GPT-4o vs Claude vs Gemini: Token Cost Comparison
Input & output pricing per 1M tokens — updated 2026
Every major AI provider charges by the token — and prices vary by more than 100× between the cheapest and most expensive models. Picking the right model for a task can cut your bill dramatically. Here's how the popular models compare.
Token pricing at a glance
| Model | Input / 1M | Output / 1M | Context |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPT-4o | $2.50 | $10.00 | 128K |
| GPT-4 Turbo | $10.00 | $30.00 | 128K |
| GPT-3.5 Turbo | $0.50 | $1.50 | 16K |
| Claude 3.5 Sonnet | $3.00 | $15.00 | 200K |
| Claude 3 Haiku | $0.25 | $1.25 | 200K |
| Gemini 1.5 Pro | $3.50 | $10.50 | 1M |
| Gemini 1.5 Flash | $0.075 | $0.30 | 1M |
| DeepSeek V3 / R1 | $0.27 | $1.10 | 128K |
| Llama 3.1 | $0.59 | $0.79 | 128K |
Published list prices; actual costs vary by provider and volume discounts.
Key takeaways
- Output tokens cost 3–5× more than input. If your app generates long responses, output pricing dominates your bill.
- Budget tier: Gemini 1.5 Flash, Claude 3 Haiku, and DeepSeek are 10–40× cheaper than flagship models — great for high-volume, simpler tasks.
- Premium tier: GPT-4o and Claude 3.5 Sonnet cost more but handle complex reasoning better. Match the model to the difficulty of the task.
- Big context ≠ free. Gemini's 1M-token window is powerful, but you pay per token you actually send — a long prompt is a big bill.
Estimate your real cost
List prices only tell half the story — what matters is how many tokens your text uses. Paste your prompt into our token counter to see the exact count per model, or use the cost calculator to project a monthly bill from your request volume.
💰 Calculate your token cost