Best AI API Providers 2026: Price & Performance
APIs for building AI applications
Building AI applications? Here's a comprehensive comparison of AI API providers, their pricing, and performance.
How We Evaluated
Our selection criteria for this ranking
API pricing
Model performance
Rate limits
Documentation quality
Reliability
5 Best Tools Compared
Ranked by performance, features, and value
DeepSeek API (via NoteLM)
DeepSeek V4Free API access to DeepSeek V4. Generous limits for development.
Pros
- Free tier
- High quality
- OpenAI compatible
- Fast
⚠️ Cons
- •Smaller ecosystem
- •Newer provider
Best for: Best free API option
Pros
- Industry standard
- Excellent docs
- Reliable
⚠️ Cons
- •Expensive
- •No free tier
Best for: Production applications
Pros
- 200K context
- Good docs
- Safety focused
⚠️ Cons
- •No free tier
- •Slower
Best for: Long context applications
Pros
- Free tier
- Multi-modal
- Google backing
⚠️ Cons
- •Lower benchmarks
- •Google account required
Best for: Free multi-modal API
Pros
- Multiple models
- Competitive pricing
- Open models
⚠️ Cons
- •Smaller scale
- •Variable quality
Best for: Open model API access
Quick Navigation
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about these tools
What is the cheapest AI API?
DeepSeek API offers the best value with free tier and $0.14/M tokens for input. Much cheaper than OpenAI.
Is there a free AI API?
Yes! DeepSeek API (via NoteLM) and Google Gemini API both offer free tiers for development.
Written By
The NoteLM team specializes in AI-powered video summarization and learning tools. We are passionate about making video content more accessible and efficient for learners worldwide.
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