Cheapest AI model for simple q&a / chat
Top pick: GPT-OSS 20B (Groq) (Groq) at about $1.35/mo for an example 10M input + 2M output tokens per month. Needs tier ≥1; 25 of 25 models qualify. Prices last checked 2026-10-13.
Cheapest qualifying models, ranked
| # | Model | Provider | Input $/M | Output $/M | Context | Tier | Example $/mo | vs top pick |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GPT-OSS 20B (Groq) | Groq | $0.075 | $0.3 | 131072 | 1 | $1.35 | Top pick |
| 2 | GPT-6 Luna | OpenAI | $0.1 | $0.5 | — | 1 | $2.00 | +$0.65/mo |
| 3 | Qwen3.8 Flash (Together) | Together | $0.15 | $0.47 | — | 1 | $2.44 | +$1.09/mo |
| 4 | GLM-5.3 Flash (Together) | Together | $0.15 | $0.5 | — | 2 | $2.50 | +$1.15/mo |
| 5 | Mistral Small 4 | Mistral | $0.15 | $0.6 | — | 1 | $2.70 | +$1.35/mo |
Caveat: Small models are fine for FAQs and short answers but hallucinate more on niche facts.
How the example bill is computed
We assume 10M input and 2M output tokens per month and multiply by each model's standard per-1M-token price. For the top pick, GPT-OSS 20B (Groq) (Groq): (10M × $0.075) + (2M × $0.3) = $1.35 per month (prices checked 2026-10-13).
Tiers 1–4 are our own rough capability judgment (1 = light, 4 = frontier), not a benchmark. This job needs tier ≥1, so only those models are ranked (25 of 25 qualify). Standard pay-as-you-go text prices only: no batch or cached-input discounts. Cost only, not quality; different tokenizers count the same text differently.
Related head-to-head comparisons
Other jobs: Coding · Long documents · Hard reasoning. See every model on the full price table or estimate your own bill with the savings calculator.