There's no "cheapest model." There's a cheapest token shape.
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Every time someone asks how to cut their LLM bill, the first question is "which model is cheapest?" It's the wrong question. I built a cost simulator to check this properly, and across every scenario I model, the cheapest model is almost always the same tiny one. GPT-5.4 nano wins on raw price basically every time. If that were the whole story, model choice would be trivial and nobody would think about cost at all. The interesting part isn't which model is cheapest. It's where the money…
1Key Takeaways
- Every time someone asks how to cut their LLM bill, the first question is "which model is cheapest?" It's the wrong question.
- I built a cost simulator to check this properly, and across every scenario I model, the cheapest model is almost always the same tiny one.
- GPT-5.4 nano wins on raw price basically every time.
- If that were the whole story, model choice would be trivial and nobody would think about cost at all.
2AIWedia Score
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3Why it matters
Coding AI shifts how fast software ships and how much human review each change needs. DEV — ML reports that every time someone asks how to cut their LLM bill, the first question is "which model is cheapest?" It's the wrong question.
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