Best the OpenAI API Alternatives in October 2026

1. Claude Fable 5.1 Anthropic

   1.7 points behind GPT-6 Astra, same price.

   Score 69.0, $20 per M tokens blended.Compare with GPT-6 Astra

2. Gemini 3.8 Flash Google

   9.0 points behind GPT-6 Astra, 13.3× cheaper per token.

   Score 61.8, $1.50 per M tokens blended.Compare with GPT-6 Astra

3. Kimi K3 Moonshot AI

   11.2 points behind GPT-6 Astra, 3.3× cheaper per token; open weights.

   Score 59.5, $6 per M tokens blended.Compare with GPT-6 Astra

4. Grok 4.6 xAI

   13.9 points behind GPT-6 Astra, 6.7× cheaper per token.

   Score 56.9, $3 per M tokens blended.Compare with GPT-6 Astra

5. Qwen3.8 Max Alibaba (Qwen)

   14.0 points behind GPT-6 Astra, 6.7× cheaper per token.

   Score 56.8, $3 per M tokens blended.Compare with GPT-6 Astra

6. GLM-5.3 Z.ai (Zhipu)

   15.9 points behind GPT-6 Astra, 9.3× cheaper per token; open weights.

   Score 54.8, $2.15 per M tokens blended.Compare with GPT-6 Astra

7. Muse Spark 1.3 Meta

   16.0 points behind GPT-6 Astra, 10.0× cheaper per token.

   Score 54.8, $2 per M tokens blended.Compare with GPT-6 Astra

8. DeepSeek V4 Pro DeepSeek

   16.4 points behind GPT-6 Astra, 20.2× cheaper per token; open weights.

   Score 54.3, $0.99 per M tokens blended.Compare with GPT-6 Astra

More: Open-source, Cheaper, For coding