | ||
| GPT-5 Nano | Budget | $0.05 | $0.40 | ||
| GPT-5.1 | Flagship | $1.25 | $10.00 | ||
| GPT-5.2 | Flagship | $1.75 | $14.00 | ||
| GPT-5.2 Pro | Flagship | $21.00 | $168.00 | ||
| GPT-5 Pro | Flagship | $15.00 | $120.00 | ||
| o3 Pro | Flagship | $20.00 | $80.00 | ||
| GPT-5.1 Codex Mini | Mid-tier | $0.25 | $2.00 | ||
| GPT-OSS 120B | Mid-tier | $0.04 | $0.19 | ||
| GPT-OSS 20B | Budget | $0.03 | $0.14 | ||
| Anthropic | |||||
| Claude Opus 4.6 | Flagship | $5.00 | $25.00 | ||
| Claude Sonnet 4.6 | Mid-tier | $3.00 | $15.00 | ||
| Claude Opus 4.5 | Flagship | $5.00 | $25.00 | ||
| Claude Sonnet 4.5 | Mid-tier | $3.00 | $15.00 | ||
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | Budget | $1.00 | $5.00 | ||
| Claude Opus 4.1 | Flagship | $15.00 | $75.00 | ||
| Claude Opus 4 | Flagship | $15.00 | $75.00 | ||
| Claude Sonnet 4 | Mid-tier | $3.00 | $15.00 | ||
| Claude Sonnet 3.7 | Mid-tier | $3.00 | $15.00 | ||
| Claude Haiku 3.5 | Budget | $0.80 | $4.00 | ||
| Claude 3 Haiku | Budget | $0.25 | $1.25 | ||
Quality Benchmarks
Comparing GPT-5.2 Pro vs Claude Opus 4.6 — the highest-rated model from each provider by Arena ELO.
Key Differences
Price Range (Input $/1M)
Max Context Window
Models Available
Batch Pricing
Prompt Caching
Vision Support
Our Verdict
OpenAI
Anthropic
OpenAI
OpenAI wins on price breadth and budget options; Anthropic wins on top-tier quality and coding benchmarks.
For cost-sensitive workloads, OpenAI provides more options at the budget end of the spectrum. GPT-5 Nano and GPT-4.1 Nano offer capable models at just $0.05-$0.10 per million input tokens. Anthropic's cheapest option, Claude 3 Haiku, starts at $0.25 per million input tokens. For quality, Anthropic's Claude Opus 4.6 leads in Arena ELO ratings and coding benchmarks (HumanEval), making it the top choice for applications where output quality is paramount. However, OpenAI's o3 model is competitive in reasoning benchmarks. For the best overall value, consider using OpenAI's mid-tier models (GPT-4.1 Mini, GPT-5 Mini) for routine tasks and routing complex requests to Anthropic's Claude Sonnet or Opus models. Both providers offer batch processing at 50% off, making either viable for async workloads.
OpenAI and Anthropic are the two dominant players in the AI API market, and choosing between them is one of the most common decisions developers face in 2026. OpenAI offers a wider range of models across more price points, from the ultra-cheap GPT-5 Nano at $0.05 per million input tokens to the powerful o3 reasoning model. Anthropic counters with consistently large 200K context windows, industry-leading coding benchmarks, and competitive mid-tier pricing with Claude Sonnet. The right choice depends on your use case. For pure cost optimization on high-volume workloads, OpenAI's budget models (GPT-4.1 Nano, GPT-5 Nano) are hard to beat. For tasks requiring strong reasoning, coding ability, or long-context processing, Anthropic's Claude models consistently rank at or near the top of independent benchmarks. Many production systems use both providers with intelligent routing to optimize cost and quality.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is OpenAI or Anthropic cheaper for API usage?+
OpenAI is generally cheaper, especially at the budget tier. GPT-5 Nano costs $0.05/$0.40 per million input/output tokens, while Anthropic's cheapest model (Claude 3 Haiku) costs $0.25/$1.25. However, at the mid tier, pricing is comparable between GPT-4.1 Mini and Claude 3.5 Haiku.
Which has better AI model quality, OpenAI or Anthropic?+
Anthropic's Claude Opus 4.6 currently leads in Arena ELO ratings (1440) and HumanEval coding benchmarks (97.2%). OpenAI's o3 is competitive in reasoning (MMLU 96.7%). Quality depends on your specific use case.
Can I use both OpenAI and Anthropic APIs together?+
Yes, many production systems use model routing to send simple requests to cheaper models (like GPT-4.1 Nano) and complex requests to high-quality models (like Claude Opus). Tools like OpenRouter and LiteLLM make multi-provider setups easy.
Do OpenAI and Anthropic offer batch pricing discounts?+
Yes, both offer 50% off standard pricing for batch/async API calls. OpenAI's Batch API and Anthropic's Message Batches API both process requests asynchronously within 24 hours at half the cost.
What context window sizes do OpenAI and Anthropic support?+
Anthropic offers a consistent 200K token context window across all Claude models. OpenAI varies: GPT-4.1 models support up to 1M tokens, o3/o4 models support 200K, and GPT-4o supports 128K.