Compare AI Models & Tools
Side-by-side comparisons of AI models by capability, price, and use case. Budget tier under $1/1M tokens, mid-range $1-3/1M, premium $5+/1M. Plus tool comparisons for coding IDEs and API pricing breakdowns.
Cut through the marketing. These comparisons focus on what matters: price-per-capability, real benchmarks, and when each option makes sense.
The aihackers approach: No affiliate links. No sponsored placements. Just verified specs and honest tradeoffs.
Free Access Guides
Not ready to pay? Start here:
- Free Frontier Stack — $500+ of frontier AI for $0 (OpenCode Zen, Antigravity, AMP, Kiro, Kilo Code)
- Access Kimi k2.5 — Every verified free and cheap path to Kimi
- Smart Spend Guide — When to pay, what to buy, how to optimize
Model Comparisons by Tier
Choose based on your budget and performance needs:
| Tier | Price Range | Best For | Comparison |
|---|---|---|---|
| Budget | Under $1/1M tokens | Prototyping, preprocessing, hobby projects | Budget Models |
| Mid-Range | $1-$3/1M tokens | Production apps, daily coding, reliable reasoning | Mid-Range Models |
| Premium | $5+/1M tokens | Complex research, enterprise workloads, maximum accuracy | Premium Models |
Model Tier Deep Dives
Budget Tier: Under $1/1M Tokens
GPT-5 mini ($0.25/1M) — Cheapest OpenAI option, reliable ecosystem
Gemini 3 Flash (FREE input, $3/1M output) — Best value, 1M context, 78% SWE-bench
Kimi k2.5 ($0.60/1M) — Vision capabilities, open source
Claude Haiku 4.5 ($1.00/1M) — Fastest responses, Anthropic reliability
Bottom line: You can get 96% of frontier performance for 4-20% of the cost. Start here.
Mid-Range Tier: $1-$3/1M Tokens
GPT-5.2 ($1.75/1M) — Best price-performance for general coding
Claude Sonnet 4.5 ($3.00/1M) — Most reliable reasoning in tier
Gemini 2.5 Pro ($2.50/1M) — Strong multimodal, competitive benchmarks
Bottom line: The production sweet spot. 90-95% of frontier capability at 20-35% of premium cost.
Premium Tier: $5+/1M Tokens
Claude Opus 4.5 ($5.00/1M) — Best reasoning available, 80.9% SWE-bench
GPT-5.2 Pro ($21.00/1M) — Highest precision tier for critical tasks
Bottom line: When errors are expensive, the premium pays for itself.
Tool & Service Comparisons
API Pricing
- Claude vs OpenAI API Pricing — Token-by-token cost breakdown with break-even analysis
Head-to-Head Tool Comparisons
- OpenClaw vs Claude — Self-hosted vs managed agent platforms
- Codex vs Claude vs Kimi — Coding agent showdown
- Codex vs Claude vs Cursor — IDE-integrated coding tools
- Windsurf vs Cursor — AI-native IDE comparison
For individual tool docs, see /tools/.
How to Choose
Start with the question: What’s your constraint?
Cost is everything → Free Frontier Stack — Zero-dollar options
Need production reliability → Mid-range tier — Best balance of capability and cost
Maximum reasoning required → Premium tier — That final 5% of capability matters
Not sure? → Start free, then see Smart Spend for upgrade guidance
Comparison Methodology
Pricing: List prices from official sources, verified monthly
Benchmarks: SWE-bench where available, with caveats about benchmark gaming
Use cases: Based on actual testing, not spec sheets
Updates: Revisited when new models drop or pricing changes
See /verify/methodology/ for full verification standards.
Related Sections
- /value/ — Free tiers and smart upgrade paths
- /models/ — Individual model deep-dives
- /tools/ — Tool documentation and setup guides
- /verify/ — Fact-checking and evidence levels
Last updated: February 4, 2026. Pricing subject to change—always verify current rates before committing to large workloads.
- 2026-02-15 | OpenClaw vs ChatGPT Mobile: Beginner's Guide to AI Assistants on Your Phone Simple comparison for beginners: OpenClaw self-hosted AI agent vs ChatGPT mobile app. Learn which personal AI assistant works best for WhatsApp, Telegram, and messaging apps in 2026.
- 2026-02-09 | Google Labs vs AI Studio vs Flow: What's What (Feb 2026) Clear differentiation between Google's fragmented AI ecosystem: Labs (experimental playground), AI Studio (prototyping), Flow (video generation), Antigravity (agentic IDE), and Vibe Coding (app builder).
- 2026-02-04 | Windsurf vs Cursor: AI-Native IDE Comparison Technical comparison of Windsurf (autonomous Cascade agent) vs Cursor (AI-augmented editor). Architecture, pricing, performance, and use case decision framework for 2026.
- 2026-02-03 | Claude vs OpenAI API Pricing (2026): Three-Tier Cost Analysis Direct pricing comparison across budget, mid-range, and premium tiers. Real-world cost scenarios, subscription vs API break-even math, and provider-specific cost traps.
- 2026-02-03 | Codex vs Claude Code vs Cursor: Three Paradigms for AI Development Three incompatible philosophies define AI-assisted development: Codex's parallel cloud agents, Claude Code's terminal-native transparency, and Cursor's predictive IDE integration. The decision framework for matching tools to tasks.
- 2026-02-03 | Codex vs Claude Code vs Kimi k2.5: Quick Decision Guide 30-second decision matrix, cost scenarios, and break-even analysis for choosing between OpenAI Codex, Claude Code, and Kimi k2.5.
- 2026-01-30 | Compare AI Models by Price Tier Side-by-side comparisons of AI models organized by price: budget tier under $1/1M tokens, mid-range $1-3/1M tokens, and premium $5+/1M tokens. Benchmarks, pricing, and use case recommendations.