Enterprise AI in Numbers · Capability and cost
What last year's most capable AI costs today
$0.07 per million tokens
$0.07 per million tokens (DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 (matches GPT-5 Pro)) as of October 25, 2026, according to OpenRouter, model list prices and Epoch AI, Epoch Capabilities Index. The lowest list price, per million tokens blended three input to one output, of any model whose ECI is at least that of the best model released up to twelve months earlier.
What it means for leaders
Capability that was the best available a year ago now sells for a fraction of the frontier price. Revisit the model behind every production workload at least yearly: the same quality is usually much cheaper.
What would change the reading: How many models qualify, and whether open-weight models set the price.
The breakdown
Every reading
| Date | Value | Change | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $0.07 per million tokens | — | DeepSeek V4 Flash 0731 (matches GPT-5 Pro) | Source |
Definition and method
- What it measures
- The lowest list price, per million tokens blended three input to one output, of any model whose ECI is at least that of the best model released up to twelve months earlier.
- Population
- Models scored on the Epoch Capabilities Index and listed on OpenRouter
- Updated
- Each update
- Source
- OpenRouter, model list prices · Provider list prices, attributed; Epoch AI, Epoch Capabilities Index · CC BY 4.0
Caveats
- List prices exclude volume discounts and batch pricing.
- Only models matched by name between Epoch AI and OpenRouter are priced.
Cite this
Enterprise AI in Numbers, "What last year's most capable AI costs today", https://lucianoayres.com/ai-brief/data/price-of-last-years-frontier/, retrieved October 25, 2026. Data: OpenRouter, model list prices and Epoch AI, Epoch Capabilities Index.