Best of
Cheapest good AI models
For lots of everyday work at the lowest cost, Claude Haiku 5.5, GPT-6 Luna and DeepSeek V4.1 Flash are the main low-cost choices; Schematron is the cheapest for turning web pages into data.
Costs here use the prices AI companies charge software developers, so they show relative cost, not your monthly bill. See what ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini charge you.
| Model and our take (editorial) | Type | Smartness | Reads at once* | Essay | Chat | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Schematron V2 Turbo A tiny model that does one thing: turn a web page into a neat table of data, very cheaply. | Single-purposefree to download | Not rated yet | 190 pages | <1¢ | $0.04 | <1¢ |
| MiMo-V2.6-Flash One of the cheapest models we track. It understands audio and video too, and can be downloaded and run yourself. | Everyday and cheapfree to download | ★★★☆☆ | 1,580 pages | <1¢ | $0.18 | <1¢ |
| DeepSeek V4.1 Flash Very low price, can be downloaded and run yourself, and reads a very large amount at once. Hard to beat for big batches of work. | Everyday and cheapfree to download | ★★★☆☆ | 1,570 pages | <1¢ | $0.19 | $0.01 |
| Qwen3.8 Flash A cheap model that understands pictures and video, and can be downloaded and run yourself. | Everyday and cheapfree to download | Not rated yet | 1,500 pages | <1¢ | $0.19 | $0.01 |
| Claude Haiku 5.5 The cheap and fast Claude. Great for summaries, quick questions and anything you do a lot of. | Everyday and cheap | ★★★★☆ | 1,500 pages | <1¢ | $0.13 | <1¢ |
| GPT-6 Luna OpenAI's fast, cheap model for chat, sorting things into groups and light tasks. | Everyday and cheap | ★★★☆☆ | 1,580 pages | <1¢ | $0.13 | <1¢ |
How we chose: Editorial shortlist. Test on a small sample of your own work before relying on a cheap model.
Why each one
Schematron V2 Turbo
A tiny model that does one thing: turn a web page into a neat table of data, very cheaply.
A tiny model that does one thing: turn a web page into a neat table of data, very cheaply.
MiMo-V2.6-Flash
One of the cheapest models we track. It understands audio and video too, and can be downloaded and run yourself.
One of the cheapest models we track. It understands audio and video too, and can be downloaded and run yourself.
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash
Very low price, can be downloaded and run yourself, and reads a very large amount at once. Hard to beat for big batches of work.
Very low price, can be downloaded and run yourself, and reads a very large amount at once. Hard to beat for big batches of work.
Qwen3.8 Flash
A cheap model that understands pictures and video, and can be downloaded and run yourself.
A cheap model that understands pictures and video, and can be downloaded and run yourself.
Claude Haiku 5.5
The cheap and fast Claude. Great for summaries, quick questions and anything you do a lot of.
The cheap and fast Claude. Great for summaries, quick questions and anything you do a lot of.
GPT-6 Luna
OpenAI's fast, cheap model for chat, sorting things into groups and light tasks.
OpenAI's fast, cheap model for chat, sorting things into groups and light tasks.