Chinese AI API Pricing Comparison 2026: Every Model, Every Number

Published July 20, 2026 · Prices verified & updated

Chinese AI models offer the best price-to-performance ratio in the industry. This is the definitive pricing reference for developers comparing costs across DeepSeek, Kimi, GLM, ERNIE, and Qwen. All prices are in USD per 1M tokens, as charged on AIWave.

Flagship Models Compared

Budget-Friendly Options

If you’re optimizing for cost, these models deliver excellent quality at minimal expense:

Western Model Comparison

How do Chinese models stack up against Western alternatives on price?

Build Your Own Cost Calculator

Copy this Python script to estimate your monthly bill before you commit:

# pricing_config.py — AIWave pricing reference
MODELS = {
    "deepseek-v4-pro": {"input": 2.09, "output": 4.18, "cache": 1.04},
    "deepseek-v4-flash": {"input": 0.18, "output": 0.36, "cache": 0.0364},
    "kimi-k3": {"input": 4.50, "output": 22.50, "cache": 0.90},
    "glm-5.1": {"input": 2.10, "output": 6.60, "cache": 0.68},
    "glm-5": {"input": 1.55, "output": 4.96, "cache": 0.40},
    "ernie-5.1": {"input": 0.60, "output": 1.80, "cache": 0.12},
    "ernie-tiny-8k": {"input": 0.005, "output": 0.015, "cache": 0.001},
}

def calc_monthly(model, daily_input_m, daily_output_m, cache_pct=0.3):
    """Estimate monthly cost. Prices per 1M tokens."""
    p = MODELS[model]
    daily_input_cost = (daily_input_m * (1 - cache_pct) * p["input"] + daily_input_m * cache_pct * p["cache"])
    daily_output_cost = daily_output_m * p["output"]
    monthly = (daily_input_cost + daily_output_cost) * 30
    return f"{model}: ${monthly:,.2f}/month (${daily_input_cost + daily_output_cost:.4f}/day)"

# Examples
print(calc_monthly("deepseek-v4-pro", 5, 15))   # 5M in + 15M out per day
print(calc_monthly("kimi-k3", 2, 5))                # Long context, less volume
print(calc_monthly("ernie-tiny-8k", 50, 10))         # High-volume classification
# deepseek-v4-pro: $2,350.10/month ($78.34/day)
# kimi-k3: $861.00/month ($28.70/day)
# ernie-tiny-8k: $1.56/month ($0.05/day)

This shows the dramatic cost differences between models. A classification-heavy workload on ERNIE Tiny costs $1.56/month vs $2,350 for DeepSeek V4 Pro. See our full cost reduction guide.

Cost Optimization Strategies

1. Use prompt caching — System prompts are identical across requests. Cache hits reduce input costs by 50-80%. DeepSeek V4 Pro cache hits at $1.04 vs $2.09 standard input.
2. Model routing — Use intelligent routing to send simple tasks to Flash models and complex tasks to Pro models.
3. Token budgeting — Set max_tokens limits appropriate to your task. Over-allocating wastes money. See our cost reduction guide.
4. Batch processing — Group similar requests together to maximize cache hit rates.
5. Monitor usage — AIWave dashboard shows per-model spending in real time.

What Affects Your Bill Most

The biggest cost driver is output tokens, not input. A typical application with a 500-token input and 2000-token output pays 4x more for output. This is why choosing models with low output pricing (like DeepSeek V4 Pro at $4.18 vs GPT-4o at $10.00) has an outsized impact on your bill.

Try It Yourself

All models listed here are available with $1 credit on signup through a single OpenAI-compatible API. See full pricing page for every model.

Related

• Top 10 Chinese AI Models Ranked
• How to Cut AI API Costs by 80%
• DeepSeek V4 Pro vs GPT-4o