OpenAI API vs Google Gemini API pricing
Both are in llm apis. OpenAI API is billed per token; Google Gemini API is billed per token. Numbers below are copied from each vendor's pricing page.
OpenAI APINo free tier
- Free tier
- $5 trial credit (after ID verification); opt-in data-sharing free tokens
- Billed
- Per token
- Best for
- Frontier general-purpose LLM platform
- Verified
- Jun 27, 2026
Google Gemini APIFree tier or trial
- Free tier
- Free tier on Flash models: ~1,500 req/day, 250k TPM (Pro models paid-only since Apr 2026)
- Billed
- Per token
- Best for
- Multimodal, long-context, GCP-backed
- Verified
- Jun 27, 2026
OpenAI API plans
| Plan | Price | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| GPT-5.5 (flagship) | $5.00 / $30.00 per 1M tokens | Input / output; cached input $0.50/1M. Highest-intelligence model (AA Index 55). |
| GPT-5.4 | $2.50 / $15.00 per 1M tokens | Input / output; cached input $0.25/1M. Mid-tier flagship. |
| GPT-5.4-mini | $0.75 / $4.50 per 1M tokens | Input / output; cached input $0.075/1M. Cost-efficient general model. |
| GPT-5.4-nano | $0.20 / $1.25 per 1M tokens | Input / output; cached input $0.02/1M. Cheapest, lowest-latency tier (~0.56s TTFT). |
| Batch / Flex processing | Up to ~50% off standard | Asynchronous Batch API and Flex tier trade latency for substantially lower per-token cost. |
| Scale Tier | Custom / committed throughput | Prioritized compute with a contractual 99.9% uptime SLA for production traffic. |
- Expensive output tokens on flagship models ($30/1M on GPT-5.5) make high-volume generation costly
- Standard pay-as-you-go tier has no uptime SLA; guarantees require Scale Tier or Azure
- Recurring billing-transparency and credit-reconciliation complaints from users
Google Gemini API plans
| Plan | Price | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier (AI Studio) | $0 | Free access to Gemini models via Google AI Studio with rate/quota limits; data may be used to improve products. |
| Gemini 2.5 Flash-Lite | $0.10 / $1.50 in/out per 1M | Lowest-cost tier; output $0.40 on the Developer API. Batch halves it to $0.05/$0.20. |
| Gemini 2.5 Flash | $0.30 / $2.50 in/out per 1M | Cost-efficient workhorse with 1M context; Batch $0.15/$1.25; caching $0.03 per 1M + $1.00/hr storage. |
| Gemini 2.5 Pro | $1.25 / $10.00 in/out per 1M | High-reasoning tier; rises to $2.50/$15.00 for prompts over 200K tokens. Batch $0.625/$5.00. |
| Grounding / tools add-on | $35 per 1,000 prompts | Google Search grounding after free tier; Maps grounding $25 per 1,000 prompts. |
- Restrictive quotas/rate limits on free and lower paid tiers cause friction
- Intelligence Index sits mid-pack rather than top-of-class vs. similarly-priced reasoning models
- Free-tier inputs may be used to improve Google products, a data-privacy concern for some teams