LLM APIs · Comparison

Anthropic API (Claude) vs Mistral AI API vs OpenAI 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 Mistral AI API vs OpenAI API: value, access facts, plan limits and bottom lines
Metric	Anthropic API (Claude)	Mistral AI API	OpenAI 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.	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.	Saves engineering timeOne API key for OpenAI's GPT-6 models and hosted tools, priced per token with published batch, flex and caching discounts.
Overall score	7.2	7.4Best	7.1
Free option	Free trial	Free plan	–Not measured
Card to start	–Not measured	No card needed	–Not measured
Getting access	Self-serve	Self-serve	Self-serve
Starter priceCheapest paid plan	$0.10/1M input tokens	$0.10/1M 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 pay-as-you-go credits, optional auto recharge	Prepaid credits ($5 minimum), expire after 1 year
Free option	One-time free credits for new users, amount not stated	Free mode, no card; allowance not stated publicly	No free allowance stated
Reference scenario (100M in + 20M out tokens/mo)	$20 on claude-haiku-5-5, computed	$12 on ministral-3b-2512, computed	$20 on gpt-6-luna, computed
Batch, cache and other discounts	Batch 50% off; cache hits 90% off on Haiku 5.5	Batch 50% off; cached input 90% off	Batch and Flex 50% off; cached input 90% off
Trained on API data	No (Commercial Terms)	Unless you opt out (Free mode and paid)	No, unless you opt in
Default retention	Deleted within 30 days	30 rolling days for abuse monitoring	Abuse logs up to 30 days
Zero data retention	By agreement, through sales	By approval, pay-as-you-go, stateless endpoints only	By approval, through sales
SOC 2 / ISO 27001	Both, listed for the API	Both, stated in the help center	Both, covering the API
HIPAA BAA	Standard BAA signed in the Console, if eligible	Not stated	Standard BAA accepted in the API Platform, if eligible
Data regions	US-only inference at 1.1x; otherwise global	EU and US endpoints at +10%	10 storage regions by approval; processing in US, EU, UAE
Official SDKs	Python, TypeScript, C#, Go, Java, PHP, Ruby	Python, TypeScript	Python, TypeScript/JavaScript, Java (beta), Go (beta), C#, Ruby
Console SSO	Through sales	SAML on the Enterprise plan	Custom/Enterprise billing 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 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.	From its public pages, the OpenAI API has a complete per-token price list, published batch, flex and caching discounts, and audit reports that cover the API. Stricter data controls, residency and SSO go through sales, and a few docs pages lag behind the price list.

Evidence: Anthropic API (Claude): 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; OpenAI 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 want one-time free credits for new users and an official PHP SDK, at the same $20 scenario price on Claude Haiku 5.5.
Pick OpenAI API when
You want data residency outside the US (by approval) or a flex rate at half price on top of the batch discount.
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 Mistral AI API review
Checked Oct 15, 2026
Pick Mistral AI API when
You want a lower scenario price ($12 on Ministral 3 3B against $20 on GPT-6 Luna), a free mode with no card, and EU or US endpoints without a sales call.
Pick OpenAI API when
You want API data kept out of training by default, published rate limits, official SDKs in six languages and a HIPAA BAA path.
From our OpenAI API review
Checked Oct 15, 2026
Pick OpenAI API when
You want data residency outside the US (by approval), and a flex rate at half price on top of the batch discount.
Pick Anthropic API (Claude) when
You want one-time free credits for new users and an official PHP SDK, at the same $20 scenario price on Claude Haiku 5.5.
From our OpenAI API review
Checked Oct 15, 2026
Pick OpenAI API when
You want API data kept out of training by default, published rate limits and a HIPAA BAA path.
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%.

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
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
OpenAI API
GPT-6 Luna
$0.10/1M input tokens
$0.50 per 1M output tokens; cached input $0.01, cache writes $0.125; prompts over 272K input tokens cost 2x input and 1.5x output
- 1,050,000-token context window
- Batch and Flex at 50% of standard rates
- Fast mode at 2x
- EU data residency at +10%

Prices as listed on each pricing page, in USD per month, excluding tax. Observed: Anthropic API (Claude) 2026-10-15, Mistral AI API 2026-10-15, OpenAI 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; scored 7.4/10.
Lowest starter price: Mistral AI API$0.10/1M input tokens for the Ministral 3 3B plan. Anthropic API (Claude) and OpenAI 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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