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Historical comparison. GPT-4o mini and Claude 3.5 Haiku are older budget models. This URL is kept for existing links. Anthropic has since released Claude Haiku 5.5 (with pricing that changes above 100K-token prompts), and OpenAI lists newer models too. The table shows active low-cost OpenAI and Anthropic models in our catalog.
Historical comparison

GPT-4o mini vs Claude Haiku

Small, cheap models are where beginners usually start, and where most mistakes about cost happen. The per-token rate looks tiny, so people skip measuring how often the output is actually usable.

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Side-by-side pricing comparison

Active pay-as-you-go rates from our pricing catalog, sourced from each provider's official page. The catalog may lag new launches. Use the category filter to narrow the list.

Catalog rates are a single pricing snapshot, not a full tier schedule. This table does not select rates by prompt length; long prompts may cost more and change the ranking. Use the API cost calculator for supported Haiku 5.5 and xAI prompt tiers. Announced Google increases are not applied before their effective date.

Prices are per 1M tokens (standard pay-as-you-go). Always verify with your provider before budgeting.

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How to test two budget models

Small models fail differently from large ones: they drift from your format and give up on edge cases. Test for that directly.

  1. 01
    Schema pass rate first

    If you need JSON, validate every response against a schema in code. Record the share that pass without repair. This number decides more than the price does.

  2. 02
    Retries are part of the price

    Multiply the per-call cost by 1 plus your retry rate. A model with a 12 percent retry rate costs 12 percent more than its sticker estimate before you count latency.

  3. 03
    Measure p95 latency, not average

    For user-facing features, time 100 calls and look at the slowest 5. Budget models are often chosen for speed, so check the tail.

  4. 04
    Watch tiered pricing on long prompts

    Some current small models charge differently once a prompt crosses a size threshold. Check whether your longest real prompt crosses it before using a flat estimate.

Sources and methodology

These official pricing references and our calculation methodology remain available while the live catalog loads. Confirm the provider's current rates and billing conditions before committing to a workload.

Frequently asked questions

Are these two models still current?
No. They are kept here as a historical reference. Newer small models exist from both providers. Use the table for whatever is active in our catalog and the method above to test them.
Which is cheaper?
See the table for active catalog rates. Differences between budget models are often small in absolute terms; your retry rate and prompt length usually matter more.
When should I move up from a budget model?
When your accepted-result rate stays low after prompt tuning, or validation failures cost more to handle than a larger model would. Compare cost per accepted result, not list price.
Can budget models handle structured JSON?
Often yes, especially with provider structured-output features. Always validate in code; never assume a small model followed your schema.
Do these estimates include taxes or enterprise discounts?
No. Rates are standard pay-as-you-go prices from our active catalog, sourced from official pricing pages. Enterprise agreements, committed-use discounts, regional pricing, and taxes are not reflected. Confirm final pricing with the provider.