Cheapest AI to translate 1,000 words (Oct 2026)
The cheapest model overall is Summarize at <0.01¢ per task. If you want a top-quartile model, the cheapest is DeepSeek V4.1 Flash at 0.18¢.
10 cheapest models
Any model with a price, including small and older ones.
| # | Model | Cost per task | Text score | Tokens in / out | Basis | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | S SummarizeScaledown | <0.01¢$0.06 / 1,000 | - | 1,386 / 1,302 | estimated | |
| 2 | S ExtractScaledown | <0.01¢$0.06 / 1,000 | - | 1,386 / 1,302 | estimated | |
| 3 | I Ling 3.0 FlashInclusionai | 0.01¢$0.11 / 1,000 | - | 1,384 / 1,300 | estimated | |
| 4 | S Llama 3 8B LunarisSao10K | 0.01¢$0.12 / 1,000 | - | 1,386 / 1,302 | estimated | |
| 5 |  gpt-oss-20bOpenAI | 0.01¢$0.14 / 1,000 | 1317 | 1,330 / 1,333 | estimated best value | |
| 6 |  Granite 4.0 MicroIBM | 0.02¢$0.17 / 1,000 | - | 1,375 / 1,292 | estimated | |
| 7 |  Llama 3.1 8B InstructMeta | 0.02¢$0.17 / 1,000 | 1211 | 1,375 / 1,292 | estimated | |
| 8 |  Qwen3.7 FlashAlibaba Qwen | 0.02¢$0.21 / 1,000 | - | 1,386 / 1,302 | estimated | |
| 9 |  Nova Micro 1.0Amazon | 0.02¢$0.22 / 1,000 | - | 1,346 / 1,268 | estimated | |
| 10 | I Schematron V2 TurboInference Net | 0.02¢$0.24 / 1,000 | - | 1,390 / 1,305 | estimated |
Cheapest high-quality models
Only models in the top 25% of LMArena Text scores (≥ 1458).
| # | Model | Cost per task | Text score | Tokens in / out | Basis | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  DeepSeek V4.1 FlashDeepSeek | 0.18¢$1.78 / 1,000 | 1475 | 1,354 / 11,708 | measured best value | |
| 2 |  GLM 5.3 FlashZ.ai | 0.21¢$2.09 / 1,000 | 1474 | 1,330 / 10,155 | measured | |
| 3 | DeepSeek V4 Pro 0423DeepSeek | 0.52¢$5.17 / 1,000 | 1458 | 1,354 / 11,708 | estimated | |
| 4 |  MiMo-V2.6-ProXiaomi | 0.57¢$5.65 / 1,000 | 1479 | 1,486 / 5,752 | estimated best value | |
| 5 | MiMo-V2.5-ProXiaomi | 0.57¢$5.65 / 1,000 | 1467 | 1,486 / 5,752 | estimated | |
| 6 | Qwen3.7 MaxAlibaba Qwen | 0.78¢$7.81 / 1,000 | 1474 | 1,386 / 1,302 | estimated | |
| 7 | Qwen3.8 Max (0902)Alibaba Qwen | 1.1¢$10.58 / 1,000 | 1482 | 1,386 / 1,302 | estimated best value | |
| 8 |  Gemini 3 Flash PreviewGoogle | 1.4¢$14.05 / 1,000 | 1473 | 1,308 / 4,464 | estimated | |
| 9 | GPT-6.1 SolOpenAI | 1.6¢$15.99 / 1,000 | 1484 | 1,330 / 1,333 | measured best value | |
| 10 | GPT-6 SolOpenAI | 1.7¢$16.61 / 1,000 | 1459 | 1,330 / 1,395 | estimated |
Cheapest model of each lab
| Model | Cost per task | Score |
|---|---|---|
gpt-oss-20bOpenAI | 0.01¢$0.14 / 1,000 | 1317 |
Llama 3.1 8B InstructMeta | 0.02¢$0.17 / 1,000 | 1211 |
Qwen3.7 FlashAlibaba Qwen | 0.02¢$0.21 / 1,000 | - |
 Mistral NemoMistral | 0.04¢$0.40 / 1,000 | - |
Gemma 3 4BGoogle | 0.05¢$0.51 / 1,000 | 1303 |
MiMo-V2.6-FlashXiaomi | 0.06¢$0.55 / 1,000 | 1451 |
 Claude Haiku 5.5Anthropic | 0.13¢$1.26 / 1,000 | - |
DeepSeek V4.1 FlashDeepSeek | 0.18¢$1.78 / 1,000 | 1475 |
GLM 5.3 FlashZ.ai | 0.21¢$2.09 / 1,000 | 1474 |
 MiniMax M2.5MiniMax | 0.59¢$5.85 / 1,000 | 1391 |
 Grok Build 0.1xAI | 1.0¢$10.50 / 1,000 | - |
 Kimi K2 ThinkingMoonshot AI | 1.2¢$12.06 / 1,000 | - |
FAQ
What is the cheapest AI to translate 1,000 words?
The cheapest model overall is Summarize at <0.01¢ per task. If you want a top-quartile model, the cheapest is DeepSeek V4.1 Flash at 0.18¢.
Is the cheapest model good enough?
Often not for hard tasks. That is why this page also lists the cheapest models in the top quarter of LMArena scores and the cheapest model of every major lab.