Disclaimer
Important caveats about the data, the recommendations, and outbound links.
Pricing data
Prices, context windows, and capability flags are sourced nightly from OpenRouter's public catalog endpoint. Each model page shows the timestamp of the last successful sync. Provider pricing changes happen out-of-band — our snapshot can lag the provider's authoritative price by up to 24 hours. Always confirm with the provider before committing to a workload.
Cost calculations
Monthly cost estimates are simplifications. They assume:
- 30-day months
- Cache hits zero out the corresponding input cost (some providers discount instead of zero)
- No tier discounts, no enterprise commits, no bring-your-own-key arrangements
- The standard pricing tier (not batch, not cached-prompt-specific)
For a real budget, plug in numbers from the provider's own calculator before signing.
Self-hosted throughput
Throughput numbers on the self-hosted comparison are single-stream figures from public vLLM, TGI, and llama.cpp benchmarks. Real production deployments using continuous batching achieve 5–10× higher aggregate throughput. The "Inference-only" cost assumes you can scale to zero between requests; "Always-on" assumes a dedicated GPU running 24/7. Real production usually lives between those two bounds.
Compliance posture
Compliance flags (HIPAA, SOC 2, GDPR DPA, ISO 27001, EU residency) are hand-curated from each provider's published security material at the date stamped on the provider page. Provider posture changes over time — our information may be out of date. For a regulated workload, always confirm directly with the provider before sending production data, and keep your own record of the BAA / DPA / certification you receive.
Recommendations
The "best LLM for…" pages produce a deterministic, rule-based ranking from the data we have. They are not personalized advice and they do not consider every factor that might matter to you (e.g., latency in your region, customer-specific contractual terms, language quality on your specific domain). Treat them as a starting shortlist, not a final decision.
Affiliate links
Some outbound links may include a referral / affiliate identifier. When you click through and sign up with the provider, the operator of this site may receive a commission at no additional cost to you. This compensation does not change which providers appear in our catalog (sourced from OpenRouter's public list) or how they're ranked (deterministic, by your inputs).
No professional advice
This site is informational. It is not legal, financial, security, or medical advice. For decisions where those domains apply, consult a qualified professional in the relevant jurisdiction.