OpenAI vs Anthropic Pricing
OpenAI is cheaper than Anthropic at the entry level: gpt-oss-20b costs $0.140 per 1M output tokens against $1.25 for Claude 3 Haiku — 8.9× the price. On current flagships, OpenAI's GPT-6 Astra costs $50.00/1M output against $50.00/1M for Anthropic's Claude Fable 5.1. Prices are USD, current as of September 21, 2026.
Per-million-token pricing for OpenAI and Anthropic, with side-by-side flagship models, cheapest tiers, and context windows. Pricing data syncs weekly from a continuously-updated model catalog — last updated September 21, 2026.
Who wins on what
Cheapest input tokens
$0.03/1MOpenAI
gpt-oss-20b — $0.03/1M input
Cheapest output tokens
$0.14/1MOpenAI
gpt-oss-20b — $0.14/1M output
Longest context window
2.0MOpenAI
gpt-5.4 (>272K context length) — 2.0M input tokens
Lowest average output cost
$28.50/1MAnthropic
Provider-wide average across 40 models
Largest model catalog
137 modelsOpenAI
More options to match cost vs capability
Cheapest cached input
$0.02/1MOpenAI
GPT-5.6 Luna — $0.02/1M cached read
Most reasoning models
13 modelsOpenAI
Models with dedicated reasoning / thinking support
Most vision models
14 modelsOpenAI
Models that accept image input
Side-by-side
OpenAI
Full OpenAI pricing →Cheapest input
$0.030
gpt-oss-20b
Cheapest output
$0.140
gpt-oss-20b
Longest context
2.0M
gpt-5.4 (>272K context length)
Avg output / 1M
$30.24
Across catalog
Cheapest cached input
$0.020
GPT-5.6 Luna
Batch discount
17–50% off output
58 models with published batch rates
| Model | In/1M | Out/1M | Ctx |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPT-6 Astra VisionReasoningToolsCache Batch −50% | $10.00 | $50.00 | 1.1M |
| GPT-5.6 VisionReasoningToolsCache Batch −50% | $4.00 | $20.00 | 1.1M |
| GPT-5.6 Sol VisionReasoningToolsCache Batch −50% | $4.00 | $20.00 | 1.1M |
| GPT-5.6 Terra VisionReasoningToolsCache Batch −50% | $2.00 | $12.00 | 1.1M |
| GPT-5.6 Luna VisionReasoningToolsCache Batch −50% | $0.200 | $1.20 | 1.1M |
| gpt-oss-20b | $0.030 | $0.140 | 131K |
Anthropic
Full Anthropic pricing →Cheapest input
$0.250
Claude 3 Haiku
Cheapest output
$1.25
Claude 3 Haiku
Longest context
1.0M
Claude 4 Sonnet (2025-05-14)
Avg output / 1M
$28.50
Across catalog
Cheapest cached input
$0.200
Claude Sonnet 5
Batch discount
50% off output
19 models with published batch rates
| Model | In/1M | Out/1M | Ctx |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Fable 5.1 VisionReasoningToolsCache Batch −50% | $10.00 | $50.00 | 1.0M |
| Claude Opus 5 VisionReasoningToolsCache Batch −50% | $5.00 | $25.00 | 1.0M |
| Claude Sonnet 5 VisionReasoningToolsCache Batch −50% | $2.00 | $10.00 | 1.0M |
| Claude Fable 5 VisionReasoningToolsCache Batch −50% | $10.00 | $50.00 | 1.0M |
| Claude Opus 4.8 VisionReasoningToolsCache Batch −50% | $5.00 | $25.00 | 1.0M |
| Claude 3 Haiku | $0.250 | $1.25 | 200K |
All prices in USD per 1 million tokens. Showing top 6 models per provider, sorted by output cost.
Batch badges mark models with a published asynchronous batch rate. A model without one is billed at its standard rate — our catalog does not carry batch rates for every model, so an absent badge is not evidence that no batch tier exists.
Frequently asked questions
Is OpenAI or Anthropic cheaper?
OpenAI has the cheaper entry point at $0.14/1M output (gpt-oss-20b — $0.14/1M output). Provider-wide, OpenAI averages $30.24/1M output against $28.50/1M for Anthropic. Which is cheaper for you depends on which model tier your workload actually needs.
How much do OpenAI and Anthropic cost per 1M tokens?
OpenAI starts at $0.140 per 1M output tokens (gpt-oss-20b), with its current flagship GPT-6 Astra at $50.00. Anthropic starts at $1.25 (Claude 3 Haiku), with Claude Fable 5.1 at $50.00. Input tokens cost less than output on both.
Which has the larger context window, OpenAI or Anthropic?
OpenAI — gpt-5.4 (>272K context length) — 2.0M input tokens. For comparison, OpenAI's largest is 2.0M tokens (gpt-5.4 (>272K context length)) and Anthropic's is 1.0M tokens (Claude 4 Sonnet (2025-05-14)).
Which has more reasoning models, OpenAI or Anthropic?
OpenAI lists 13 reasoning models and Anthropic lists 5. Reasoning models bill their internal thinking as output tokens, so a reasoning call costs several times a standard completion of the same visible length — compare them on total tokens billed, not headline rate.
Do OpenAI and Anthropic offer batch discounts?
Both publish discounted rates for asynchronous batch jobs: OpenAI on 58 models in this catalog and Anthropic on 19, at 17–50% and 50% off output tokens respectively. Batch trades real-time responses for a lower rate, so it fits backfills, evaluations and bulk enrichment rather than anything user-facing.
Should I switch from OpenAI to Anthropic to save money?
Only if the cheaper model still meets your quality bar. Token price is one input; the ones that decide your bill are prompt size, response length, retries and how much conversation history you resend each turn. Model the switch against your real traffic before committing. Prices here are current as of September 21, 2026.
Related comparisons
Run the numbers for your workload
Calcaas multiplies per-token costs by your real usage patterns — inputs, outputs, retries, and conversation history — across both providers in one model.