LLM APIs · Comparison

Anthropic API (Claude) vs Google Gemini API vs Mistral AI API

3 products compared side by side: what you pay for with each one first, then the five access facts, entry prices, recorded plan limits and the bottom line of each review. The evidence note under the table says how each product was checked.

Side by side

Anthropic API (Claude) vs Google Gemini API vs Mistral AI API: value, access facts, plan limits and bottom lines
Metric	Anthropic API (Claude)	Google Gemini API	Mistral AI API
What you're paying for	Worth the priceClaude models from Haiku 5.5 at $0.10 / $0.50 per 1M tokens up to Fable 5.1, with no training on API data and a BAA you can sign in the console.	Easy to adoptGoogle's Gemini models by the token in US dollars, with an ongoing free tier to start and batch, flex and caching discounts to scale.	Worth the priceLow per-token prices on small open-weight models, with EU or US processing you can choose yourself and spending caps per workspace.
Overall score	7.2	5.3	7.4Best
Free option	Free trial	Free plan	Free plan
Card to start	–Not measured	No card needed	No card needed
Getting access	Self-serve	Self-serve	Self-serve
Starter priceCheapest paid plan	$0.10/1M input tokens	$0.25/1M input tokens	$0.10/1M input tokens
Pricing model	Usage-based	Usage-based	Usage-based
Pricing page	Public prices	Public prices	Public prices
How you pay	Prepaid credits by card, expire after 1 year; invoicing through sales	Prepaid credits ($5 minimum), expire after 12 months	Prepaid pay-as-you-go credits, optional auto recharge
Free option	One-time free credits for new users, amount not stated	Ongoing free tier on select models, no card; limits shown in AI Studio	Free mode, no card; allowance not stated publicly
Reference scenario (100M in + 20M out tokens/mo)	$20 on claude-haiku-5-5, computed	$55 on gemini-3.1-flash-lite, computed	$12 on ministral-3b-2512, computed
Batch, cache and other discounts	Batch 50% off; cache hits 90% off on Haiku 5.5	Batch and Flex (preview) 50% off; cached input 90% off	Batch 50% off; cached input 90% off
Trained on API data	No (Commercial Terms)	Paid: no. Free tier: may be used to improve Google products	Unless you opt out (Free mode and paid)
Default retention	Deleted within 30 days	Abuse logs for a "limited period", days not stated	30 rolling days for abuse monitoring
Zero data retention	By agreement, through sales	Not guaranteed: paid prompts are logged for abuse monitoring (docs point to Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform, formerly Vertex AI)	By approval, pay-as-you-go, stateless endpoints only
SOC 2 / ISO 27001	Both, listed for the API	Not stated for this API	Both, stated in the help center
HIPAA BAA	Standard BAA signed in the Console, if eligible	Not stated for this API	Not stated
Data regions	US-only inference at 1.1x; otherwise global	No region choice stated	EU and US endpoints at +10%
Official SDKs	Python, TypeScript, C#, Go, Java, PHP, Ruby	Python, JavaScript/TypeScript, Go, Java, C#	Python, TypeScript
Console SSO	Through sales	Not stated (Google account sign-in)	SAML on the Enterprise plan
Bottom line	From its public pages, the Anthropic API has a complete per-token price list, discounts that combine and strong data terms, with a self-serve HIPAA BAA. Region choice is US only, zero data retention and SSO go through sales, and a few pages disagree on billing details.	From its public pages, the Gemini API pairs an ongoing free tier on current models with a detailed USD price list and published batch, flex and caching discounts. Certifications, zero data retention and data regions sit with Google Cloud's Agent Platform, and a few billing pages disagree.	From its public pages, the Mistral AI API has the lowest reference price in this comparison, EU or US endpoints you can pick yourself and spending caps. Training use is an opt-out, rate limits sit behind sign-in, and ZDR and SSO need approval or the Enterprise plan.

Evidence: Anthropic API (Claude): facts checked 2026-10-15 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; Google Gemini API: facts checked 2026-10-15 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run; Mistral AI API: facts checked 2026-10-15 from its public sign-up and pricing pages, no completed hands-on run. Prices in USD as listed, excluding tax. "–" means not recorded.

When to pick each

In the words of each review, with the date its facts were checked.

From our Anthropic API (Claude) review
Checked Oct 15, 2026
Pick Anthropic API (Claude) when
You need SOC 2 and ISO 27001 listed for the API, a stated 30-day retention and a HIPAA BAA path.
Pick Google Gemini API when
You want an ongoing free tier on current models with no card, and accept that free-tier prompts may be used to improve Google products.
From our Anthropic API (Claude) review
Checked Oct 15, 2026
Pick Anthropic API (Claude) when
You want API data kept out of training by default, published rate limits and a self-serve HIPAA BAA.
Pick Mistral AI API when
You want a lower scenario price ($12 on Ministral 3 3B), a free mode with no card, and EU or US regional endpoints at +10%.
From our Google Gemini API review
Checked Oct 15, 2026
Pick Google Gemini API when
You want an ongoing free tier rather than one-time credits, and a flex rate at half price on top of the batch discount.
Pick Anthropic API (Claude) when
You need SOC 2, ISO 27001 and a self-serve HIPAA BAA for the API, a stated 30-day retention, or a $20 scenario on Claude Haiku 5.5.
From our Google Gemini API review
Checked Oct 15, 2026
Pick Google Gemini API when
You want paid prompts kept out of training by default, the free models named on the pricing page, and SDKs in five languages.
Pick Mistral AI API when
You want EU or US regional endpoints (+10%), stated SOC 2 and ISO 27001, and a $12 scenario on Ministral 3 3B.
From our Mistral AI API review
Checked Oct 15, 2026
Pick Mistral AI API when
You want a lower scenario price ($12 against $55), SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 statements, ZDR by approval and a choice of EU or US processing.
Pick Google Gemini API when
You want paid prompts kept out of training by default, a flex rate at 50% off (preview), and official SDKs in five languages.

Entry price

Baseline: each product's cheapest paid plan, per month. Included usage differs, so read the line under each price.

Anthropic API (Claude)
Claude Haiku 5.5
$0.10/1M input tokens
$0.50 per 1M output tokens for prompts up to 100,000 tokens; $0.50 / $2.50 for longer prompts; cache hits $0.01
- 1M-token context window, 128K output
- Tool use and structured outputs
- Batch $0.05 / $0.25
- US-only inference at 1.1x
Google Gemini API
Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite
$0.25/1M input tokens
$1.50 per 1M output tokens; audio input $0.50; cached input $0.025 plus $1.00 per 1M tokens per hour of storage
- 1,048,576 input and 65,536 output tokens
- Batch and Flex $0.125 / $0.75
- Priority $0.45 / $2.70 (preview)
- Function calling and structured outputs
Mistral AI API
Pro
$14.99/mo
Excluding taxes; one plan across Vibe, Studio and API usage
- $25.5 /mo in API credits
- Chat and email support
- Usage beyond the plan at API rates

Prices as listed on each pricing page, in USD per month, excluding tax. Observed: Anthropic API (Claude) 2026-10-15, Google Gemini API 2026-10-15, Mistral AI API 2026-10-15.

Which one fits

If you need to start today without a sales call: Mistral AI APISelf-serve sign-up, no card needed; the highest score of the 3 self-serve products here (7.4/10).
If you want to try it without entering a card: Mistral AI APIFree plan, no card needed, and the highest score of the 2 that skip the card (7.4/10).
Lowest starter price: Mistral AI API$0.10/1M input tokens for the Ministral 3 3B plan. Anthropic API (Claude) and Google Gemini API list no comparable paid price.
Highest overall score: Mistral AI API7.4/10 (Good). The review shows the score breakdown and the run behind it.

Picked by fixed rules from the table above, not by hand. How we score

Full reviews

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