LLM API Prices Vary Widely Across Providers for Many Models, Study Finds

A market analysis comparing 375 models offered by at least two of 137 providers found that the median input price difference is zero, meaning most providers charge identical rates for a typical model. However, a sizable minority of models show extreme divergence, with 42 models, about 11% of the sample, exceeding a 200% price spread. The largest gap cited involves openai/gpt-oss-120b, where input pricing ranged from $0.03 to $0.80 per million tokens across providers. The authors caution that the figures reflect short-context, point-in-time list prices that may change frequently, and that identically named models may differ in quantization or serving quality. They conclude that relying on a single provider's quote can lead to substantially overpaying.