Cheapest that still clears the bar
Quality is the floor, price is the sort. Unrated models are excluded: not having a score is not clearing a bar.
subscription vs API: published plan prices, usage limits, and the API token volume that costs the same as a plan.
Quality floor (LMArena Elo)
gpt-oss-120b at $0.065/M is the cheapest that scores at least 1350.
gpt-oss-120b · 1365.4
Bars use the largest displayed value as their reference. Score bars increase with Arena Elo; shorter price bars mean cheaper. The exact values are printed beside each bar.
| Model | LMArena Elo | Effective $/M |
|---|---|---|
| gpt-oss-120b Check requirements | 1365.4 | $0.065 |
| Gemma 3 27B Check requirements | 1357.8 | $0.100 |
| DeepSeek V4 Flash 0423 Check requirements | 1432.1 | $0.113 |
| Qwen3.5-Flash Check requirements | 1397 | $0.114 |
| Gemma 4 26B A4B Check requirements | 1433.9 | $0.127 |
| Qwen3 30B A3B Instruct 2507 Check requirements | 1384.1 | $0.143 |