LLM APIs · Comparison

Google Gemini API 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

Google Gemini API vs Mistral AI API vs OpenAI API: value, access facts, plan limits and bottom lines
Metric	Google Gemini API	Mistral AI API	OpenAI API
What you're paying for	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.	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	5.3	7.4Best	7.1
Free option	Free plan	Free plan	–Not measured
Card to start	No card needed	No card needed	–Not measured
Getting access	Self-serve	Self-serve	Self-serve
Starter priceCheapest paid plan	$0.25/1M 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 ($5 minimum), expire after 12 months	Prepaid pay-as-you-go credits, optional auto recharge	Prepaid credits ($5 minimum), expire after 1 year
Free option	Ongoing free tier on select models, no card; limits shown in AI Studio	Free mode, no card; allowance not stated publicly	No free allowance stated
Reference scenario (100M in + 20M out tokens/mo)	$55 on gemini-3.1-flash-lite, computed	$12 on ministral-3b-2512, computed	$20 on gpt-6-luna, computed
Batch, cache and other discounts	Batch and Flex (preview) 50% off; cached input 90% off	Batch 50% off; cached input 90% off	Batch and Flex 50% off; cached input 90% off
Trained on API data	Paid: no. Free tier: may be used to improve Google products	Unless you opt out (Free mode and paid)	No, unless you opt in
Default retention	Abuse logs for a "limited period", days not stated	30 rolling days for abuse monitoring	Abuse logs up to 30 days
Zero data retention	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	By approval, through sales
SOC 2 / ISO 27001	Not stated for this API	Both, stated in the help center	Both, covering the API
HIPAA BAA	Not stated for this API	Not stated	Standard BAA accepted in the API Platform, if eligible
Data regions	No region choice stated	EU and US endpoints at +10%	10 storage regions by approval; processing in US, EU, UAE
Official SDKs	Python, JavaScript/TypeScript, Go, Java, C#	Python, TypeScript	Python, TypeScript/JavaScript, Java (beta), Go (beta), C#, Ruby
Console SSO	Not stated (Google account sign-in)	SAML on the Enterprise plan	Custom/Enterprise billing plan
Bottom line	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.	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: 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; 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 Google Gemini API review
Checked Oct 15, 2026
Pick Google Gemini API when
You want an ongoing free tier on current models with no card before you pay anything.
Pick OpenAI API when
You need SOC 2 and ISO 27001 reports that name the API, zero data retention by approval, data regions, or a $20 scenario on GPT-6 Luna.
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 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 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.
From our OpenAI API review
Checked Oct 15, 2026
Pick OpenAI API when
You need SOC 2 and ISO 27001 reports that name the API, zero data retention by approval, or a data region.
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 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.

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
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: Google Gemini API 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, 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. Google Gemini API 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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