OpenAI API alternatives
10 alternatives to OpenAI API (#1 in AI APIs & models). Our verdict on OpenAI API: Broadest ecosystem and tooling. A safe first choice for most apps.
10 OpenAI API alternatives compared
| Tool | Rank / department | Free plan | Starting price | Tranco rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anthropic API Claude models are top-tier for coding and agents. Strong pick for tool use. | #2 in AI APIs & models | yes (checked 16 Oct 2026) | $17 Per month | 470 | Compare · Site ↗ |
| Google Gemini API Long context with a free tier in AI Studio. Great value for prototyping. | #3 in AI APIs & models | N/A | N/A | N/A | Compare · Site ↗ |
| OpenRouter One API key for hundreds of models. Ideal for comparing models or adding fallbacks. | #4 in AI APIs & models | N/A | N/A | 3,947 | Compare · Site ↗ |
| Groq Very fast inference for open models. Use it when latency matters. | #5 in AI APIs & models | N/A | N/A | 14,890 | Compare · Site ↗ |
| OpenAI We believe our research will eventually lead to artificial general intelligence, a system that can solve… | AI APIs & models | N/A | N/A | 116 | Compare · Site ↗ |
| Perplexity API Perplexity API Platform - build with the Orchestrator, Agent, Search, Embeddings, and Decisions APIs. | AI APIs & models | N/A | N/A | 679 | Compare · Site ↗ |
| DeepSeek 深度求索（DeepSeek），探索未至之境。专注于研究世界领先的通用人工智能底层模型与技术，开源 DeepSeek-V4、DeepSeek-R1 等前沿大模型。和 DeepSeek AI 对话，轻松接入… | AI APIs & models | N/A | N/A | 1,237 | Compare · Site ↗ |
| Ollama Ollama is the easiest way to run and build with open AI models locally or in the cloud on macOS, Windows… | AI APIs & models | yes (checked 16 Oct 2026) | $16.67 / mo | 4,122 | Compare · Site ↗ |
| xAI SpaceXSI builds Grok — frontier AI models for reasoning, voice, image generation, and more. | AI APIs & models | yes (checked 16 Oct 2026) | $8 /month | 4,645 | Compare · Site ↗ |
| Mistral AI Frontier open-weight models you own and control. | AI APIs & models | yes (checked 16 Oct 2026) | $5.99 / month | 6,863 | Compare · Site ↗ |
Free plan and price are read from each official pricing page on the date shown. Tranco rank is a public top-1M site list, not our traffic. Order: our editorial ranking first, then Tranco.
Read our full OpenAI API review · Compare OpenAI API with Anthropic API
FAQ
What are the best alternatives to OpenAI API?
Our list: Anthropic API, Google Gemini API, OpenRouter, Groq, OpenAI, Perplexity API. Tools we rank editorially come first, then other tools in the same directory department ordered by public Tranco popularity.
Is there a free alternative to OpenAI API?
These alternatives show a free plan on their official pricing page (as checked): Anthropic API, Ollama, xAI, Mistral AI.